Sunday, October 3, 2010

Good Design: Supply Networks


video courtesy of youtube.com


     Who doesn't love the instant gratification of online shopping? How packages magically arrive on your door step after a few clicks? The consumption of good design?
    However not many think about the countless resources, the complex processes, and the far-reaching supply networks designed to bring design to you.
    Of the many online retailers, Zappos.com has redesigned this process into a well oiled machine, eliminating almost all the drawback of online shopping. It's almost a mindless act to locate and buy a product at Zappos.com. A few clicks here and there to specify your preferences, starting with "Women's," then "Shoes," "Sandals," brown for the preferred color, and finally "Lowest Price," filtering out thousands of other products to find the perfect pair of Stuart Weitzman Sandals on sale for $46.60. The website's design allows customers to laser in on products, rather than being assaulted by tsunami of merchandise. The design of their business focuses on customer service, with rapid free shipping and returns in under two days. 
    However, most of their happy customers are unaware of the massive supply chains necessary to feed to the appetite of a ravenous generation, used to fast, cheap goods and services. To keep up with these expectations and the rapid pace of technology retailers have to keep redesigning the system.
    For that reason, Zappos.com has begun to adopt new technological designs for getting the product to the customer. Instead of workers going from aisle to aisle in the warehouse to retrieve the merchandise, robots bring the merchandise to the workers so they can just processing order after order after order. This new design has doubled their efficiency in every area, meeting consumers' demand for instant gratification.
     In a society where consumers are overwhelmed with the choice of millions of products and services, retailers have to pounce fast. As an element of commerce, the design of supply systems must be as streamlined as possible to deliver products to a customer who is more savvy, pickier, and probably has one of the shortest attention spans in history. Designers don't just create consumer products anymore, they have to design the processes that get them to the right person at the right place at the right time in a society that demands immediacy. Clearly, we are going to have to be continually be redesigning this circulatory system that transports goods to fit society's growing needs.

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