Alibaba Group’s logistics arm, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, says it has now fully implemented its Apollo proprietary logistics technology across 11 Asian countries, enhancing the parcel processing capacity nearly tenfold during peak periods. According to the company, the system has been adopted by e-commerce and logistics partners across 11 Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, with an estimated coverage of one billion users.
Developed and implemented by Cainiao, the Apollo system was launched to establish an efficient logistics network and operations standard across different businesses of the Alibaba Group and its partners. According to the logistics company, the core algorithm can be constantly re-iterated and optimized based on changing business needs and environment.
Cainiao says that the development process spanned six months, and involved a team of 600 developers and engineers. The Apollo team’s digitization initiative leveraged big data and intelligent algorithms to optimize various objectives based on parcel location, destination, cost considerations and partner logistics efficiency. Furthermore, it claims that full implementation leads to a 50% increase in delivery accuracy as well as a 10% reduction in the average cost through its smart order splitting, route optimization and pricing technologies.
Weicai Chen, project manager of Apollo, commented, “Southeast Asia is a dynamic market which is home to a large number of e-commerce and logistics firms, but its overall logistics user experience needs improvements in order to remain competitive and efficient. We are committed to digitizing the whole industry by upgrading its logistics technology and infrastructure with our local partners. With Apollo, we will be able to drive the integration of logistics capabilities with e-commerce strategy to cope with the e-commerce boom in the region.”