by Yuchuan Wang

JD announces on Apr. 26^th that its logistics autonomous delivery vehicle and indoor delivery robot have been selected as the winner of the 2021 Red Dot Award: Product Design and the winner in the “smart product” category.

“We aim to design a highly autonomous vehicle for public road operation and mass products. Our autonomous delivery vehicle is used in urban delivery scenarios to bring a convenient experience for consumers,” said Qi Kong, Chief Scientist of Autonomous Driving at JD Logistics. “We hope that it is integrated with the city and can help form a network of intelligent terminals to enable residents enjoy its intelligence and convenience.”

The design of the two products is guided by the concept of “handling complexity with simplicity”, aiming simple and high tech design in which offers a friendly user experience.

Autonomous delivery vehicle

The autonomous delivery vehicle is used for urban last-mile delivery. It drives itself, unsupervised from JD’s delivery station loaded with parcels and plans its own route based on the delivery address of each parcel. In Changshu, where JD announced its plan to help the city build smart city based on smart delivery, over one fifth of JD’s delivery stations have adopted the vehicle in daily operations.

Indoor delivery robot

The indoor delivery robot is a derivative of the vehicle and specializes in delivering in buildings. It can communicate with elevators and plan its route automatically.

The prize, established in 1955 in Germany, is awarded to the best products of the year across a number of categories. Among the winners in 2021 are many major brands including Bose, Google, Lenovo, Philips, Sony and more.

All of the award-winning products will be published online on Jun. 21, 2021 at www.red-dot.org.

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

by Ella Kidron

The Beijing Half Marathon officially kicked off at 7 a.m. on Apr. 24. One hour, 10 minutes and 31 seconds later, JD Logistics employee Yushuai Luan blazed to the finish line, fifth overall and first among non-professional runners.

Luan, who is affectionately known as “Xiao Shuai” (“Little Handsome”) at work and in running circles, was one of a team of employees from JD Logistics’ North China region who represented the company on the course. He explained that seeing the sea of red JD Logistics’ logos everywhere he turned made this race different from others in the past.

The JD Logistics Beijing Half Marathon team

“There was this absolute feeling of being on your ‘home court,’” said Luan of the experience. Representing JD Logistics in the race and achieving a personal best in the meantime made it extra special. “Just as we do every day at work, everyone wanted to give their all and maximize their contribution for the company,” he explained excitedly.

Luan is now four years into his running career, which he discovered through participating in the Beijing International Marathon in 2017 when JD Logistics was the official supplier for the event. Before then, he always had a love for running, but was hesitant to try the distance. With encouragement from colleagues, a 4:23:23 achieved with no training in 2017, has become a 2:25:25.

Luan now has many marathons under his belt. Last year, he was also part of a team that represented JD at the BMW Hood to Coast relay race where JD was a special partner and JD Logistics provided all of the supplies for the event while JD Super set up a makeshift supermarket to provide snacks and beverages mid-way through the race.

For this Beijing Half Marathon 2021, JD Logistics provided a wide range of services to including warehousing, transportation, and delivery of goods needed before, during and after the event. The company prepared 1,500 square meters of warehouses, almost 1000 e-vehicles for transportation, 20 vehicles to serve as storage lockers and more than 300 staff members.

It is the fourth consecutive time for JDL to provide logistics services for the Beijing Half Marathon. JD also title-sponsored the Suqian marathon earlier this month. Suqian is home to the company’s largest customer service center, as well as multiple of its innovations.

(ella@jd.com)

by Yuchuan Wang

Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (SDLG) signed an agreement with JD Logistics (JDL) on Apr. 23 that the two parties will collaborate in accelerating the digitalization of the construction industry, focusing on national warehousing network planning, inventory analysis, supply chain financing and other areas.

Through logistics technology explorations and applications, SDLG and JDL will also create innovative integrated supply chain solutions that can handle business, logistics, information and capital.

Mengsheng Yu, CEO of SDLG said the two sides are committed to building an integrated supply chain service system with the optimal efficiency and scientific algorithms. Wei Tang, vice president of JD.com and president of JDL’s growth development center said that the partnership with SDLG will benefit JDL in exploring service models for the machinery industry.

The two parties previously cooperated in upgrading the warehousing network in a factory in Kunming, Yunnan province. This upgrade will be replicated across the national logistics network in the future to improve delivery efficiency. JDL will open up its management model and systems to help SDLG manage its stock intelligently and precisely, enabling the further improvement of the machinery giant’s turnover rate.

A subsidiary corporation of Volvo Construction Equipment, SDLG is one of the world’s top 50 construction equipment manufacturers and one of China’s three major construction equipment exporters.

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)