Nichirei : Helping to Resolve Social Issues through Our Business Cross-Docking Business (470KB/2 pages)PDF

Helping to Resolve Social	2
Issues through Our Business

Helping to Reduce Traffic Conges Innovative Logistics System

Cross-Docking Business

Social Issues

▼	Diversification of logistics needs due to
	structural changes in the retail industry
▼	Strong public demand for reducing traffic
	congestion and CO2 emissions
▼	Need to reduce logistics costs and
	workloads at stores

In the 1980s, a drastic structural transformation occurred in Japan's retail industry, including the rapid rise of supermarkets and other retail chains, as the population became more concentrated in cities and car ownership increased. This brought about major changes in logistics needs, such as requirements for sorting for just-in-time delivery and stronger management of cargo freshness.

• In addition, spurred by the first environmental summit held in France in 1989, noise, CO2 emissions and traffic congestion due to trucks came to be recognized as major issues,
  with strong calls to the logistics industry for

greater efficiency.

Initiatives

Initiative 1

Establishing Cross-Docking (XD) Centers in Line with the Structural Transformation of the Retail Industry

The greater prevalence of retail and restaurant chains from the 1980s rapidly increased the frequency of warehouse loading, unloading, transportation and delivery. Therefore, Nichirei Logistics Group established a new logistics system using cross-docking centers for rapid sorting and delivery of products without storage. In 1993, we began full-scale commercialization of the XD business tailored to a variety of business types including general merchandise stores, supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurant chains.

High Delivery Costs, Complicated

Lower Delivery Costs, More Efficient

Operations at Retailers

Operations at Retailers

Vendor A

Retail store A

After

Vendor A

Retail store A

introduction

XD

Vendor B

Retail store B

Vendor B

Retail store B

Vendor C

Retail store C

Vendor C

Retail store C

Initiative 2

Reducing Both Costs and CO2 Emissions

through Optimized Logistics

Nichirei Logistics Group's XD business delivers products to various retail stores and restaurants, mainly the three perishables-produce, meat and seafood-and chilled foods. XD centers function as relay points to enable small lot deliveries with substantially fewer routes

than conventional deliveries from manufacturers and wholesalers to each store. Because fewer trucks are used, this method not only reduces logistics costs, but also contributes significantly to reducing CO2 emissions and traffic congestion.

28 Nichirei Group Integrated Report 2021

tion and CO2 Emissions by Introducing an

Initiative 3

Supporting Deliveries to

Food Retailers in Train Stations and

Department Store Food Floors

Today, our approximately 40 XD centers provide optimized logistics services customized to each customer 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We also handle outsourced deliveries to commercial spaces inside train stations and food floors in department stores.

• In addition, delivery by category and inventory item using the minimum number of trucks has the benefit of making it easy for stores to manage personnel for tasks such as checking and stocking shelves with incoming merchandise. This enables stores to use the staff hours saved for customer service.

Initiative 4

Helping to Reduce Store Workloads with

Our Process Center Function

Nichirei Logistics Group's XD business also operates a processing and packaging service called Process Centers. Process Centers provide rigorously temperature- controlled, one-stop services within a single XD Center ranging from processing meat, poultry and marine products to weighing, packing, packaging, labeling and delivery.

• In addition to reducing workloads at stores, centralizing the processing work reduces the storage space required for inventory, thus enabling larger sales spaces.

Value Provided

Helping to improve customer operating efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions through total services that include sorting, delivery and distribution processing

Strategy Financial Story Creation Value Strategy Management

Achieving for Initiatives Strategy Business Society Sustainable a

Data

Nichirei Group Integrated Report 2021 29