SF Express, how China’s express industry leader goes global

Last year’s US election was such a dramatic spectacle that it was comparable to a live election show. Locally on November 4, the USA TODAY ballot counting screen suddenly showed a SF Express.

Screenshot from the US media live stream

With its current efficiency and reputation, SF is the leader in China’s express industry.

SF EXPRESS

According to media reports, Americans overseas can use international delivery services to return their mail-in ballots to the US or to US embassies and consulates. An American in China told the Global Times on Thursday under the condition of anonymity that he used EMS to deliver his ballot on October 9 from China’s Macao Special Administrative Region and it arrived in California on October 15.

DHL, UPS and FedEx have all grown into giants in the international logistics industry after decades or even centuries of precipitation, and their industry experience, financial resources and developed global logistics networks are far beyond the reach of SF Express.

• DHL was founded in 1969 and currently employs over 285,000 people worldwide, with over 450 transshipment centers, warehouses and distribution depots and 420 aircraft;

• Federal Express (FEDEX) was established in 1971 and now has over 138,000 employees, 50,000 delivery points, 671 aircraft and 41,000 vehicles worldwide;

• UPS was established in 1907 and now has 108,210 delivery vehicles, 657 aircraft and serves more than 220 countries and territories.

• SF Express was founded in 1993, and as of December 19, it has only 58 cargo planes, a difference of dozens of times with the other three.

Three major multinational express logistics companies

Statistics show that in 2018, the three major multinational express logistics companies accounted for 90% of the global market share of international express, the revenue is several times that of SF.

In terms of the global logistics network, the first three international express have a developed logistics network, collection, transport and delivery of their own processing.

And SF International? Take shipping to the US for example, the first half of the collection and transportation is handled by SF Express itself, while the second half relies on UPS’s logistics network for operations

Without independent customs clearance capabilities and its own delivery network, it is difficult to achieve the desired stability in terms of timeliness and user experience.

No trade or entity or even service industry can be separated from logistics. Logistics causes trade to develop and trade drives a country’s economy.Only when SF has its own global logistics delivery network and perfect service system, can it really go to the international market and compete with several other old international couriers, and this day, SF needs to go a long long way.

reducing logistics costs does not mean reducing service levels

China’s logistics cost is much lower than in developed countries when compared under the same conditions of logistics operations. Meanwhile, logistics costs are not the lower the better, low price competition leading to a decline in service levels is not the direction of development of the logistics industry.

With the help of big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things and other means, it is possible to optimize the resources and network of the entire logistics chain to achieve optimal operation and reduce logistics costs.

To give a simple example: the same brand of clothing in a city, there are different shops, different channels of purchase, there may be a shop sold out of goods, layers of orders reported to replenish; at the same time another shop has a backlog of goods, but also need to report layers of returns; resulting in a great waste and high costs.

According to the practice of logistics enterprises, with the help of information link and instant distribution services in the same city, it can realize direct distribution from backlog shops to shops out of stock, and realizes the circulation and logistics network of the supply chain down by the chain, and realize networking at the end.

AUTOMATION OF PACKAGING IN THE COURIER INDUSTRY

I got the idea to share this blog when I received and unpacked a delivery at the weekend. Online shopping is part of our daily lives, especially since the pandemic, people are using online e-commerce platforms to purchase more than before.

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  Amazon or eBay? The two main shopping platforms

How to make the most of the packaging space in a delivery box?

When receiving an online delivery, we will notice that sometimes there is a lot of space left in the delivery box, which is a waste of space. So, are there any advanced solutions to this problem? A number of e-commerce platforms have made improvements to their packaging processes, using automated packaging robots to achieve effectiveness and efficiency, such as Amazon and JingDong in China. They have both chosen the CMC CartonWrap robot system, supplied by CMC Srl in Italy.

The CMC CartonWrap is an automated carton packing system for e-commerce packaging needs. The robot enables goods in an order to be 3D scanned as they travel along a conveyor belt. These items are then placed in suitably sized customised boxes created by the robot. CMC Cartonwrap variable carton packaging solution breaks away from conventional packaging and enables on-demand personalized packaging. Furthermore, CMC claims it can achieve speeds of up to 900 orders per hour.

The operation of CMC CartonWrap robot system

The advantages of this new packaging process are obvious, which not only saves labour but also reduces the waste of packaging material. This hits exactly the right spot in a labour-intensive industry like logistics, reducing labour dependency and labour costs.

CMC CartonWrap is now being used by companies in China, the United States and Sweden, among many other countries. The system offers significant labor savings, while reducing storage and transportation costs. The application of automation equipment in the field of logistics is becoming more and more advanced and user-friendly. Perhaps in the near future, most of the express deliveries we receive will be packaged by such robots.