Peace of Mind at the Touch of a Button

By Liu Qiangdong

Financial information is not the only thing JD’s information system connects, but also every user,employee and item. Our goods and assets are interconnected into a complex web that makes management as simple as the touch of a button.

Case in point, every bag packed must be scanned to tell the system that it was completed so that every piece of data will be collected by the system. And with this precious data every meter of tape and every carton packed in a month can be meticulously tracked. Something as basic as a carton for example—JD’s cases are divided into six different specifications ordered from one to six, and our system calculates the packaging specifications of the customer’s order in cartons in less than a nanosecond. Company resources would be wasted if the packers use cartons larger than necessary.

Using larger cartons, the packers can pack faster and thus be paid better. Yet it puts unnecessary burden on the company’s ROI, and needs more padding, which just fritters money away. If the carton is small, it needs to be arranged carefully and adjusted so that all the goods can be put in properly.

Every employee’s action is recorded faithfully into the system. The truckdriver for example, we can log which vehicle he gassed up and the amount.

Every second of the employees’time at work at JD is planned out and managed to the nth degree by the system. Each employee is equipped with a handheld wireless device to receive instructions, and when the task is completed, the system automatically sends the next instruction so that they’ll be either searching the warehouse for the next order, pulling product, or on the distribution lines—but the point is that they will be, working constantly.

The system also plays an important role in delivery efficiency. In Beijing we have hundreds of distribution stations with more than ten staff members on duty at any given moment.Ostensibly the question of which delivery person should take the goods to which location seems like a snap, but working tirelessly behind the scenes is a complex network of information systems on the job 24/7, working and collating, planning, arranging,directing and distributing. Where is your pick up location? How much does it cost? Is it right? It’s all handled by a set of instructions relayed by the information system. This is how we can ensure that each and every customer receives his/her package in the shortest time possible.

(FromLiu Qiangdong’s Autobiography:My Business Model, Citic Press. Translation:Qing Run)

信息管人管物

文/劉強東

Liu Qiangdong, founder and CEO of JD.com

京東的信息系統不僅連接著錢，也連接著每個用戶、每個工作人員、每件物品，包括我們的貨物，也包括我們的固定資產。

比如，我們的打包員每打完一個包都要掃描一下，告訴系統，這個包是我打的。這樣一來，系統就會收集到每一個工作數據。通過這一個動作，我們就能知道，這個打包員一個月消耗了多少米膠帶、多少個紙箱。以箱子為例，京東的箱子分為1號到6號六種不同的規格，我們的系統可以計算出用戶這個訂單該用什么規格的紙箱打包。假如本來3號紙箱能裝下，你用4號紙箱，就是對公司資源的浪費。

用規格大一點的紙箱打包，對打包員是有好處的。因為大，他可以打包得更快，拿到更多的錢。可是這需要更多的填充物去填充，對公司來說就是浪費。如果箱子小，他就需要認真擺放、調整，這樣才能把所有貨物都好好地放進去。

京東的每一個員工、每一個動作，都在信息系統中，比如司機，他哪輛車多加了油，多加了多少，我們都能知道。

員工每一秒鐘做什么，都是信息系統給他下達的指令。員工每人配一個手持的無線設備接收指令，完成一個指令，信息系統會自動傳遞下一個指令。這樣，他們就會不斷地在庫房或者配送線路上走動，不斷地工作。

在配送效率上，信息系統也有很大作用。以北京為例，在北京，我們有幾百個配送站，每個配送站有十幾個配送員，哪個配送員送哪件貨，表面上看很簡單，但背后是一整套復雜的信息系統在工作、在安排。你到哪里取件？取多少？取得對不對？這些都可以通過系統指令來完成。這樣，我們就能保證每個顧客收到貨物的時間是最短的。