Top of the Great Era

Chapter 2876 Informatization

Zhou Buqi agreed with the perspective of cutting logistics costs and said: "Well, cutting logistics costs is of great significance. It is not just about saving tens of millions. It is also a strategic thinking. You know what it is?" Strategy?"

"Uh……"

Meng Houkun looked at him with a hint of resentment.

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "E-commerce! Now is the era of the Internet, and the e-commerce industry is developing in full swing. The brand flagship stores on JD.com are all directly operated, and there are also Tmall flagship stores, which are not made by distributors. , but the manufacturers directly target consumers.”

"Yes, I think so too." Meng Houkun told the truth. He did have such a plan. He also worked for Ziweixing. As an Internet person, of course he cannot allow Yuanwei Group to be just a traditional company. beverage company, "That's what I mean when I lead the transformation of Yuanwei Group. We can no longer just rely on traditional distributor channels, but we must embrace the new era. And I have calculated that it is more cost-effective to be an e-commerce company."

"Oh? How do you calculate it?"

Zhou Buqi was a little surprised.

Meng Houkun said with a smile: "Let's take a box of 24 bottles of mineral water as an example. The water cost is 4 yuan and the logistics cost is 2 yuan. When it is given to the distributor, the cost is 6 yuan and the wholesale price is 12 yuan. Money, profit is 6 yuan.”

The profits from mineral water are huge.

This 6 yuan is not a gross profit, but takes into account labor, water, electricity, logistics and other costs. It is a net profit before tax, reaching 50%.

This net profit margin is comparable to Qualcomm.

The retail price of Yuanwei mineral water is 1 yuan per bottle, and the wholesale price is 5 cents, leaving a profit margin of 5 cents for distributors and retail terminals at all levels. Yuanwei Group's pricing strategy is sufficiently affordable and practical.

However, the Internet is peer-to-peer.

You can cut out the middleman!

If it is e-commerce sales, the profits that originally belonged to distributors and retail terminals can be included in the profit pool of Yuanwei Group.

Meng Houkun continued: "If you don't follow this traditional model and adopt the e-commerce model, the logistics cost will be higher. The logistics cost of a box of water may reach 4-5 yuan. But even so, what is left to us The profit margin is still higher than that of traditional channels.”

Zhou Buqi is concerned about logistics costs. "A box of water needs to be delivered by a courier company, and the logistics cost is 4 yuan. If it is consolidated and shipped to a distributor, the logistics cost is 2 yuan? Isn't that excessive?"

"Who says it's not the case!" Meng Houkun slapped his thigh, "After I became the general manager, the first thing I paid attention to was the logistics cost. It's really scary. Don't forget, I did on-campus group buying with you. I I know the logistics costs of express companies. One answer I can give is that those express companies are professional and they have the ability to minimize logistics costs. We are completely outsiders in the logistics industry and there are many unnecessary processes. redundant spending.”

Zhou Buqi glanced at him, "What should we do? Do you want to outsource the logistics business to a professional logistics company?"

"Ah?" Meng Houkun was slightly startled, "No, it was outsourced at first. Later, Shi Jinglin finally established her own logistics team. We can't just give up. There are more benefits to doing it yourself, and you can do better. The traceability and tracking of different batch numbers is also more flexible in management... I have some ideas now, let's see if it works."

"Tell me."

"Logistics costs remain high. In addition to high energy prices and market uncertainty, there is also the long supply of raw materials. For example, the profit margin of our Yuanwei mineral water is higher than that of Nongfu Spring and Wahaha pure water. The profit margin is low, and their net profit after tax can reach 50%. A very important reason is that their water sources are more abundant. Our mineral water is usually obtained from Changbai Mountain and transported across the country. , the cost will naturally go up.”

"So we need to adjust our business lines?"

Zhou Buqi had also made suggestions before, saying that he wanted to do business such as packaged water, purified water, boiled water, etc. The cost of this type of water is lower. It's just that at that time, Shi Jinglin was busy developing the functional drink market and had no time to take care of it.

Meng Houkun said: "Yes, on the one hand it is to adjust the business line, and on the other hand it is to have more abundant factory areas."

"Well, it's fine."

Zhou Buqi nodded. Meng Houkun said: "Also, there is too much ineffective transportation, and many orders are very small, and then scattered transportation and round-trip transportation have caused a lot of unnecessary logistics waste, and even loss of cargo space and difficulties in personnel scheduling, all leading to The increase in logistics costs. I asked Chaowan Commune, Asda, and several other companies about this problem. I think this is something we have the ability to solve. Just like you said, we have to do it. Digital management.”

Zhou Buqi was very satisfied, "Yes, that should be the idea! To improve the informatization level of logistics, we need an informatization team to do this. To develop a digital system for logistics information, we must have GPS positioning The system and electronic bill of lading tools must have the functions of real-time monitoring of supply sources and route optimization. This is not only required for shipments and harvesting from the supply chain, but also for digital management to achieve data sharing and cross-department collaboration. Reduce the unit cost of each link through a vertical division of labor structure.”

It's not complicated at all.

They all come from the Internet. These principles make sense and are very simple.

But in fact, it is very difficult to actually put it into practice.

If a company like Ziweixing does this, it’s really not difficult, it’s very easy. But for traditional companies, it was really a huge challenge. When Huawei relied on IBM's help to carry out digital reforms, it also raised a beheading knife and cut off a large number of core executives to promote it.

Meng Houkun said: "That's not all. I think we should develop multi-channel intermodal transportation. Previously, the transportation method we used was mainly large trucks, which was too expensive. In fact, there are also lower-cost trains, and Lower shipping costs. However, multi-channel transportation will further increase management complexity. Yuanwei Group has not even understood the full freight model, and there are often repetitive transportation and uneven manpower deployment. However, if a digital system is introduced for digital management, this complexity will be nothing.”

"Huh?" Zhou Buqi's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but praise, "Okay, isn't that a great idea! You don't need my teaching at all, you can be the general manager!"

Meng Houkun scratched his head, a little embarrassed, "I asked Shi Jinglin for advice."

Zhou Buqi said nonchalantly: "You can ask anyone for advice, there's no shame in it. I think this idea is good and you can do it this way."

Meng Houkun said: "Then I'll take action. I want to recruit someone from JD Logistics."

"Jingdong?" Zhou Buqi was a little worried, "Can you come?"

Meng Houkun said: "There is an alternative plan. If JD.com's one doesn't work, just go to a vice president of SF Express. The alternative one has been contacted, and the probability of success is very high."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Okay, let's give it a try. This is a big project and it's not easy to do. If you want to achieve results in the short term, it's best to spend money on advertising and brand building, and try to increase the popularity of Dongpeng Special Drink." It took a lot of effort to buy Dongpeng Special Drinks, but in the past two years, the factory director didn’t pay much attention to this business.”

Meng Houkun laughed and said, "It's as if you and Shi Jinglin have discussed it, and they said exactly the same thing."

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "Okay, tell me your secret quickly. What's going on?"

"One piece of good news, one piece of bad news."

"The good news first."

"The higher-ups have spoken." Meng Houkun pointed upward, "The new energy vehicle industry can be developed, which is in line with the major policies of a manufacturing powerhouse. When the process of this period is completed, it will probably be announced. This is confidential. No one knows!"

Zhou Buqi said "hmm" and was not surprised.

Meng Houkun said: "There is another piece of bad news that is not in your interests."

"What?"

"Do you want to push Tesla to build a wholly-owned factory in China? At present, it is unlikely. But I can't tell you this. I will inform you after you really push Tesla to open source all its patents. My father asked me to send you a message at the risk of violating organizational discipline."

"I have no selfish interests." Zhou Buqi said calmly, "Everything remains the same. Open source will still be open source. I will let my heart shine on the moon. As for who the moon shines on, I can't control it."