4 ms·

I am intrigued that such a button is superior to having someone read the tickets.

owenmarshall 4y ago
Andon is a manufacturing concept. It’s a button that, when triggered, stops the manufacturing line. You push it when things are systemically broken, and it has massive consequences because it costs companies meaningful cash. I can’t see how disabling sales of a single product is equivalent either.
- pjsg 4y ago
  I heard Jeff tell this story and it was about a dining table that often arrived with a gouge in the top surface. It was costing Amazon a lot to ship, and a lot to get it returned, and the table was essentially worthless when returned. Even if only 5% of the tables are returned, this makes selling this table a loss maker. Quickest way to increase profits -- stop doing things that make you a loss!
  - dwater 4y ago
    So the lesson from the anecdote is that Amazon wasn't actually Obsessed with the Customer, but maximizing profit, and in this case they just happened to align.
    - habitue 4y ago
      Making customers happy isn't totally orthogonal to making money right? In midwit meme format: Low wit: Make customers happy. Making customers happy is how you sell products and win customers from competitors Midwit: Screw over customers for profit. Customers are kind of low information though right? Maybe we can do things that increase profits at the expense of the customer if the customer wont notice or attribute it to us High wit: Make customers happy. While an individual customer is low information, in aggregate, doing these things causes a company's reputation to suffer a death by a thousand cuts.
omgomgomgomg 4y ago
Andon is a very good concept, better to habe than not to have, 90% of the agents are very skilled and knowledgeable. Much better than having to forward to a teamleader or other department. Sometimes, theres no other way and 10% of the andon advisors perhaps shouldnt be in that role. Amazon also has some sort of nesting for new starters which is honestly there to help learn, not as a pressure tool. Many startups and well established corporations cant even hold a candle to them on these matters.

Andon is a manufacturing concept. It’s a button that, when triggered, stops the manufacturing line. You push it when things are systemically broken, and it has massive consequences because it costs companies meaningful cash. I can’t see how disabling sales of a single product is equivalent either.

pjsg 4y ago
I heard Jeff tell this story and it was about a dining table that often arrived with a gouge in the top surface. It was costing Amazon a lot to ship, and a lot to get it returned, and the table was essentially worthless when returned. Even if only 5% of the tables are returned, this makes selling this table a loss maker. Quickest way to increase profits -- stop doing things that make you a loss!
- dwater 4y ago
  So the lesson from the anecdote is that Amazon wasn't actually Obsessed with the Customer, but maximizing profit, and in this case they just happened to align.
  - habitue 4y ago
    Making customers happy isn't totally orthogonal to making money right? In midwit meme format: Low wit: Make customers happy. Making customers happy is how you sell products and win customers from competitors Midwit: Screw over customers for profit. Customers are kind of low information though right? Maybe we can do things that increase profits at the expense of the customer if the customer wont notice or attribute it to us High wit: Make customers happy. While an individual customer is low information, in aggregate, doing these things causes a company's reputation to suffer a death by a thousand cuts.

omgomgomgomg 4y ago

Andon is a very good concept, better to habe than not to have, 90% of the agents are very skilled and knowledgeable. Much better than having to forward to a teamleader or other department. Sometimes, theres no other way and 10% of the andon advisors perhaps shouldnt be in that role. Amazon also has some sort of nesting for new starters which is honestly there to help learn, not as a pressure tool. Many startups and well established corporations cant even hold a candle to them on these matters.