亚马逊要下水了，是真的

第9,624,034 B1号美国专利，名称：水中存储设备；申请人：Amazon Technologies，专利内容：在等待处理订单的过程中用人造池塘或自然水体来存储货物。

笔者的第一反应介于“嗯？”和“开玩笑吧。”之间。毕竟，所有的箱子都得防水，或者都放进一个防水集装箱里，而且每个集装箱都得配备通信装置，以便联网，从而将货物取出。更大的问题在于，该设备/集装箱必须既能沉入水底来存储货物，又能在接到指令后浮出水面，然后被拖出来并放在运输车辆上。额外的步骤，额外的材料，方方面面的成本都会上升。

但电子商务正处在爆炸式发展阶段，因而需要存储货物，以及存储空间，还需要快速把货物交付给消费者。因此，这个专利就有了一些令人感兴趣的地方。比如，每件货物都会在集装箱/气球和箱子膨胀或收缩时自行移动，还会浮上水面或潜到水下，这样理想状态下就完全或者基本上不需要进行装卸。由于利用了水的浮力，再加上水流推动货物前进，在处理中心移动货物的整个过程需要的能量较少，就像驳船的能耗低于卡车一样。最后，大家可以想一想由此带来的灵活性。需要更多空间时不用盖房子，只要注水然后形成一个池塘就行了，同时在池塘两边或周围一圈都摆上传送带。鉴于许多大城市都邻水，实际上也许可以把货物放在靠近消费者的地方。

但不要误解我的意思。我认为真正付诸实施的话，成本将高得让人望而却步，原因就在那些集装箱上，因为存放和拆箱时都得挪动它们。同时，所需的人工和机械也是成本极高的推手。另外，如果要找的那个箱子位于几层箱子的最下层，而不是最上面，我就不知道该怎么办了。不过，这里的一些想法确实有解决“最后一里运输”窘境的苗头。

首先，所有货物都自行移动（至少是在水池里上浮下潜），这会省去目前处理中心的许多装卸作业，特别是寻找货物的工作。这是“货找人”的终极配置方案，而且是由货物自己来实施。

同样的，在流动媒介，也就是水中存储货物不必设置通道以及其他种种人乃至机器人所需的空间。这就更加接近充分利用空间的梦想。我们已经有了可移动货架、kiva拣货机器人以及其他自动化设备，但如果可以在某种程度上让大自然来水平或垂直移动货物，那就有可能领先别人一大截。

实际上，这个设想再次体现了亚马逊对更高效物流和仓储自动化的持续兴趣，无论“到那里”还有多远。亚马逊目前的处理中心用机器人把货物从紧密排列的货架上搬出来，再由人把货物打包成大家收到的快递。在亚马逊购买最少量资源来满足消费者需求的过程中，预测分析发挥了作用。有报道称，一些亚马逊货车配备了3D打印机，从而真的可以在给消费者送货的途中制造常见物品。

我们这些物流业内人士都很欣赏亚马逊不断寻求进步的精神，这似乎是亚马逊DNA的一部分。另一方面，对于正在进行的资本投资和创新，我们中的许多人也想弄清楚利润和投资的平衡点在哪里。

无论如何，亚马逊等公司一直在寻找新的途径，让电子商务“奏效”，也就是用几乎免费的运输实现非常迅速的递送。我跟学生们讲到过大家都可以憧憬的“最终形态”，那就是告诉计算机你想要什么，然后由它来实现。

噢，没错，已经有人想到了这一点。但在我们跟《星际迷航》里的高科技搭上线之前，任何解决劳动生产率、空间生产率以及运动能效问题的举措，无论具体做法如何，都是受欢迎的脑补佳品。（财富中文网）

阿诺德·马尔茨是亚利桑那州立大学供应链管理专业副教授。

译者：Charlie

审稿：夏林

I have in front of me US Patent 9,624,034 B1, titled, Aquatic Storage Facilities. The applicant is Amazon Technologies, Inc., and the idea is to use either man-made pools or natural bodies of water to store goods while waiting for fulfillment orders.

My first reaction was somewhere between “huh?” and “you’ve got to be kidding.” After all, every box would need to be either waterproof or put into a watertight container. And each container would be fitted with a device that could communicate with a network for retrieval. More problematically, the device/container has to be capable of sinking to the bottom of the pool for storage and then rising to the surface on command to be pulled out and put on a delivery vehicle. Extra steps, extra materials, and more cost all around.

But e-commerce is exploding, and with it, the need for storage and space to stage goods and quickly get them to customers. So there are some interesting aspects to this proposal. For one thing, each individual item moves itself as the container/balloon and box expands or contracts and the product floats up or down in the water, so all or most of the handling goes away in the ideal setting. The whole process of moving goods around the fulfillment center takes less energy because the water supports the box, and currents in the water push the goods, just like barges take less energy than trucks. Finally, think of the flexibility you get. If you need more space, you don’t build walls; you fill up what amounts to a wading pool and just back up conveyors to both or all sides. And since many big cities are close to water, you might actually be able to store the goods near your customers.

Don’t get me wrong. I think actually doing this would be cost prohibitive because of the containers, which have to be handled both for storing and for unboxing, as well as either the labor or the mechanization involved. And I’m not sure what you do when the box you need is the one on the bottom of several layers, rather than on the top. But the ideas involved do hint at solutions to the “last mile delivery” dilemma.

First, having every item move itself (at least up and down in the pool) eliminates much of the handling that currently goes on in fulfillment centers, especially the search effort. This is the ultimate “goods to people” configuration, and it’s driven by the item itself.

Similarly, storing goods in a medium which moves, i.e. water, eliminates aisles and all the other empty space that humans, and even robots, require. So the dream of complete space utilization gets closer. We already have movable shelves, kiva robots, and other automation, but if you could somehow use nature to move things horizontally as well as vertically, you might be miles ahead.

In fact, this whole idea is another example of Amazon’s continuing interest in more efficient logistics and warehouse automation, no matter how far “out there.” Amazon’s current fulfillment centers are stuffed with robots that move goods from dense storage stacks to people who make up the orders that you and I receive. Predictive analytics is at play as Amazon tries to buy the minimum needed to satisfy customers. And there are reports that some Amazon vans are equipped with 3-D printers so that common items are literally manufactured en route to the customer.

All of us in the logistics business admire the relentless drive to improve what seems to be part of the Amazon DNA. On the other hand, many of us wonder about the balance between profit and investment that goes with ongoing capital investment and innovation.

In any case, Amazon and others continue to look for new ways to make e-commerce “work,” i.e. very fast delivery with close-to-free shipping. And there is an “end state” I suggest to my students we can all aspire to: Tell the computer what you want, and it materializes.

Oh, that’s right, somebody already thought of that. But until we can dial-up Star Trek, any initiative that addresses labor productivity, space productivity, and energy efficiency of movement, no matter how out there, is welcome food for thought.

Arnold Maltz is associate professor of supply chain management at Arizona State University.