The Friday Report Blog: April 21st, 2023

Amazon Makes Move To Regional Fulfillment

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently announced that the company has completed its shift to a regionalized fulfillment model. This move is predicted to reduce costs and boost delivery speeds. Transitioning from a national fulfillment network included an overhaul of Amazon’s inventory placement strategy, resulting in products being placed closer to end consumers.

A key component of Amazon’s move to a regional distribution network model was shifting its Amazon Air network to a hub-centric model. Previously, the company had to ship ordered products from different parts of the country if local fulfillment centers did not have the product in stock.

With its regional fulfillment operation in place, Amazon will ramp up its next-day and same-day delivery activity in the hopes of making 2023 the year it reaches its fastest delivery speeds for Prime members ever.

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Frito-Lay Completes First Third-Party EV Delivery

Frito-Lay North America announced that Scheider National recently delivered the company’s first third-party shipment via electric vehicle (EV). The snack food giant is partnering with Schneider to drive its efforts for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

Schneider National’s eCascadia electric vehicles are currently being used to handle intermodal inbound and outbound moves between the Southern California ports and Frito-Lay’s Rancho Cucamonga distribution center. According to Frito-Lay, the shift to EV trucks will eliminate nearly 70% of its emissions this year.

Frito-Lay is the first contract transport utilizing Schneider’s electric truck fleet. The carrier currently offers transportation services with close to 100 electric battery powered trucks. The fleet was subsidized by the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETS), sponsored by the South Coast Quality Management District, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Energy Commission.

Frito-Lay is also upgrading its in-house fleet. The company recently began using fully electric trucks to move products from a manufacturing facility in Modesto, California. In addition, Frito-Lay introduced 40 electric trucks in Texas last year.

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Apple To Use 100% Recycled Cobalt in Batteries by 2025

Apple recently announced plans to use recycled cobalt in the production of all company-designed batteries by 2025. The tech giant will also begin using recycled rare earth materials in its magnets as well as 100% recycled tin soldering and gold plating in Apple-designed circuit boards.

These moves are a part of Apples efforts to make products with 100% recycled or renewable products and reach carbon neutrality across all operations by 2030. They come as activists push against tech giants sourcing materials from countries accused of human rights violations.

In 2022, 25% of the cobalt that was used in its products and 73% of its rare earth materials were recycled. Apple relies on suppliers to source recycled materials because the company does not directly purchase minerals from mines or refine its own cobalt.

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