第9,624,034 B1號美國專利，名稱：水中存儲設(shè)備；申請人：Amazon Technologies，專利內(nèi)容：在等待處理訂單的過程中用人造池塘或自然水體來存儲貨物。

筆者的第一反應介于“嗯？”和“開玩笑吧。”之間。畢竟，所有的箱子都得防水，或者都放進一個防水集裝箱里，而且每個集裝箱都得配備通信裝置，以便聯(lián)網(wǎng)，從而將貨物取出。更大的問題在于，該設(shè)備/集裝箱必須既能沉入水底來存儲貨物，又能在接到指令后浮出水面，然后被拖出來并放在運輸車輛上。額外的步驟，額外的材料，方方面面的成本都會上升。

但電子商務正處在爆炸式發(fā)展階段，因而需要存儲貨物，以及存儲空間，還需要快速把貨物交付給消費者。因此，這個專利就有了一些令人感興趣的地方。比如，每件貨物都會在集裝箱/氣球和箱子膨脹或收縮時自行移動，還會浮上水面或潛到水下，這樣理想狀態(tài)下就完全或者基本上不需要進行裝卸。由于利用了水的浮力，再加上水流推動貨物前進，在處理中心移動貨物的整個過程需要的能量較少，就像駁船的能耗低于卡車一樣。最后，大家可以想一想由此帶來的靈活性。需要更多空間時不用蓋房子，只要注水然后形成一個池塘就行了，同時在池塘兩邊或周圍一圈都擺上傳送帶。鑒于許多大城市都鄰水，實際上也許可以把貨物放在靠近消費者的地方。

但不要誤解我的意思。我認為真正付諸實施的話，成本將高得讓人望而卻步，原因就在那些集裝箱上，因為存放和拆箱時都得挪動它們。同時，所需的人工和機械也是成本極高的推手。另外，如果要找的那個箱子位于幾層箱子的最下層，而不是最上面，我就不知道該怎么辦了。不過，這里的一些想法確實有解決“最后一里運輸”窘境的苗頭。

首先，所有貨物都自行移動（至少是在水池里上浮下潛），這會省去目前處理中心的許多裝卸作業(yè)，特別是尋找貨物的工作。這是“貨找人”的終極配置方案，而且是由貨物自己來實施。

同樣的，在流動媒介，也就是水中存儲貨物不必設(shè)置通道以及其他種種人乃至機器人所需的空間。這就更加接近充分利用空間的夢想。我們已經(jīng)有了可移動貨架、kiva揀貨機器人以及其他自動化設(shè)備，但如果可以在某種程度上讓大自然來水平或垂直移動貨物，那就有可能領(lǐng)先別人一大截。

實際上，這個設(shè)想再次體現(xiàn)了亞馬遜對更高效物流和倉儲自動化的持續(xù)興趣，無論“到那里”還有多遠。亞馬遜目前的處理中心用機器人把貨物從緊密排列的貨架上搬出來，再由人把貨物打包成大家收到的快遞。在亞馬遜購買最少量資源來滿足消費者需求的過程中，預測分析發(fā)揮了作用。有報道稱，一些亞馬遜貨車配備了3D打印機，從而真的可以在給消費者送貨的途中制造常見物品。

我們這些物流業(yè)內(nèi)人士都很欣賞亞馬遜不斷尋求進步的精神，這似乎是亞馬遜DNA的一部分。另一方面，對于正在進行的資本投資和創(chuàng)新，我們中的許多人也想弄清楚利潤和投資的平衡點在哪里。

無論如何，亞馬遜等公司一直在尋找新的途徑，讓電子商務“奏效”，也就是用幾乎免費的運輸實現(xiàn)非常迅速的遞送。我跟學生們講到過大家都可以憧憬的“最終形態(tài)”，那就是告訴計算機你想要什么，然后由它來實現(xiàn)。

噢，沒錯，已經(jīng)有人想到了這一點。但在我們跟《星際迷航》里的高科技搭上線之前，任何解決勞動生產(chǎn)率、空間生產(chǎn)率以及運動能效問題的舉措，無論具體做法如何，都是受歡迎的腦補佳品。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

阿諾德·馬爾茨是亞利桑那州立大學供應鏈管理專業(yè)副教授。

譯者：Charlie

審稿：夏林

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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 “l(fā)ast 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.