Chapter 27 The fourth chapter strengthens the background and establishes core technologies
In the retail chain industry, sales are not everything. To become a century-old store, there are more things.Some economists once commented that the process of developing chain stores is actually the process of establishing, integrating and controlling networks.Among these three links, it is not difficult to establish a network. The difficulty lies in how to effectively integrate and operate the chain network after the network is established, so as to make it a unified whole and truly exert the advantages of the chain network.
"For laymen, the number may be bluffing; but for experts, the number of stores is large, and the pressure on yourself may exceed the pressure on your opponents." Zhang Jindong said.In his view, the real key behind Suning's grand plan is how to "replicate without losing shape" under the strategy of national chain layout.
After the enthusiasm for chain expansion, Suning decided to return to the background from speed and scale.As Zhang Jindong pointed out: "If we only use the number of stores as the basis for assessment, then the number of our stores can be doubled, tripled or even more times. Although the number and scale of stores are very important, the core technology of the enterprise In the background." The slogan that can be seen everywhere in the office area of Suning Nanjing Headquarters Building is: "Quiet impetuousness, practice internal skills, strengthen the background, and seek development."
Compared with the background, the chain stores facing the public are just the tip of the iceberg of Suning's chain system.Suning believes that background service capabilities will directly affect front sales, business operating costs and customer satisfaction.Looking for the "backstage power", Suning's foresight has once again changed the competition model of China's home appliance industry.
As in the past, Suning, which has always focused on endogenous growth, still relies on its own strength to build the backstage.Because, Suning is an enterprise with the words "hands-on experience" written in its bones.Build a logistics base by yourself; manage home appliance services by yourself, and train professionals in marketing, service, chain, logistics, and information technology... Suning believes that endogenous growth and development will make its own advantages in the post-scale era of home appliance chain more obvious.
Suning has always regarded Wal-Mart as its benchmark.Most people often only see the success of Wal-Mart's front office, but Wal-Mart's real core competitiveness comes from its strong backstage support, and Suning just saw the strength of Wal-Mart's backstage.In terms of solving real problems, Suning can learn from Wal-Mart; in terms of solving future problems, Suning will surpass Wal-Mart; therefore, Wal-Mart is not only a model for Suning to learn from, but also a goal to surpass.
Zhang Jindong likes to talk about the "core technology" of retailing, because with the "core technology", Suning's huge chain system will have internal strength as a support, and its endogenous power will continue to increase, care for and promote its own value proposition, avoid The inevitable law of strategic decay is one step closer to "surpassing Wal-Mart".
In the domestic retail industry, many commercial enterprises with the goal of "becoming China's Wal-Mart" seem to be making their own calculations: how many outlets need to be built, how much sales should be achieved, and how long it will take to become China's Wal-Mart.In fact, these commercial enterprises only see the appearance of the network and scale of Wal-Mart's global chain, and regard the development of the network and expansion of the scale as the only goal of their efforts, but they do not realize that such a huge network of Wal-Mart is actually built on an internal On the core basis, this is to serve consumers loyally, not only to understand, but also to have the corresponding ability.
At the beginning of 2006, Suning formulated the fourth five-year plan from 2006 to 2010, that is, Suning's goal in the next five years is to become the leader of commercial chains in China, and disclosed its strategic goal in public for the first time.
In mid-June 2008, the International Chamber of Commerce held the first 2008 World Business Summit, where more than 500 business leaders from all over the world gathered. For the first time, Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Jindong was invited as the only private entrepreneur representative to attend the meeting.After returning to China, Zhang Jindong told the media: "China's 1.3 billion consumer market is enough to cultivate three Chinese 'Wal-Marts'. Suning is working towards this goal, but we can't just stop at the scale and have a business that is in line with the world. Values and order also need to be shaped by Chinese companies, and Chinese commercial companies will definitely play a more important role in the global business field in the future."
On the morning of November 29, 2009, Wen Jiabao, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, accompanied by several central ministries and commissions, Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, and provincial government leaders, came to the Suning Appliance National Data Center located in Nanjing Yuhua Logistics Base. Held a symposium, listened to the report on Suning's informatization construction, observed the operation demonstration of the information application system, and communicated cordially with Suning employees.
In the national data center of Suning Appliance Nanjing Yuhua logistics base, Premier Wen Jiabao and his party first watched the central computer room and the national operation control center, and learned about the on-site operation of Suning stores and logistics.Later, at the symposium, Zhang Jindong reported to Premier Wen Jiabao the application of Suning's use of information technology in the three aspects of procurement and marketing operations, customer service and internal management, combined with the operation demonstration of the information application system.Premier Wen Jiabao affirmed the application level and modern management ideas of Suning's informatization construction, and made important instructions from four aspects: the importance of circulation, enterprise information management, reputation and service, home appliances going to the countryside, and old-for-new ones.
First, production determines circulation, and there is no circulation without products.But conversely speaking, circulation also determines production.Because circulation is connected to production at one end and consumption at the other end, its role is very important.
Second, regardless of ordering, service or distribution, the entire circulation must be modernized.In terms of concept, it is to focus on performance management, and in terms of technology, it is to engage in network management, that is, sensor technology plus the Internet of Things.
Third, reputation is the life of an enterprise.It is entirely possible to say that Suning can catch up with and surpass Wal-Mart, so why?Relying on reputation, product quality, and more importantly, excellent service, can an enterprise have a reputation and build up consumer confidence.
Fourth, the policy of sending home appliances to the countryside has to be implemented.I hope that Suning Appliance can break a new path in the field of home appliances going to the countryside.After the meeting, Premier Wen Jiabao said: "I once said that Suning will become the Wal-Mart of China. I will say it again today, that Suning will surpass Wal-Mart!"
After the inspection, Premier Wen Jiabao took a group photo with Suning employees in the hall on the first floor of the data center.Before leaving by car, Premier Wen Jiabao heard Suning employees shouting "Hello, Prime Minister" in the Yuhua logistics base square. He waved and walked quickly to the employees to shake hands with them one by one.Premier Wen Jiabao shook hands with the employees and walked more than 100 meters.
Premier Wen Jiabao encouraged "Suning to become China's Wal-Mart" and "Suning to surpass Wal-Mart", which affirmed Suning's development of chain business and strengthened the confidence of Suning people. "Becoming China's Wal-Mart" and "surpassing Wal-Mart" are the common goals of Suning people.Suning will firmly believe in and comprehensively accelerate the construction of stores, services, information, logistics, and talents.
Suning put forward the concept of "four major terminals", and for the first time among national chain enterprises, the three background terminals of logistics distribution center, after-sales service center and customer service center were mentioned as equally important as chain stores.The operation mode of the four major terminals requires that every time Suning enters a city, it must simultaneously build three centers of logistics, after-sales and customer service, and turn them into prescribed actions, thus forming an iron triangle to support store sales.
In 1984, in the Tokyo International Marathon Invitational, Japan's Yamada Motoichi unexpectedly won the world marathon champion.When a reporter asked him why he achieved such amazing results, he said this: "Defeat your opponent with wisdom."
At that time, many people thought that the short player who accidentally ran to the front was playing tricks.Marathon is a sport of physical strength and endurance. As long as you have good physical fitness and patience, you are expected to win the championship. Explosive power and speed are second. It is really a bit reluctant to say that you win with wisdom.
Two years later, the Italian International Marathon Invitational was held in the northern Italian city of Milan, and Motoichi Yamada participated in the competition on behalf of Japan.This time, he won the world marathon champion again.The reporter asked him to talk about his experience.
Yamada Motoichi replied with the same sentence as last time: "Use wisdom to defeat the opponent." This time the reporter did not ridicule him in the newspaper, but was puzzled by his so-called wisdom.
After 10 years, the mystery has finally been solved.Yamada Motoichi said in his autobiography: "Before each game, I have to take a car to carefully look at the route of the game, and draw the more eye-catching signs along the way. For example, the first sign is a bank. The second symbol is a big tree, and the third symbol is a red house... This has been drawn until the end of the race. After the race started, I rushed to the first goal at a speed of 100 meters, waiting After reaching the first goal, I rushed towards the second goal at the same speed. I broke down the 40-kilometer race into several small goals and ran it easily. At first, I didn’t understand this Reasonable, I set my goal on the flag at the finish line more than 40 kilometers away, but I was exhausted when I ran more than ten kilometers away, and I was intimidated by the long distance ahead.”
The story of Motoichi Yamada tells us that to be a winner on the field, you must be a person who is fully prepared off the field.This is just as Zhang Jindong said: "We want to run a marathon at the speed of a 100-meter sprint!"
So, what does it depend on?It is to rely on your wisdom and internal strength. The specific method is to compete on the field and win off the field.The off-court, where no one pays attention, is the real stage for the winner.Compete on the field and win off the field. This principle is also applicable to enterprise competition.
In 2002, Suning made up its mind to jump out of the fight of pure terminal stores, and creatively proposed the concept of "four terminals". The background terminal mentioned the same important position as the chain storefront.
The operation mode of the four major terminals requires Suning to build three management functional systems of logistics, after-sales and customer service while preparing for the first store every time it enters a city, forming a solid backing to support the sales and service of chain stores.Suning's operating system is not just a front-end chain store fighting alone like other chain companies, but a system of joint operations. The four major terminals perform their duties and work closely together. One is indispensable.With the strong service support of the three terminals in the background, Suning can easily open a second, third or even more stores.
In 2005, Suning completed the layout of the national first-level market, and Suning executives knew very well that the next step was to expand the volume on this platform. "Whether the original management platform works or not is the most important issue for expansion under such circumstances." How to make the trunk stronger, how to branch out more branches to gain more sunshine and water for yourself, In the rapid growth, there will be no phenomenon of being big but not strong, strong outside but dry in the middle?Within Suning, practicing internal strength has become a recognized only way.
Find the real rising channel and strength through the background!When Suning made this decision, Gome, a peer in the industry, realized the merger of Paradise, and the number of stores quickly surpassed that of Suning by more than 200.
Suning was not affected by this and insisted on its own endogenous growth direction. In 2006, Suning finally decided that in the future, it will adopt the development principle of "practicing internal strength, avoiding impetuousness, strengthening the backstage, and seeking development", and will design a set of information technology-based management in a planned and systematic way, covering manpower, process, organization and performance management. The overall transformation plan to create a differentiated competitive advantage that is not easy to be copied or surpassed.
Suning's choice and transformation have made itself a well-established enterprise.
For home appliance chain enterprises, logistics is their core competitiveness.It not only determines the number and scale of terminals, but also determines the efficiency and benefits of terminals.Therefore, logistics assets are the strategic core assets of home appliance chain enterprises, and logistics strategy is their core strategy.If it is said that Suning is building a "Suning at the front desk" by opening a store, then the construction of the logistics base is building a "Suning at the backstage".
The ancients fought "without moving soldiers and horses, food and grass go first".It is used in modern business, which actually emphasizes the importance of logistics and distribution.While many retail enterprises are developing rapidly in stores, they neglect logistics construction, or do not plan the corresponding logistics system in advance, resulting in their development being hindered, distribution costs remain high, and the delivery cycle is too long. Either the store is out of stock or consumers Complaining, getting tired of coping.
For retail enterprises, logistics is the artery for their smooth operation and healthy development.Among the four flows of chain operation (business flow, logistics, information flow and cash flow), logistics is the most important. Without logistics, the other three flows will not be realized.The main role played by the logistics system lies in the collection and distribution of goods, and the integration of information flow and cash flow into one operation.The logistics system is the premise and basis for the operation of chain enterprises, and the guarantee system for chain operation market supply.Whether a retail enterprise can quickly push products to the market and respond quickly to market demand and customer opinions depends on the strength of its circulation capacity, and to realize the rapid turnover of goods requires an efficient and low-cost commercial logistics system.At the same time, from procurement, storage, distribution to after-sales service, every business link of a retail enterprise must be guaranteed by an efficient logistics system.
American industry experts pointed out that the reason why Wal-Mart can grow rapidly is inseparable from its achievements in cost saving, logistics transportation and distribution system.Logistics, transportation and distribution have always been Wal-Mart's focus business.At Wal-Mart, there's the fact that the company's CEO and many of its top executives came from logistics.This shows the importance of logistics and distribution to Wal-Mart from one side.Over the years, it is through the seamless point-to-point logistics system that Wal-Mart's products have been able to move smoothly from the factory to the shelf, with high efficiency and low cost, supporting Wal-Mart's "everyday parity" in various shopping malls in various countries around the world.
At present, Suning has 4 third-generation logistics bases, 89 distribution centers, and more than 200 distribution points across the country. The logistics system provides retail distribution, store allocation, D to XD allocation, DD allocation, home appliance trade-in, city express, member gifts And catalog sales, remote inspection and repair and other businesses have formed a three-level system integrated operation mode in the country, including long-distance delivery to cities, short-distance delivery to stores, and retail delivery to households.
With the development goal of "network integration, operation mechanization, management informationization, and talent knowledgeization", Suning Logistics has established a collection, delivery, and storage system with the help of self-developed warehouse management system (WMS) and transportation management system (TMS) and other management systems. The supply chain management information system of , transportation and delivery has realized two-hour on-time delivery, providing customers with high-quality, fast and satisfactory logistics services.
According to a report, the domestic logistics industry has the largest business volume from the retail industry, because most of the retail logistics business chooses to outsource.Few companies have built their own logistics bases like Suning.
Why does Suning insist on doing it personally?
Suning's first consideration is the long-term profit.The integration of the logistics supply chain is the last part of the industry that can tap benefits, and there are more benefits hidden in it.Everyone in the industry knows that there are generally three sources of profit for home appliance chain retail companies: one is the price difference between purchase and sale; the other is supplier rebates; the third is optimizing the supply chain and reducing logistics costs.The room for improvement by relying on the first and second sources is increasingly limited.Improving the efficiency of logistics turnover, reducing logistics costs and obtaining profits has become the future trend of China's chain retail industry.
The success of the international chain giant Wal-Mart has also confirmed the advantages of this approach.Wal-Mart is interconnected through satellites and information systems, and its headquarters can check the inventory, sales, and product shelves of any chain store at any time, and notify truck drivers of the latest road condition information to adjust the best route for vehicle delivery.In this way, Wal-Mart maximizes its transportation potential and improves work efficiency.According to the survey, Wal-Mart's inventory flow rate is much higher than the average rate of the US retail industry.By reducing costs, Wal-Mart supermarkets have gained an absolute advantage in price.
Suning's second consideration is to better serve consumers.Zhang Jindong always believes: "Doing logistics by yourself will give you more peace of mind." The reason is that doing logistics by yourself is controllable and can be implemented in place without damaging the brand reputation.If you rely purely on the manufacturer's logistics system or third-party logistics, and don't understand the details, there is a risk of encountering a large number of customer complaints and not being able to find out the problem. "In terms of form, our peers in the industry are the same as us. They also rent a warehouse and find some social resources. This is not much different from our model. But in terms of nature, it is different. It is mainly in the operation In terms of management, we let the carrier take care of themselves, but our management and operation are integrated, and the carrier must follow the company's specifications and procedures, and accept the evaluation. In addition, for the entire operation, it is the carrier itself To pick up and release goods in their rented warehouse, the carrier is actually the job of a warehouse manager. And we do our own standardized warehouse management model. The advanced nature of Suning Logistics is reflected in this place, we are no longer just a Warehouse manager, but the leader of the entire supply chain."
The significance of Suning’s spare no effort to build its own logistics system lies in: through the independent construction of large-scale logistics bases and after-sales service networks, combined with the terminal sales network all over the country, an efficient and fast-running distribution system can be formed to improve the complex and dispute-prone logistics environment in the past. Change the embarrassing situation in the past that manufacturers "can't find the channel when carrying the goods" and merchants "can't find the source of goods" in the commodity circulation, and truly create a commercial pattern of integrated circulation.
Therefore, in a sense, Suning's logistics strategy aims to participate in the construction of national competitive advantages, change and enhance China's backward commercial logistics competitiveness.As a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Zhang Jindong once submitted a proposal at the Two Sessions, titled "Supporting the Construction of Modern Circulation Infrastructure Platforms, Driving Industrial Upgrades and Stimulating Domestic Demand and Consumption".In this proposal, he emphasized that large-scale retail enterprises have the ability to independently develop and settle down for development. While changing the appearance of local cities, they can also bring about increases in investment, employment, consumption and taxation.
At present, Suning Appliance has established four major logistics bases in Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Shenyang, and the construction of logistics bases in Chongqing, Tianjin, Chengdu, Changchun, Wuxi, Hefei, Xuzhou and other places is also in full swing.According to the plan, Suning Appliance will eventually have about 60 large-scale modern logistics bases across the country. At the beginning of 2009, Zhang Jindong, chairman of Suning Appliance, said in an interview with the media that accelerating the construction of the logistics center is the foundation laid by Suning Appliance for the goal of a century-old store.Suning Appliance will select several important cities among the 60 logistics bases as the national B2C commodity allocation center, truly achieving centralized storage, centralized management, faster turnover, and lower operating costs.
"The construction of logistics is indeed a foundation of our chain development, and it is a long-term project." Zhang Jindong said.According to Suning's calculations, the average investment in a regional logistics base is between 200 million and 300 million yuan, and self-built logistics system can be said to be a huge project.Zhang Jindong said that this investment is of great significance. "It is not simply a matter of reducing costs, but actually a guarantee for the stable and sustainable development of our chain business."
The so-called logistics is composed of two basic elements: "material" and "flow".Among them, things refer to commodities, and flow refers to turnover.Therefore, the logistics base is not a warehouse for storing commodities, but a platform for commodity turnover.Modern logistics is to tap benefits from traditional models.
In the traditional logistics model, warehousing is the core function. In the absence of scientific management, excessive inventory often occurs. Unreasonable inventory has a great impact on the enterprise.
First of all, inventory occupies a large amount of working capital, which affects the efficiency of capital operation of enterprises.For any enterprise, capital is the most precious. It is the blood of the enterprise and the guarantee for the continuous operation of the enterprise.However, inventory occupies a large amount of funds. If the flow of these funds is not smooth, the interest will be increased in vain, which will directly affect the return on assets of the enterprise, reduce the economic benefits of the enterprise, and reduce the return on funds.
Secondly, when the inventory increases, it means that additional storage places are required, resulting in waste of excess warehouse construction investment.Inventory requires space to store it, thus taking up another valuable resource for businesses—warehousing space.Inventory not only occupies working capital, but also occupies fixed assets, which further increases the demand for corporate funds and further deteriorates the overall efficiency.When the inventory increases, the amount of handling will also increase, the need to increase the storage and storage places, the need to increase protective measures, the need to increase the time for daily management and collection, etc., and even the time for stocktaking will increase, which is a waste.Inventory management is the most fundamental issue in the supply chain management of home appliance chain enterprises.
Chain operation, supported by large-scale sales, implements low-price strategy and expands market share.The number and sales scale of chain stores have laid the foundation for enterprises to seize market share. The sharp increase in sales of home appliances relies on huge stocking stocks. The rise in land rents in urban core business districts has forced chain companies to locate warehouses in the suburbs, implementing business flow first, logistics The sales delivery mode after delivery.Although consumers have accepted the product distribution model that separates business flow and logistics, the delivery time limit acceptable to customers is generally within 24 hours.
In order to meet customers' requirements for timely logistics services, Suning, like other peers, adopted a decentralized distribution model at the beginning - setting up warehouses in areas near the target market, and each warehouse is responsible for the stocking and distribution of all commodities in several chain stores.In other words, every time a store is opened in a city, a warehouse must be set up.If there are 1,000 branches, then Suning will have 1,000 warehouses across the country; Suning sells 10,000 kinds of goods, and each warehouse must store 10,000 kinds of goods.
However, with the rapid expansion of the number of chain stores and the rapid expansion of sales volume, this original inventory model has gradually exposed its disadvantages: First, the number of warehouses is large, and each warehouse must store almost the same inventory, which is easy to cause a backlog , affecting cash flow; secondly, the platforms of each branch company are not uniform, and it is difficult to transfer and circulate products among each other. No matter whether the products are sold well or not, they must be stocked in the warehouse. thing.Sometimes in order to prevent a large number of goods from suddenly arriving in the warehouse, the warehouse often reserves 1/5 of the warehouse for emergency needs.
Taking the Jiangsu market as an example, a warehouse is set up in Zhenjiang, a warehouse in Taizhou, and a warehouse in Jurong City under Zhenjiang, which brings many warehouse management problems.It is impossible to set up a warehouse of tens of thousands of square meters in a small place, and a warehouse of only a few hundred square meters will lead to insufficient goods, and sometimes there will be out of stock.You can’t store only one or two of a variety. In such a small warehouse, if there are too many, it will not be enough.How to do it?
Suning began to innovate warehouse management.On the one hand, Suning has begun to integrate warehouses and streamline the number of warehouses. There are no warehouses within 150 kilometers. It is a "shared central warehouse".The warehouse in Zhenjiang will be dismantled, and the warehouse in Nanjing will be expanded accordingly. If the inventory increases, the stock will not be out of stock.This solves the problem of out-of-stock in Zhenjiang.
On the other hand, in addition to delivering goods to users during the day, logistics and transportation also need to increase operations at night.For example, when a user in Zhenjiang places an order, Suning’s Nanjing headquarters will prepare the goods in the evening, deliver the goods at night, and deliver them to the user’s home in Zhenjiang early the next morning. For consumers, it is also timely.
In 2005, Suning officially started the warehouse integration plan.Today, Suning has less than 100 central warehouses across the country, and not all cities have distribution centers.There are distribution points under the distribution center, and the number of unsold goods in the distribution points is far greater than that of the central warehouse, which has reached more than 200 at present.
The distribution center is responsible for the storage and distribution of all commodities in the radiation area, and has the functions of urban distribution and regional allocation.For example, Suning has only three central warehouses in the entire Anhui Province-Bengbu, Hefei, and Wuhu distribution centers, and there are six distribution points under the Hefei central warehouse, all of which are delivered by the Hefei warehouse.In the past, factory deliveries had to be delivered to Fuyang and Anqing, but now they only need to be delivered to Hefei.The quantity of inventory is concentrated in one place, and the quantity can be larger, and the operation management can be centralized, and the resources can be concentrated.
The distribution point is only the foothold for night delivery, and there is no inventory in its warehouse.For example, if an order is received from a customer in Zhenjiang during the day, the Nanjing logistics distribution center will pull the goods to the Zhenjiang distribution point for temporary storage that night, and deliver them to the user's home the next morning.
"Suning has broken the regional limitations in terms of logistics. For example, from Nanjing to Jurong, the goods are not from Zhenjiang to Jurong, but directly from Nanjing to Jurong, realizing a point-to-point network." This is exactly what the industry said. "Seamless point-to-point" logistics system.
At present, most of Suning's central warehouses are rented outside warehouses, and the distribution points adopt two methods: one is to rent warehouses, which are about 200-300 square meters; the other is to store them directly in stores, because Suning's stores themselves There are warehouses.
The centralized distribution method of "central warehouse + distribution point" effectively reduces the total inventory, accelerates capital turnover, and gets rid of the waste of diseconomies of scale.Although the delivery distance increases after receiving the customer's order, reliable and fast transportation can ensure that the goods arrive within the customer's expected delivery time limit, and the product only needs to be shipped once, reducing the total amount of cross-shipment and avoiding loading and unloading at many different locations. , reducing the total cost of transportation.
At present, the logistics form of the home appliance industry is roughly like this: generally, suppliers set up warehouses in major cities to store goods, and after receiving orders from merchants, they transport the goods to the merchant's warehouses, and the merchants then deliver them to stores or consumers' homes.
As for the distribution based on the logistics base, Suning's approach is that the supplier only needs to be responsible for the cost from the factory to the logistics base, and the logistics cost from the logistics base to each store or user is borne by Suning Appliance itself.Such an approach undoubtedly reduces the pressure on upstream suppliers.
For example, Suning has 30 chain stores in Nanjing, which are distributed in different regions and have different sales scales.As far as the factory is concerned, if it is sent to some relatively small stores in the outer suburbs of Suning, due to the consideration of transportation costs, when those small stores ask for goods, the factory will start to find various reasons to shirk, resulting in the shortage of these small stores in Suning. goods.With Suning's own channels, the factory only needs to deliver the goods to Suning's central warehouse in Nanjing, and the rest can be handed over to Suning.In this way, on the one hand, the transportation cost of the factory is reduced, and on the other hand, Suning stores can avoid out-of-stock phenomena.
With the increasing concentration of home appliance manufacturing and home appliance distribution, merchants and suppliers will gradually share a warehouse or logistics center in the future and realize information sharing.The new cooperation method between Suning and manufacturers is equivalent to allowing manufacturers to share their own logistics bases and realize the integration of the industry's supply chain.
Through this new joint inventory management and delivery model, manufacturers can obtain stable orders, reduce a large inventory backlog caused by forecast errors, and effectively reduce logistics costs through large-scale operations; while Suning can obtain a stable supply of goods and avoid replenishment of goods Risk and out-of-stock risk, reduce the frequency of out-of-stock, and greatly reduce the expenditure on inventory costs.The reduction of supply chain links reduces the total inventory and logistics costs of the entire supply chain, and at the same time speeds up the response speed to meet customer needs, maximizes chain synergy and supply chain synergy, reduces commodity production, storage, and sales risks, and improves The overall competitive strength of the supply chain benefits all nodes in the supply chain.
Suning's powerful and sound logistics system can greatly reduce transportation costs, loading and unloading costs, warehousing costs and logistics damage through direct connection with manufacturers. The total logistics cost is expected to be reduced by more than 30%, saving hundreds of millions of yuan in logistics costs for consumers across the country.Major suppliers value Suning's strong logistics guarantee and unimpeded distribution channels, and have cooperated with Suning to form alliances and share benefits.
Suning's logistics distribution process is based on finance as the management and control process, and unifies procurement, sales, and logistics under one platform.Under this platform, the collection information of the POS machine can be transmitted to the distribution center immediately, and the distribution center will respond to generate a distribution order.Before completing a task, all delivery vehicles must first go to the distribution hall to go through the out-of-warehouse formalities, receive the out-of-warehouse order, and then go to the warehouse to pick up and deliver the goods; after completing the order, they must go to the distribution hall to write off the item. Task.
With the support of advanced information systems, Suning has precisely controlled the flow of commodities.In the warehouse, after the delivery order is carefully checked by the warehouse keeper, the home appliances are moved from the warehouse, loaded and unloaded to the vehicle. Due to the mechanization of the whole process, the shipping efficiency is very high, and it only takes more than ten minutes to fill a car.
Jin Ming, President of Suning Appliances, explained: "After the user invoices and pays in the mall, the information is simultaneously transmitted to our nationwide real-time networking system. For example, as long as a user in Zhenjiang purchases at any store in Zhenjiang, the Nanjing logistics center can see it. Delivery dispatching and warehouse picking are carried out simultaneously. The dispatching of labor is divided according to the line. For example, the user invoices at the mall and enters the POS system to register the delivery time and address. If he is a Suning member, he only needs to pay the money, and the POS machine will immediately Print out the invoice, and all the data will be transmitted to us simultaneously. We can see that the specific order is transferred from the order at the front desk to the delivery order, and the order is issued in chronological order. Then, the dispatcher will Schedule tomorrow's delivery order according to the area and route we transport, and put it on each car, with more than 20 units in each car."
With finance as the center, another major advantage is that it is easy to reconcile accounts.In the past, business was the center, and each department had an account. If the account involved two departments, it would be difficult to clarify.For example, the sales department requires the warehouse to show some products as samples, which cannot be included in the physical account of the warehouse, but can only be done manually.However, if there are too many manual accounts, it will be very troublesome to reconcile the system accounts with the physical accounts, so almost no one knows how many commodities are in Suning's warehouse.With finance as the center and a unified platform, there is no need for manual accounts when items flow between departments, and all kinds of information can be seen at a glance.
Suning Logistics always takes "delivering the right goods to the right place at the right time" as its ultimate goal, and continues to provide customers with high-quality and fast delivery services.
The shopping experience in Suning usually surprises consumers.For example, at 10:58 in the morning, I paid and placed an order to buy a refrigerator, and when I got home at 12:30 noon, Suning's delivery staff delivered the refrigerator.Today, ordering goods on Suning can be delivered within two hours.Such fastness comes from the "high-tech weapons" delivered by Suning.
Since 2003, Suning has started to transform its logistics system.Suning, who has always been targeting Wal-Mart, first thought of "high-tech weapons".
Jin Ming gave an example: "In the past, when we delivered goods to a user's home, how did we know whether the goods had been delivered? We just called the user's home to inquire. At that time, we set up a unified phone number 6668800, which was to deliver the goods to the user. Home, the user calls us, and we have a special person to register and confirm that the goods have been received. But there are two problems: one is not sure whether the user called us; the other is that the delivery time is relatively concentrated , the call can’t come in, so will the delivery man leave? This caused a conflict in the operation. After research, it was decided to send a text message. The delivery worker is equipped with a mobile phone, and the order number is on the work sheet. Enter the tracking number, write 1 when you are finished, write 2 if you have not finished, send a text message, the computer receives it, and the operator connects with the system, which solves the problem of not being able to make calls. But it is still impossible to know the accuracy of the delivery What should we do? How do we monitor operations? So we cooperated with network operators to develop a full-process online system, which is connected to our system. This system won a national second prize."
Suning specially made a STK card, which has two functions: first, it can send the task of delivering a car by the delivery worker on the day to the STK card, and each order number is clearly listed on it; second, the user When buying a product, there is a receipt with a password on it, which only the user knows. Suning can only know the user's number by getting the receipt from the user, and determine whether it will be delivered through the receipt.The installer enters the password on the receipt form into the backstage computer of the headquarters. After entering the password, if the system prompts that it is correct, it means that the user's home is also correct.If it is not successful, the background will tell the deliveryman that there is an error.Through the STK card, whether the deliveryman delivered the product correctly to the user's home, when it was delivered, and how many units were delivered on the day, and how many units were not delivered, the background can quickly know.
在苏宁电器的物流体系中，仓储管理系统和运输管理系统两个管理系统的应用十分关键。其中，仓储管理系统的功能主要包括库存管理、库位管理、月台管理等，能够很好地管理巨量仓位的作业，并有效支持不同用户的各项信息需求，更加合理地平衡工作负载，从货位优化、减少包装损坏、减少商品识别错误、提高库存准确性等细节入手，提高有限仓储空间的利用率，降低作业成本，在入库处理、库存管理、出库处理、费用结算等方面创造更多的物流价值。运输管理系统则主要针对订单的零售配送和长途配送，优化路线排程计划，在显著减少配送里程和工作时间等方面发挥了重要作用。
关于运输管理系统，金明作了这样的详细解释：“在导入运输管理系统之前，送货车辆的实际行驶路线与派工安排的路线是不是一致，很多时候我们的后台无从掌控。比如，后台给所派车辆安排了20家送货任务，在给这20家用户送货的过程中，司机是否按照设定路线执行，后台其实是不清楚的。运输管理系统就很好地解决了这个问题。通过运输管理系统，用户在购买的时候可以自主选择具体的送货日期和时间。如果是VIP用户，则有三种选择，一般用户有两种选择。比如用户选择上午10点到12点送货，苏宁后台就会自动派工，而且一定有一个地图，进行自动排程。运输管理系统有一个好处，就是能够把地图当中这个城市中的禁区排出来。如果遇到堵车或者其他突发状况，送货员可以发个信息回来，后台打开地图就可以看到当下车在哪里，及时告知应急措施。”
依靠“高科技武装”，苏宁对于配送人员的执行细节了如指掌，确保送货的速度和精准性。
在库存管理上，苏宁有一套严格的标准。工厂的货进到苏宁仓库的时候，具体放到哪个房间是由苏宁指定的。苏宁将所有商品按销售情况分为A、B、C三类，A类B类为销量还不错的商品，直接存储在城市小型仓库内，销量比较小的C类则集中存储在物流基地，由基地向一定半径内的门店统一供货。
“这三类商品摆放是有规则的，但比较复杂。我们原来的仓库是平库，从平库拿货最简单，后来变成货架式，从上层取货就很困难。我们从下层取货，然后用上层的货进行补货。叉车司机负责补货，从上层往下层补。实际上，从底层拿货，底层拣选的比例越高，就说明补货的速度越快。所以，按照ABC三类原则，肯定A类货靠近出货口，C类商品就往后面放，这样跑起来的周期就不会那么长了。这些都是系统放好的，所有人都有一个手持终端RF枪，只要扫描一下条码号，条码号在货架上面都有，叫仓位号，每个托盘上面有托盘号，托盘上面还有商品号。托盘跟仓位是捆绑的，所以这个货就固定在那个地方。等到取货的时候也是这样，系统会寻找哪个是最近的出货点，然后取货员就可以到这个地方取货。拣货人员也是一样，依据指令到某一个仓位取货。”
ABC库存管理的好处很多，首先就是库存会减少，以前每个仓库都会存上一定量的C类商品，而规划之后只有大型物流基地的仓库才会存储；其次，库存周转率能大大提高，每个门店C类商品销量不大，所以C类商品会常年积压，而统一由物流基地配送的话，则一个基地辐射多个门店，库存周转率会大大提高。
ABC库存管理虽然有上述好处，但毕竟还是“机械+人工”的做法。目前，苏宁正在逐步启用全自动仓库。在全自动化仓库里，有一个堆垛机终日来回穿梭。系统发出一个指令，堆垛机就产生一个升降概念，还可以横向、纵向行走，完全自动化，十分智能快捷。
比如苏宁在南京有32个门店，每个门店陈列100～200件不同种类的商品。这么庞大的商品需求量，你靠人工在仓库分拣很麻烦，也很容易出错。自动化仓库就可以解决这一问题。当天厂家送来50台洗衣机，苏宁就根据门店需求，把洗衣机放到各个门店的货架区。等到发货的时候，通过自动化系统，把洗衣机从货架里取出来，之后送到捡配台，用机器捡，也就是拆零，机器设定好了，把每个门店作为一个道口，RF枪过来扫码的时候，就往不同的道口走，这就像机场的行李传输、邮局信件拣选一样，一个道口对应一个门店。
什么是苏宁的“最长板”？业内人士常常说苏宁的内功相当出色，但是真正了解苏宁的人都知道，苏宁的内功相当出色是因为它有行业领先的信息化。经过前后四代信息化改造，苏宁为中国零售业信息化建设树立了新的里程碑，苏宁的第四代信息化工程被人们称为“SAP全球零售业信息化灯塔工程”。信息化让苏宁受益无穷，并遥遥领先于业内同行。
信息化是现代商业连锁的灵魂。各个行业对信息系统的依赖程度，除了金融业、电信业以外，就属零售业依赖程度最高了。全球大型的零售企业，如沃尔玛、家乐福等，对信息技术的平均投资每年要占到其利润的10％～17％。近年来苏宁一直坚持采取两种增长方式——内生式与外延式并重，并且一直保持着家电连锁企业中最高的单店赢利水平，其中一个重要的原因是苏宁基于后台信息平台系统的建设，为其内部管理带来了一系列变革性的影响。苏宁实施的以信息化建设为主导的后台战略，正在重新定义零售行业的技术标准，为其注入高科技内涵，加速推进中国现代服务业的发展进程。
苏宁信息化始终走在中国家电行业的最前端。
苏宁副总裁、信息化负责人任峻介绍说：“早在20世纪90年代中期销售空调的时候，苏宁就比较重视信息化。那个时候家电行业还普遍没有信息化的概念，只有电脑的概念，张总朦胧地感觉到信息技术是决定未来企业发展的一个重要因素。我们最早提出在前台的零售中要做电脑打印开票，中国第一张打印的增值税发票就是在苏宁诞生的。我们最早提出要求，对所有客户的服务要做到档案的信息化。今天看来这是最基本的，开一个杂货店都得做到。但这是我们在企业发展和管理过程中，在初始阶段就作为零售行业内在的要求被我们提出来的。在这一点上，苏宁是想得最早，也是实施最早的企业。”
2000年是苏宁实施信息化的一个重要年份。2000年，国内一个流行的说法是：“上ERP是找死，不上ERP是等死。”然而，苏宁却不为所动，针对自己设定的全国连锁战略目标，高瞻远瞩地实施了中国家电连锁业第一个ERP管理系统。此后，这套ERP管理系统成为中国家电连锁业的通用系统，沿用至今。
当苏宁提出在全国开设1500家连锁店的时候，所有人都很惊讶其是否能开到这么多店。其实，苏宁之所以有底气，是因为它提出开设1500家连锁店的战略目标时，做了一件很重要的事——建立一个配套的ERP系统。
零售业的架构基本上是分散式的，就是以店为单位，一个区域为一个单位。但是苏宁却采用了集中式的架构，整个服务器、机房全部集中在总部，所有分公司都是销售客户端，店面只是一台电脑终端。苏宁采用集中式的架构，是基于两个方面的考虑。
第一，苏宁认为系统架构必须是总部控制型的，这与连锁发展的原则是相对应的，而且系统的架构与企业的架构是有关系的。
第二，苏宁认为未来网络会越来越发达，以前之所以分散有网络的问题，但未来信息高速公路越来越发达，成本会越来越低。
在集中式系统支撑之下，2001年苏宁开始全面发展。到2004年上市为止，苏宁能够比较快速、稳健地发展，信息系统对苏宁来说是功不可没的，并且对整个行业也有着重要的历史意义。2000年最早开发的第一代ERP系统，是苏宁和武汉的一家企业一起开发的，其中安装、维修、配送系统就是苏宁自己开发的，由双方共同拥有。这个系统后来在中国家电连锁零售行业备受欢迎，所有家电连锁企业都在用，包括国美、五星电器到现在都在用这个系统。当时中国很多连锁企业还在考虑开多少家店、怎么谈判落实等问题，还没有想怎么梳理企业的流程。苏宁花费巨大精力研发ERP，对行业信息化作出了可贵的贡献。
2005年，苏宁完成了在全国一级城市的战略布点，进入第二个发展期。
此时苏宁考虑的问题主要有两个：一个是如何纵深式连锁发展；一个是如何实现跨区域、跨业务的资源整合，更好地体现连锁的规模效益。
2005年7月，苏宁启动了SAP/ERP。
新一轮SAP/ERP的启动，在以下几个方面有很重要的意义。
第一，进一步明确了信息化对苏宁的经营管理起到了支撑作用，具有重要的战略意义。信息化应用是苏宁连锁零售发展的基础，也是苏宁的“核武器”。
第二，通过SAP/ERP信息系统的应用，苏宁能实现跨区域和跨业务模块的整合。
上了SAP/ERP之后，苏宁的系统架构就变成了一个真正的大集中，不仅是物理上的大集中，而是实现了企业信息化应用架构的逻辑式大集中，可以随意调动企业的各种资源。
2007年，苏宁认为要持续深化SAP/ERP系统，不仅要在集团层面做到“大而全”，而且还要在部门应用层面做到“小而专”，大量开发一些专业化的系统，比如说如何实现配送效率的提高，如何实现产品管理的精准化，如何实现客户针对性等，所以引申出来很多应用功能方面的需求，这些问题不是SAP/ERP能够解决的。其中，有一些专业化软件是现成的；比较成熟，实践证明非常有效；有一些专业化软件是现成的还没有开发出来，需要苏宁自己去开发。
如何整合不同的系统，使其不成为一个个信息孤岛呢？2007年，苏宁在信息化方面提出了SOA（SOA，即Service-OrientedArchitecture，面向服务架构）理念，建立企业服务总线，把企业各个专业化系统互相之间的信息传递和功能的协同有效地整合起来。2008年，苏宁全面实现以SOA作为企业架构的完全整合的信息系统。
在新的信息化系统里面有哪些软件呢？最底层是ERP。ERP流程、财务的管理，由SAP系统实现。在这个基础上，苏宁有仓库管理的专门系统。比如立体仓库的管理，苏宁就有专门的系统，比如如何管理货架；在配送方面，苏宁和UPS公司共同开发了配送管理系统，可以实现自动排程、专载和客户服务时间的预计计算，包括定位，以提高派工效率，减少运输成本，提高对客户准时性的服务，以及监管整个服务流程；在客户服务方面，苏宁实施了CRM系统（客户关系管理系统）。总之，基于SOA理念的新系统是一个涵盖了方方面面管理的庞杂系统。“让我们能够精确管理到苏宁这个巨大连锁平台的每一根毛细血管。”苏宁人如此描述。
在SOA架构的支持下，流程效率得到了很大的提高，而且内部流程管理的透明性也提高了。从此以后，分公司只是做业务，真正的处理是在总部，这就意味着苏宁内部肯定是透明的，既是效率的提高，也是透明化的提高。另外，企业的绩效变得更加透明，每个人工作的结果是什么样的，可以看得很清楚。
如今，苏宁仍在加快信息化建设的步伐。2009年9月，苏宁再次与IBM合作，引进IBM“智慧的地球”理念，提出打造“智慧苏宁”：“当一个企业变大后，可以改进的空间也随之变大，但是最终目的是通过信息技术和经营经验相结合，更深层次地挖掘各种数据的价值，改进无序、低效的流程，让企业的资源发挥最大的商业价值，同时为客户提供更优质的购物体验。”在前一阶段，苏宁只是实现了与上游供应商的ERP系统互联，提升交易过程的效率。如今，在跟供应商的ERP系统互联中，除了共享业务信息外，“智慧的苏宁”还向供应商提供数据增值服务。通过双方系统的链接，供应商可以进入苏宁的信息系统，随时察看自己产品的销售进度和库存情况，由此供应商可以更快地清除库存，生产适销对路的产品。
2004年11月，苏宁和海尔成立联合经营推进公司，全面创新同上游制造企业的整合模式，形成家电产业链的无缝对接，在业内引起轰动。成立联合经营推进公司以来，海尔在苏宁连锁体系内的销售增长高达100％，海尔产品在两天内可以送达苏宁任何一家连锁店，海尔新品在苏宁各地的核心旗舰店可以同时面市。同时，每天苏宁都将上百条市场反馈信息传送给海尔。海尔–苏宁的合作模式被评为中国家电业十大事件之一。
苏宁的ERP信息平台的建设不仅针对内部，也对供应商开放。目前苏宁有1200多家零售终端门店，供应商达2万多家，供应链运作相当复杂。对于下游业务，苏宁要通过分布在全国各地的门店，将商品销售给最终消费者；对于上游业务，苏宁从商品、采购计划、订单、收发货、结算对账、信息交流等方面与供应商沟通，包括物流、资金流、信息流等交叉作业。因此，供应链上每一环节增值与否、增值多少都会影响苏宁与上游供应商的竞争能力。
苏宁与三星等企业的信息化合作也产生了巨大的效益。最初，苏宁与三星拥有各自独立的信息化系统，当时的合作模式是：三星根据苏宁的订单供货，至于具体的销售情况只能在月度或季度对账时才能了解。其结果是，热销产品缺货时往往无法及时补货，而滞销产品只能在库房中慢慢贬值。如今，苏宁通过B2B信息化技术直接与三星等供应商进行对接，可以有效弥补上述缺陷。
B2B对接后，三星可以随时进入苏宁的ERP系统，查看自己产品的销售进度和库存情况，减少了业务沟通成本，减轻了劳动强度。与此同时，利用苏宁与消费者直接接触获取的市场信息，三星可以更快地清除库存，生产适销对路的产品。于是，供应链在良性循环中得以完善。
正因为如此，LG、索尼、海尔、摩托罗拉等与苏宁对接企业的客服在第一时间就掌握了其商品用户的信息，可以及时按照各自品牌的要求对用户进行回访，更好地完善售后服务环节。
通过B2B对接，透明化和公开化使得厂商博弈成分减少，上游厂家再也不会对苏宁的订单审来审去，双方在互利双赢中实现了良性合作，长期存在的供应链契合不佳的老问题也终于借助信息化得到了解决。
就现阶段而言，苏宁的订单在内部有需求预测、采购、补货、库存正常化四个环节。
苏宁内部下任何一个订单的时候，都要分析所采购的货物在店里的销售情况，预测不同的店面未来有多少销售量，然后汇总。在预测的基础上，苏宁向供应商采购，然后把货物通过物流分送到不同的店里，余下的进入库存。问题是，需求预测未必准确，虚拟的预测和假设有可能导致苏宁的采购出现与实际需求较大的偏差，并且还会将此传导给厂家。
从2005年开始，在SAP/ERP上线的同时，苏宁实施了面向所有供应商的B2B系统。苏宁和战略伙伴型的产品供应商已经形成了CPFR管理模式：协同、计划、预测、补货。苏宁把自己的需求预测和来自于市场第一线的信息，通过自己的总结和分析告诉供应商，供应商通知自己的生产环节，按计划生产。接下来供应商把货物发给苏宁，苏宁就进入了自己内部的分货环节。
以前这两个环节是断掉的，也就是说苏宁作苏宁的需求预测，比如苏宁对供应商说要1000台货，供应商说不行，现在只有500台货；供应商生产自己的，有时供应商说你得要1万台货，因为我们已经生产了10万台。两种情况都会出现，于是双方的谈判就开始了。
现在苏宁把自己的需求预测告诉供应商，供应商可能有自己的计划，但是供应商的计划要得到苏宁计划的验证，可能供应商生产出来的货很多，但是苏宁要的货很少。当这种情况出现之后，双方及时坐下来商量，分析是厂家的生产预测环节出现了问题，还是苏宁的市场预测环节出现了问题。这个环节做好了之后，供应商的库存既不会大量积压，也不会大量缺货，同时供应商的生产环节、零部件供应环节也会更加有序，组织生产更有计划性。
这样做的结果就是把流通渠道的作用真正发挥出来了，苏宁把市场的第一手信息最终传递到生产的研发环节。从宏观的角度讲，整个社会的需求和供应更加有序。从微观的角度讲，苏宁和供应商之间的供应链更有效率了。
零售店之所以生意兴隆，本质不在于便宜，而在于其提供了满足顾客需要的产品和服务。任何零售店在创业初期都不会比其同行的价格具有更大的优势，最终推动一个零售店成长为具有规模效应的连锁体系甚至强势品牌，其根本在于“服务”这一关键因素。也就是说，是零售企业或其品牌独特的服务系统或文化在培养顾客的购物偏好，满足和提升消费者的购物感觉，而不是其售卖的便宜产品本身。
彼得·德鲁克说：“21世纪的跨国企业不太可能是制造业公司，而是服务业，新经济就是服务经济，服务就是竞争优势。”
当沃尔玛荣登全球500强企业之首的时候，有关其成功的原因，外界的结论是由于低价。沃尔玛的负责人对此感到很委屈：“当人们提到沃尔玛时，不要去想我们每年2000多亿美元的销售数字，那并不代表沃尔玛。我希望沃尔玛在人们心中的印象永远是蓝色的工作服，以及能让你们满意并再次光临的微笑。”很显然，沃尔玛希望人们关注自己的最大魅力——服务。
服务是在为消费者创造价值，又何尝不是在给企业本身创造价值？哈佛大学的一项调查指出，只需要在被感知的客户关系质量方面稍作一些改进，就会产生意想不到的巨大影响，几乎可以使销售收入增加一倍。这份调研报告还指出：“再次光临”的顾客可以为公司带来25%～85%的利润，而吸引他们“再次光临”的因素中，首先是服务质量的好坏，其次是产品本身的品质，最后是价格。
企业，首先必须明确自己的产品是什么，只有明确了自己的产品，才可能知道自己的消费者在哪里，他们对产品有什么要求，从而才能明确如何努力使自己的产品更好地满足消费者的需要。
对于连锁零售商而言，他们提供场所售卖商品，但售卖的不是自己的产品，换句话说，他们奉献最多的是提供服务和管理连锁店，所以从根本上来说，连锁商隶属于服务型企业，服务是他们“卖”的唯一产品。
作为商业零售企业的一员，苏宁经销的各类电器产品都是供应商直接提供的，真正属于自己的产品只有服务，自己真正能够掌控的手段也只有服务。强化服务意识，加强服务管理，丰富服务内容是苏宁必然的发展道路。这一点，张近东在决意开零售连锁店的第一天就早已意识到了。甚至早在创业卖空调的时候，他就已经将服务视做苏宁最核心的武器。可以说，服务是苏宁最天然的竞争力。
服务是苏宁品牌的核心品性和基础调性。在苏宁，服务是集团连锁网络发展重要的大后勤、大后方，是集团和消费者之间的桥梁。服务体系承担着“打造中国最优秀的连锁服务品牌”的重要职责。因此，苏宁一直致力于服务的创