Every shipper at this year’s Gartner Supply Chain Symposium seemed to be wrestling with the same paradox: supply chains have never been more data-rich, yet they’ve rarely felt more fragmented.
Thousands of logistics professionals gathered to tackle rising costs and persistent disruption, and the consensus was clear. What actually separates resilient supply chains from reactive ones is whether visibility and tracking connects across the entire operation or stays locked in silos.
A more unified approach with Amazon Supply Chain Services
The event marked the launch of Amazon Supply Chain Services, which makes Amazon’s logistics network, including freight, distribution, fulfillment, and parcel shipping available individually or as a fully connected end-to-end system to any business, whether they sell on Amazon or not.
That connectivity matters because many supply chain disruptions are made worse by disconnected systems. When data is siloed across various carriers, warehouses, and fulfillment providers, there is no single source of truth for tracking, analytics, and performance metrics.
This is especially prevalent in the freight world, said Amazon Freight General Manager Ari Silkey, who spoke at the conference. “Among shippers we surveyed, 69% cited ‘managing multiple transportation service providers’ as a significant challenge.”
Amazon Supply Chain Services, and Amazon Freight within it, were designed to address fragmentation by connecting capabilities across the chain within a single, unified network. This allows shippers to transition from being reactive to proactive.
Building resilience through freight, fulfillment, and data
During the session The complete delivery equation: Freight, fulfillment, and the future of logistics, Silkey and Meredith Bunche, Director of Marketing and Revenue Management of Multichannel Commerce and Fulfillment at Amazon, said margin compressions, labor constraints, and geopolitical disruptions are reshaping supply chain strategy.
Bunche told attendees that the most resilient organizations are investing in greater network flexibility and rethinking how all the pieces work together. Rather than managing separate providers and disconnected workflows, businesses are looking for ways to coordinate logistics decisions across the supply chain.
Silkey said Amazon experienced the challenges that come with managing multiple providers firsthand. “Amazon originally relied on a patchwork of third-party trucking companies to move freight across its rapidly growing network,” he said, adding that the hassle compounded as the company grew. “We realized streamlining was the only path forward.”
As a result, Amazon reduced the number of hands touching freight and built its own network. Today that network includes 80,000 trailers, 24,000 intermodal containers, and a fully connected infrastructure spanning more than 200 U.S. fulfillment centers and serving more than 300,000 businesses with order fulfillment across sales channels.
When all logistics work together within a shared system, supply chains become more agile and better able to respond to changing conditions while controlling costs and maintaining customer service levels. “You want to react but not overreact to disruptions. You want to build agility rather than heavy armor,” Silkey explained. “In other words, your approach should be to prioritize rapid response and flexibility over trying to eliminate all disruptions.”
Put Amazon’s network to work for you
Learn more about Amazon Supply Chain Services and how to tap into Amazon’s logistics network to tackle volatility and create a more resilient supply chain.
If you’re interested specifically in Amazon Freight, contact our enterprise team or create an account and start booking loads immediately.
