Q&A with Michio Katayama, SCOT AIM Director of Product Management

Michio Katayama joined Amazon in 2012 as a Program Manager and was promoted to Director in 2023. He currently leads the Supply Chain Optimization Technology (SCOT) team as Director of Product Management for Automated Inventory Management (AIM) based in Tokyo, Japan.

What qualities do you think are essential for success at Amazon?

Amazon is a company with unlimited opportunities of learning and development for career growth. The key to success is to continue having a Day 1 mentality and opening yourself up to new challenges. With over 11.5 years at Amazon, I continue on this journey of exciting changes. I started with Japan Supply Chain and gained hands-on experience through actively taking on multiple roles within the organization to deepen my knowledge of products, operations and business acumen. After Japan Supply Chain, I moved to the India Supply Chain organization. It was a big step as I was starting over in different market segments and learning the broader context of Amazon business. Today, I continue this journey by transferring to another challenging role in the Japan Automated Inventory Management organization within SCOT. I am excited to stay close to Amazon core technology with a diverse and talented team across multiple regions. ?

What accomplishment at Amazon are you most proud of?

Throughout the years, out of all the accomplishments I've made, there are two more memorable projects that are scaling up to the new standards today.

Japan Paper Bag Packaging: In 2018, when I was in a role of leading delivery speed initiatives in Japan Supply Chain, I got called into a room with Japan leadership teams and was asked to draw a future plan of packaging suite for Japan delivery business. The intention was to bring someone completely new to this field (like me) to “Think Outside the Box”. Aside from the regular role responsibility, I got to independently work on this project, partnering with multiple teams across Amazon. I proposed moving away from corrugate boxes to reduce paper usage and reduce airspace on transportation. I negotiated with suppliers, piloted multiple test operations to minimize the defect rates, and proved the viability of this proposal.

The idea evolved in Japan later on as Japan engineering teams developed Kobukuro (automated packaging machine for paper bag suite) to scale this operation. Year to date, the paper bag operation serves an increasing delivery share in Japan and improves truck utilization. There is nothing more to compare with joy and excitement at seeing the growth of seeds flourished I planted years ago.

Japan 1-Day Delivery Network: This is again an episode in the time of Supply Chain organization. My team took on an ambitious challenge of expanding the Amazon delivery network to serve customer orders at any point of time within the speed of 1-day. In Amazon World Wide, the standard was at 2-day speed, and my team was leading on building a faster delivery network across all regions. We designed the network with a 1-day reachable area extended by +200km radius and successfully executed it. It was a proud moment when my relatives living in rural areas complemented the speed of delivery as their first impression of shopping experience with Amazon without knowing me taking a part of this.

Today, Amazon continues to evolve, and we are faster than ever before. What we achieved here was only a small step, but it was a good example to keep reminding ourselves that what we drive in Amazon has significant impacts on customers every day.

How do you foster a culture of collaboration and communication within your team?

“Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer” is one of the leadership principles that every Amazonian practices. I believe this is essential to building a culture of collaboration and communication in teams, especially with a diverse group of talent, and I am always keen on developing this for my own growth. In this context, there are two key elements to achieve this; driving empathy and creating an inclusive environment. It is easier said than done, but I would like to share a few focus points. Empathy is to “connect” with people, not just “feel” for the people. This requires spending most of the time listening to others to observe and understand the feelings, as well as the needs of people, before taking any actions. Inclusion is also an important factor, as everyone is unique; as such, we need to consciously make decisions to achieve "equity." It takes time and experience to be fully functional, but it is necessary to foster a more open-minded and engaged culture across team members. ??

What do you do for fun/work life balance?

On my personal life front, I enjoy playing with my daughter. There is nothing more important on my list than to spend quality time with her and be a part of her life. Just looking at her smile helps keep my motivation high and is all I need for work-life balance. Sharing the smile of my angel here.

To check out opportunities within the SCOT organization click here.