The Chinese Extravaganza
Singles’ Day on November 11 generated billions in sales. DB subsidiary handled the entire logistics for a prominent US fashion house. How do they handle the overload? By increasing the headcount more than sixfold.
The Deutsche Bahn subsidiary in Shanghai is the sole provider of logistics services for various international brand names from the worlds of fashion, luxury goods and jewelry. The largest customer is a US fashion house. “Instead of the usual staff of 200, a good 1,300 employees are on duty on Singles’ Day and over the following days, working round the clock to process the high number of purchases. This compares with a headcount of just 700 in November 2014”, says Torben Kock, Vice President Global Retail at DB Schenker Logistics.
The critical preparatory phase of organizing additional packing stations and pick-up points for the trucks goes on for two months. “This year, we expect almost 1.5 million orders, which have to be processed within seven days”, says Kock. Online customers start clicking before daybreak and by seven in the morning, hundreds of thousands of orders have already been placed.
The orders are placed via Tmall, an internet platform belonging to China’s internet giant, Alibaba. Last year Alibaba reported total orders worth approximately 7.6 billion US dollars. Based on the findings of internet surveys, the pundits forecast new record figures this year.
DB Schenker Logistics has been active in China for decades and has a dense network in all the key economic regions. This network covers 150 locations in 60 different cities and also includes 85 logistics centers with warehouse storage of approximately 940,000 square meters. More than 5,000 DB Schenker employees are in China working day in, day out, to deliver comprehensive logistics solutions for customers all over the world.
Source: DB Schenker
