JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Amazon is the e-commerce giant that has reshaped shopping habits across the country. Its presence in the Jacksonville area is significant, with 11 facilities employing over 8,000 workers.
One of its largest facilities, JAX7, sits on the city’s Northside. Waves of packages move through its vast operation daily.
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News4JAX took a look inside JAX7 to witness firsthand the journey of an Amazon package from storage to shipment.
Inside the JAX7 Facility
At 1.2 million sq. feet, the JAX7 warehouse is a hub of nonstop activity. Machines hum, conveyor belts whir, and employees move swiftly.
Giovanni Salinas, the facility’s inbound operations manager, has been part of Amazon for nearly eight years. He’s been at JAX7 since its opening in November 2021.
“This is where all of our operations start in any facility,” Salinas explained as he walked through the operation.
With over 13 million products on hand, this facility on the Northside plays a crucial role in Amazon’s supply chain. Every day, about 90,000 new products arrive, while 150,000 are shipped out.
During peak times, Salinas said that number can surge past 320,000 packages heading to customers.
From Click to Shipment in 90 Minutes
Customers around the country have flocked to Amazon for its speed. In crunch time, the service offers next-day and sometimes same-day delivery.
JAX7’s role in that process is to hold many of the products customers see on Amazon’s online store. The site takes in products from businesses and stores them.
Once a customer clicks “buy,” Salinas said it takes just 90 minutes for a product to move from storage to the outbound dock. From there, it goes to a shipment facility and heads for delivery.
“It’s always a new adventure in this building. You always find something new,” Salinas said.
A Symphony of Automation and Precision
The facility operates like an orchestrated symphony, with machines and workers in sync. Conveyor belts stretch across the facility, moving packages up, down, and side to side in a rhythm.
“It is a nice little music that plays,” Salinas said. “You can tell if a machine goes down. You hear that noise, and you’ll immediately know something is wrong with the tune.”
And that comfort comes from someone who has worked in each of those roles. Salinas started as a forklift driver and worked his way up to a management spot.
A Career Built at Home
Salinas, originally from Naples, Florida, has spent most of his life in Northeast Florida. For him, working at JAX7 is more than just a job—it’s a way to give back to the community that raised him.
“It honestly feels amazing,” he said. “Every single piece, every single process. To play a part in something that big lets you see how small you are but how much impact you can have”
When asked what it means to build his career in Jacksonville, Salinas simply says, “It feels great. I feel at home.”
And its a home built on Jacksonville’s Northside.