solutions

Case Study: Background: CHINA POST, as a state-owned enterprise in China, has long held a pivotal position in the express delivery industry. With the rapid growth of business volume, the traditional sorting method—relying on manual search, identification, and sorting of each parcel by personnel—has proved inadequate. This method not only involves high labor intensity and low efficiency but also is prone to errors, making it difficult to meet the high standards of sorting speed and accuracy required by CHINA POST. Solution: After in-depth site surveys and demands analysis, Realkey created a tilt tray sorter as a sample project for automatic parcel sorting for the Qingdao branch of CHINA POST. Project Scale: 6 input ports, 268 tray units, 200 sorting destinations, 10 telescopic belt conveyors, and 320 meters of conveyor lines. Implementation Time: From March 10, 2014, for planning and design to project completion on April 26, 2014, it took 46 days. Effect Display: The tilt tray sorter easily solved the previous manual tasks of searching, identifying, and picking parcels on-site. Workers only need to place the parcels in the trays, and the sorter automatically identifies the destination and sorting path of the parcels, then transports them to the corresponding positions. Sorting Efficiency Improvement: Compared to the traditional manual sorting method, the sorting speed of the tilt tray sorter is more than 10 times faster, capable of processing 12,000 parcels per hour. Sorting Accuracy Improvement: The sorting accuracy rate has reached over 99.99%, increasing customer satisfaction. Reduction in Labor Demand: During full operation, two-thirds of the sorting personnel can be reduced, significantly reducing labor intensity, shortening operation time, and reducing labor costs.

Case Study: Background: JD Logistics is a self-operated e-commerce enterprise in China. It was officially listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in the United States in May 2014, becoming the first large-scale comprehensive e-commerce platform to successfully list in the United States. Operating a wide range of products including traditional home appliances, consumer electronics, department store items, daily necessities, books, virtual products, etc., JD Logistics has always been at the forefront of the industry. In Hubei, an important logistics strategic location, the JD Logistics Center faces the dual challenges of explosive growth in order volume and bottlenecks in sorting efficiency. Peak Period Pressure: During major promotional activities or holidays, order volumes surge, and the manual processing capacity struggles to cope with the sudden influx of orders, resulting in delayed shipments, reduced logistics efficiency, and severely impacting the customer shopping experience. Low Picking Efficiency: The current picking operations mainly rely on manual operation. Faced with a large number of SKUs and complex order structures, the processes of finding product locations, packaging, and outbound operations are time-consuming. Accuracy Issues: Due to human factors, picking errors are common, increasing the rate of returns and exchanges, and negatively impacting brand reputation. Cost Pressure: With the annual increase in labor costs and rising warehouse leasing expenses, logistics operating costs remain high, squeezing the profit margins of enterprises. Inconsistent Service Quality: Inconsistent manual logistics operation standards make it difficult to achieve uniform, high-standard service quality, constraining the overall improvement of enterprise service levels. Solution: After in-depth site surveys and needs analysis, Realkey recommended the adoption of cross-belt sorters as the solution for the JD Logistics Center in Hubei. Project Scale: 220 trolleys, 240 sorting destinations, 8 induction stations Implementation Time: From May 8, 2020, for planning and design to project completion on July 6, 2020, it took 58 days. Effect Display: After the introduction of cross-belt sorters, the JD Logistics Center in Hubei achieved significant breakthroughs and benefits. Efficiency Improvement: Picking efficiency increased by 40%, with the ability to process 23,000 orders per hour, greatly enhancing logistics processing speed. Accuracy Improvement: Picking accuracy reached over 99.99%, ensuring accurate delivery of parcels and significantly reducing customer complaints and disputes. Reduction in Labor Demand: Labor demand decreased by 30%, reducing reliance on manual picking and alleviating employee workload. Cost Reduction: Operating costs decreased by 20%, saving a significant amount of costs for enterprises and improving overall profitability.

Case Study: Background: Cainiao is part of the Alibaba Group, the world's largest cross-border e-commerce logistics company, with one of the largest logistics networks globally. At that time, Cainiao relied mainly on manual operations for picking in its cloud warehouse distribution business. With the continuous growth of business volume and the increasing complexity of order structures, traditional manual picking methods exposed several pain points: Efficiency Bottleneck: Manual picking speed is limited by the proficiency and physical condition of employees. Especially when faced with a large number of SKUs, the time cost of finding product locations is high, directly impacting order processing speed and overall logistics efficiency. Accuracy Issues: Long periods of high-intensity work can lead to frequent human errors, such as picking the wrong goods or missing picks. This not only affects customer satisfaction but also brings subsequent service pressures such as returns and exchanges, as well as potential economic losses. Rising Costs: With the annual increase in labor costs and the need for a large number of temporary workers during peak periods, warehousing operating costs are difficult to control. Lack of Flexibility: For situations with large fluctuations in orders and changing demands, the manual picking system responds slowly and cannot quickly adapt to changes in order structures and quantities. Solution: After in-depth site surveys and needs analysis, we recommended the adoption of cross-belt sorters as the solution for Cainiao. Project Scale: 156 trolleys, 160 destinations, 6 induction stations. Implementation Time: From August 6, 2019, for planning and design to project completion on September 21, 2019, it took 45 days. Effect Display: After the introduction of cross-belt sorters, Cainiao's cloud warehouse distribution achieved significant results. Efficiency Improvement: Compared to traditional manual picking methods, picking efficiency improved by over 60%, greatly reducing the delivery time of parcels. Accuracy Improvement: Sorting accuracy reached over 99.9%, significantly improving the accuracy of parcel delivery, reducing customer complaints and disputes. Increase in Customer Satisfaction: Due to the improvement in picking efficiency and accuracy, customer satisfaction increased by 15%, winning Cainiao more trust and praise. Significant Reduction in Labor Costs: A 30% reduction in labor input reduced labor and operating costs, bringing higher economic benefits to Cainiao.

Case Study: Background: Belle is a major player in the Chinese footwear industry, ranking first in Chinese women's shoe sales for 12 consecutive years. As the leading women's shoe brand in China, its retail network covers approximately 300 cities in China, with close to 20,000 direct-operated stores for shoes and sportswear. Previously, Belle relied mainly on traditional manual picking in the process of distributing footwear and apparel products, but encountered the following key problems in actual operation: Seasonal Fluctuation Challenges: The footwear and apparel industry is significantly influenced by seasonal and fashion trends, resulting in significant cyclical fluctuations in order volume. This puts enormous pressure on warehouses during peak periods, while resources remain idle during off-peak periods. The manual picking mode cannot flexibly cope with this dynamic change. Management Challenge of Numerous SKUs: Footwear and apparel products come in a wide variety of styles, sizes, and colors, resulting in numerous SKUs. The manual process of finding and picking is time-consuming and labor-intensive, with a high error rate, affecting delivery speed and customer satisfaction. Inventory Accuracy Issue: Due to the complexity of product attributes, traditional inventory counting and management methods are prone to errors, making it difficult to achieve real-time and accurate updates of inventory data, thus affecting supply chain decisions and business operations. Rising Costs: With the annual increase in labor costs, especially the demand for skilled pickers, the cost burden of warehousing logistics has increased, squeezing enterprise profit margins. Solution: After thorough site surveys and needs analysis, our company recommended the adoption of split tray sorting machines as the solution for Belle. Project Scale: 480 trolleys, 300 destinations, 10 input stations. Implementation Time: From August 12, 2018, for planning and design to project completion on September 21, 2018, it took 39 days. Effect Display: After the introduction of split tray sorting machines, Belle achieved significant results: Substantial Increase in Picking Efficiency: Compared to traditional manual picking methods, picking efficiency improved by over 70%, significantly reducing delivery time and providing customers with faster service. Sharp Reduction in Labor Input: A 40% reduction in labor demand reduced reliance on manual labor and greatly reduced employee workload. Improved Picking Accuracy: Accuracy increased to 99.9%, ensuring accurate delivery of every piece of footwear and apparel to consumers, greatly reducing customer complaints and disputes. Significant Increase in Customer Satisfaction: Due to the improvement in picking efficiency and accuracy, customer satisfaction increased by 30%, further consolidating Belle's market position.

Case Study: Background: Hema Fresh is a well-known online fresh product retail supermarket in China, relying on Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce conglomerate. With astonishing speed, Hema Fresh has achieved rapid growth. Hema Fresh has created an innovative business model of "online + offline," allowing customers to not only purchase a variety of fresh ingredients online but also providing sales and storage functions. Consolidating such multifunctionality into one store clearly poses significant challenges to the supply chain: Freshness Preservation Challenge: Fresh product has strong seasonality and perishability, requiring high temperature control and time efficiency during storage and sorting. The current manual picking method has limitations in ensuring product freshness and cannot effectively prevent product loss due to prolonged operation time. Difficulty in Handling Multiple Varieties in Small Batches: Fresh product has a wide variety of SKUs, and individual orders involve a variety of products. Manual picking struggles to efficiently and accurately handle large quantities of small-batch orders with multiple varieties, often resulting in picking errors or low efficiency. Lack of Fine Inventory Management: Due to the characteristics of fresh products, real-time and accurate inventory tracking and management are crucial. However, current inventory counting and recording rely on manual processes, often failing to achieve real-time updates and precise control. Pressure on Delivery Timeliness: Consumers have increasingly high expectations for the timeliness of fresh product delivery. The complex manual picking process affects overall outbound speed, which may lead to an inability to meet customer demands for instant delivery in the "last mile." Solution: After thorough site surveys and needs analysis, we recommended the adoption of tilt tray sorters as the solution for Hema Fresh. Project Scale: 424 trays, 327 destinations, 10 supply stations. Implementation Time: From September 1, 2021, for planning and design to project completion on October 30, 2021, it took 58 days. Effect Display: After the introduction of turnover sorting machines, Hema Fresh achieved the following significant results: Improved Picking Efficiency: Compared to traditional manual picking methods, turnover sorting machines increased efficiency by over 60%. Assurance of Food Freshness: Turnover sorting machines reduced operational delays and human errors, ensuring the freshness and quality of fresh food products. Control of Labor Costs: By introducing turnover sorting machines, Hema Fresh reduced labor input by 30%, lowering labor costs. Optimization of Delivery Experience: With the improvement in picking efficiency and food freshness, Hema Fresh's delivery experience significantly improved, leading to increased customer satisfaction.

Case Study: Background: Liqun is a comprehensive large-scale commercial group in China, operating across regions and multiple formats, and has been a leader in the retail and commercial logistics fields for many years. Currently, the group owns more than 100 shopping malls with a business area of over 10,000 square meters each, 10 star-rated hotels, and 6 large-scale logistics centers, forming a diversified development pattern. As a listed company, the group has consistently ranked among the top 30 in China's top 100 chain enterprises for many years. However, the retail industry is currently undergoing rapid changes. Consumer demands are becoming more diverse, product varieties are increasing, and time differences are significant. The sales situation of supermarkets is difficult to predict, requiring flexible allocation capabilities. Lianhua supermarkets are facing several major challenges: High-frequency, small-batch order processing: With the popularity of online shopping, consumer purchasing habits are becoming increasingly fragmented, and orders are characterized by high frequency, multiple varieties, and small batches. The manual picking method struggles to effectively meet these complex and changing demands, affecting order processing speed and accuracy. Increased pressure on inventory turnover: Daily commodity categories are diverse, and the pace of updates and replacements is fast. Manual inventory management faces difficulties in searching and counting errors, leading to low inventory turnover efficiency and increased risk of unsalable inventory. Cost control challenges: Facing the trend of rising labor costs year by year, especially the need for a large number of temporary workers during peak periods to meet order demands, the labor cost in the logistics process has become a major burden. Customer service expectations: Modern consumers have increasingly higher expectations for delivery timeliness, product quality, and intact packaging. Traditional logistics operations cannot fully meet these refined service requirements. Solution: After thorough site surveys and needs analysis, we recommended the adoption of tilt tray sorting machines as the solution for Liqun. Project Scale: 736 trolleys, 600 destinations, 12 input stations. Implementation Time: From March 5, 2019, for planning and design to project completion on May 7, 2019, it took 62 days. Effect Display: After the introduction of turnover sorting machines, picking speed significantly increased: The efficient operation of turnover sorting machines increased picking speed by 60%, greatly reducing order processing time and improving overall logistics efficiency. Picking error rates significantly decreased: Advanced image recognition technology improved picking accuracy to 99.9%, greatly reducing picking errors and ensuring accurate delivery of every item to customers, thus enhancing customer satisfaction. Cost optimization and service upgrade: The introduction of turnover sorting machines reduced labor input by 40%, lowering labor costs and optimizing overall operational efficiency.

Case Study: Background: CITIC Publishing Group is a Chinese state-owned enterprise with full licenses for publishing, distribution, and retail, holding the leading position in the Chinese book retail market. It has established partnerships with nearly 200 renowned publishers worldwide and exported book copyrights to multiple countries and regions. In the current market environment characterized by growing digitalization and personalized demands, it faces significant challenges in logistics and inventory management: Handling Multiple Versions and Batches: With the increasing variety of publications, a single book may generate multiple SKUs due to factors such as cover design, binding methods, and revised editions. Manual sorting and inventory management struggle to quickly and accurately identify and handle these complexities. Inadequate Prediction and Response Capability: Market demand fluctuations, new book releases, and promotional activities lead to sudden spikes in orders. Traditional operational models are prone to capacity bottlenecks during peak periods, affecting delivery efficiency, while prediction and response to market demand changes tend to lag. Optimization of Inventory Turnover: Books have long lifecycles and unique sales cycles. Manual inventory management often results in delayed information updates and occupied storage space by slow-moving items, reducing inventory turnover efficiency and increasing capital occupation costs. Pressure to Improve Service Quality: Customers increasingly demand intact packaging, accurate delivery, and timely arrival of books. Relying on manual logistics operations poses significant challenges in maintaining consistent service quality. Solution: After thorough site surveys and needs analysis, we recommended the adoption of a linear cross-belt sorting machine as the solution for CITIC Publishing Group. Project Scale:8 supply entrances, 212 trolleys,312 compartments Implementation Time: The project, from planning and design on April 16, 2021, to completion on June 19, 2021, took 63 days. Effect Display:Significant Increase in Picking Efficiency: The linear cross-belt system increased book picking speed by 70%, greatly reducing order processing time and improving overall logistics efficiency. Marked Reduction in Picking Error Rate: Advanced recognition technology ensured a 99.99% picking accuracy, significantly reducing picking errors and enhancing customer satisfaction. Effective Reduction in Labor Costs: The introduction of the linear cross-belt sorting machine reduced labor input by 30%, lowering labor costs. Promotion of Business Growth: An efficient logistics system provided robust support for CITIC Publishing Group's business growth, enabling the group to better meet reader demands and expand market share.

Case Study: Background: Haihe Hainuo is a large biotechnology company in China, specializing in the research, production, and sales of biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. With accolades such as "Top Three Enterprises in China's Band-Aid Industry," "China Famous Trademark," and "Enterprise with the Most Innovative Spirit and Development Potential in China's Medical Device Industry," Haihe Hainuo occupies a prominent position in the market. However, facing the growing number of online orders and stringent logistics requirements, its logistics picking operations are encountering increasingly significant challenges. Drug Traceability and Compliance Challenges: Pharmaceutical products need to strictly comply with regulations such as Good Supply Practice (GSP) to ensure full traceability from storage to delivery. However, traditional manual picking methods often lead to errors in recording and tracking drug information, increasing compliance risks. High Safety and Precision Requirements: The special nature of pharmaceutical care products requires strict adherence to specified conditions during storage and picking processes to avoid confusion or erroneous operations. The current manual picking methods pose certain safety risks and struggle to maintain accuracy when handling large quantities of different types and batches of drugs. Efficient Response to Market Demands: The pharmaceutical industry features strong timeliness and sudden demand characteristics, such as disease outbreaks or seasonal disease peaks, resulting in significant fluctuations in orders. Manual picking operations are limited in speed, making it challenging to adapt quickly and meet urgent delivery demands. Pressure for Fine-tuned Inventory Management: Effective management of pharmaceutical product expiration dates is crucial. Expired products not only incur economic losses but also pose a threat to patient safety. Manual inventory management exhibits notable shortcomings in real-time updates and alerts. Solution: Following an in-depth site survey and needs analysis, we recommended Haihe Hainuo to implement a cross-belt sorting machine as a solution. Project Scale: 290 trolleys, 380 destinations, 10 induction stations. Implementation Time: From August 8, 2020, to October 18, 2020, the project was completed in 70 days. Results Displayed: After introducing the cross-belt sorting machine, picking efficiency saw a significant improvement. With an 80% increase in picking speed, the market's demand for rapid delivery was substantially met. The error rate was markedly reduced, with the accuracy rate improving to 99.99%. This ensured every piece of medical supplies was accurately delivered to customers, enhancing customer satisfaction. The introduction of the cross-belt sorting machine reduced labor costs by 30%, allowing the company to better cope with business growth and achieve efficient operations. The efficient logistics picking provided by the cross-belt sorting machine enhanced Haihe Hainuo's market competitiveness, winning the company more market share.