Looking East at the Future of Logistics物流未來看東方

韓嘉輝

The logistics arm of Alibaba， Cainiao， has been pioneering warehouse automation within China， as online shopping has been spurred on by its parent companys growing e-commerce platform， Taobao. The e-commerce sector， worth $1.9TN （three times the size of the US market）， delivers 64BN parcels per year in China alone. Leading the way in recent years by developing more efficient logistics operations and building out a national ‘smart logistics network， Alibaba now embarks on an aggressive logistics expansion in China and abroad.

Automation in the warehouse

Chinas smartest warehouse， according to Cainiao， is located in Wuxi， China. The warehouse is home to 700+ automated guided vehicles （AGVs） that are equipped with WiFi and self-charge. Each robot is like a large Roomba vacuum cleaner， sweeping through a 3，000 square meter warehouse to carry up to 500 kilograms of goods across the warehouse. This dynamic means that when someone makes an online purchase in China， the AGV is activated to pick up the order within the warehouse so that human warehouse staff can assemble and ship it out.

Not just in the warehouse

Xiao G is Cainiaos delivery cart of the future. Every hour， the 3 × 5 foot autonomous vehicle—complete with sensor technology to safely navigate roads—will pick up packages from a delivery depot1 in Hangzhou and tour a nearby neighborhood to make its delivery runs. Locals meet the driverless cart at a delivery point， pin in a reference number to open up the designated door flap2 and pick up their purchased online goods.

Expanding overseas

Cainiao isnt just targeting oper-ations in China. It is also forming alliances with foreign partners to expand its business overseas.

Cainiao Network3 has opened a sorting and cargo facility at its Liege Electronic World Trade Platform （eWTP4） hub located at Liege Airport in Belgium.

The smart logistics hub is a key part of the agreement made in 2018 between Alibaba Group and the Belgian government to join the global eWTP initiative， which aims to lower barriers to global trade for small and medium-size businesses via e-commerce. The project located at Liege Airport is expected to create 900 jobs when it reaches full scale.

The 30，000m2 warehouse is divided into two parts： a 12，000m2 air cargo station for the rapid transit of goods for both export and import between the airside and the landside of the airport; and an 18，000m2 parcel sorting center that organizes parcels according to their destinations across Europe. A four-story office building is adjacent to the warehouse.

The facility is equipped with Cainiaos latest logistics digital technologies such as its handheld LEMO5 personal digit- al assistant （PDA）. The air cargo station is equipped with an automated material handling system that avoids heavy lifting work. It will also be equipped with radio frequency identification （RFID） detectors so cargo can be identified automatically when going into the warehouse， to further digitize the flow of goods.

Over the past few years， along with the construction of the eWTP Liege Hub， Cainiao has been strengthening its logistics infrastructure to provide a more efficient and seamless cross-border logistics experience across Europe. It also， working closely with Euopean logistics firms， developed an intra-Europe trucking network that covers more than 30 countries， and has been installing a network of parcel lockers6 in Spain and France to improve customer experience and improve last-mile delivery efficiency.

Last November， Cainiao Network announced it is to establish a smart warehouse network in Southeast Asia， which will cover a total land area close to 2，500，000m2， across Vietnam， Indonesia， Malaysia and Singapore.

The network will comprise Cainiao Hubs， also known as cHubs， and be strategically located near key transportation nodes and manufacturing hubs in the region to tap into7 the regional ecosystems connectivity to global markets to build a resilient supply chain.

Equipped with cutting-edge technologies， the cHubs will play an instrumental role in the transformation of the logistics industry in Southeast Asia. Cainiao also hopes to put cHubs in a prime position to establish an innovative supply chain infrastructure while supporting local B2B and B2C businesses in their local distribution， supply chain and export needs.

Eric Xu， general manager of Cainiao Smart Hub， said， “It has always been Alibabas core mission to make it easy to do business anywhere. Strong export markets will be able to benefit from Cainiaos supply chain management services which will drive export demand.”

菜鳥是阿里巴巴集團旗下的物流部門，致力于開創(chuàng)中國自動化倉儲的先河;其母公司的電子商務(wù)平臺淘寶不斷發(fā)展，推動了網(wǎng)上購物。電子商務(wù)行業(yè)市場規(guī)模價值1.9萬億美元（相當(dāng)于美國市場規(guī)模的三倍），每年僅國內(nèi)就交付640億件包裹。近年來，阿里巴巴不斷引領(lǐng)潮流，發(fā)展更高效的物流業(yè)務(wù)，建設(shè)全國性的“智慧物流網(wǎng)絡(luò)”，如今更是著手在國內(nèi)外積極擴張物流業(yè)。

倉庫自動化

據(jù)菜鳥介紹，中國最頂尖的智能倉庫位于江蘇無錫。該倉庫擁有700多輛配備WiFi和自動充電功能的自動導(dǎo)引車。每輛導(dǎo)引車就像一臺大型Roomba掃地機器人，在占地3000平方米的倉庫里穿行，搬運重達500公斤的貨物。這種動態(tài)模式意味著，一旦國內(nèi)有人進行網(wǎng)購，就會激活自動導(dǎo)引車在倉庫內(nèi)接單，以便倉庫工作人員配貨并發(fā)貨。

配送自動化

在未來，小G將成為菜鳥的配送車。這輛3英尺×5英尺的無人車應(yīng)用傳感器技術(shù)來確定安全的行駛路線。每小時，它都會從杭州的一個配送站提取包裹，并在附近社區(qū)進行配送。當(dāng)?shù)鼐用裨谒拓淈c與無人車會合，輸入取件號，打開指定柜門，取走他們在網(wǎng)上購買的商品。

拓展海外市場

菜鳥的布局不止于國內(nèi)市場，它還與外國合作伙伴結(jié)成聯(lián)盟，拓展海外業(yè)務(wù)。

菜鳥列日“世界電子貿(mào)易平臺”（eWTP）樞紐位于比利時列日機場，菜鳥網(wǎng)絡(luò)科技有限公司在此建設(shè)了用于分揀和貨運的倉庫。

阿里巴巴集團與比利時政府于2018年簽署協(xié)議，加入全球eWTP計劃，該計劃旨在通過電子商務(wù)幫助中小企業(yè)降低全球貿(mào)易壁壘。這一智慧物流樞紐是協(xié)議中的關(guān)鍵部分，該項目位于列日機場，預(yù)計全面建成后將創(chuàng)造900個工作崗位。

3萬平方米的倉庫分為兩部分：1.2萬平方米的航空貨站，用于機場空側(cè)和陸側(cè)之間進出口貨物的快速中轉(zhuǎn);1.8萬平方米的分撥中心，可根據(jù)包裹在歐洲的目的地進行分揀。倉庫旁邊有一棟四層的辦公大樓。

倉庫應(yīng)用了菜鳥最新數(shù)字物流技術(shù)，如手持終端LEMO 個人數(shù)字助手。航空貨站配備了自動化物料搬運系統(tǒng)，避免了繁重的起重工作。貨站還將配備具有射頻識別功能的探測儀，自動識別進入倉庫的貨物，從而進一步實現(xiàn)物流數(shù)字化。

除了建設(shè)列日eWTP樞紐，過去幾年里菜鳥一直在加強物流基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)，以在整個歐洲提供更高效、更流暢的跨境物流服務(wù)。它還與歐洲物流公司密切合作，開發(fā)了一個覆蓋30多個國家的歐洲內(nèi)部貨運網(wǎng)，并正在西班牙和法國部署包裹自提柜網(wǎng)絡(luò)，用于改善客戶體驗，提高最后一英里的配送效率。

去年11月，菜鳥網(wǎng)絡(luò)宣布將在東南亞建立一個智能倉庫網(wǎng)絡(luò)，該網(wǎng)絡(luò)將覆蓋越南、印度尼西亞、馬來西亞和新加坡，總面積接近250萬平方米。

該網(wǎng)絡(luò)將由菜鳥樞紐（cHubs）組成，部署于該地區(qū)重要交通節(jié)點和制造業(yè)樞紐等戰(zhàn)略位置附近，從而連接區(qū)域生態(tài)系統(tǒng)與全球市場，構(gòu)建彈性供應(yīng)鏈。

擁有尖端技術(shù)的cHubs將在東南亞物流業(yè)的轉(zhuǎn)型中發(fā)揮重要作用。菜鳥還計劃將其置于首要地位，搭建創(chuàng)新型供應(yīng)鏈基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施，同時支持當(dāng)?shù)谺2B和B2C企業(yè)的本地分銷、供應(yīng)鏈和出口需求。

菜鳥智能樞紐總經(jīng)理徐躍東表示：“‘讓天下沒有難做的生意一直是阿里巴巴集團的核心使命。菜鳥的供應(yīng)鏈管理服務(wù)將推動出口需求，強大的出口市場將從中受益?！?/p>

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>

1 depot倉庫，儲藏處。? 2 flap（附于某物的）片狀下垂物，封蓋，口蓋，袋蓋。? 3 = Cainiao Network Technology Co.， Ltd.? 4世界電子貿(mào)易平臺。一項由私營部門牽頭并由所有利益相關(guān)者共同發(fā)起的倡議，旨在通過公私合作來培育電子貿(mào)易規(guī)則，并為跨境電子貿(mào)易（eTrade）的發(fā)展營造更加有效和高效的政策和商業(yè)環(huán)境。

5一款輕量級手持PDA，專為物流行業(yè)的專業(yè)操作而設(shè)計，如訂單分揀和存儲管理。

6 locker儲物柜;（體育館等的）有鎖存物柜，寄存柜。? 7 tap （into） sth利用，開發(fā)，發(fā)掘（已有的資源、知識等）。