Amazon.com Inc. continues its quest to shorten distances between its fulfillment centers. The company yesterday announced plans to build out its delivery network with a centralized Prime Air cargo hub in Hebron, Ky. The new facility is expected to expedite product delivery for B2B clients of Amazon Business as well as consumers by making it easier to move product from one distribution center to another, Amazon says.
Amazon has 95 full-scale distribution centers in the United States and six in Canada, according to logistics consulting firm MWPVL.
Amazon will invest $1.49 billion to build the air cargo facility on 900 acres at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, says Mindy Kershner, senior manager of public and government affairs for the airport. The airport is located in Hebron, Ky., southwest of Cincinnati.
The e-commerce giant has 11 warehouses in Kentucky where inventory is stored, packed and shipped to customers ordering goods online. The air hub will support the 16 planes currently transporting Amazon inventory around the country. Amazon last year signed agreements with two carriers to lease as many as 40 dedicated cargo airplanes to support its new Prime Air operation.
“As we considered places for the long-term home for our air hub operations, Hebron quickly rose to the top of the list with a large, skilled workforce, centralized location with great connectivity to our nearby fulfillment locations and an excellent quality of living for employees,” says Dave Clark, Amazon senior vice president of worldwide operations. “We couldn’t be more excited to add 2,000-plus Amazon employees to join the more than 10,000 who work with us today across our robust operations in Kentucky.”
When Amazon announced plans to lease a fleet of cargo planes in March Jeff McRitchie, vice president of marketing for MyBinding.com, a company that sells equipment and materials for producing books and bound portfolios, said the new air-delivery services will enable Amazon to better address an increasing demand among businesses that rely on Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA, the shipping service Amazon offers to sellers on its marketplace. A big selling point is that marketplace sellers’ items handled by FBA become eligible for free, two-day shipping under the Amazon Prime loyalty program.
“We are seeing more and more customers on Amazon who really only consider buying FBA items,” McRitchie says. “This decision to expand their air network makes a ton of sense.”
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Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
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