SEAMLESS SOLUTIONS FOR ALL SEASONS:NIPPON EXPRESS’ HIGH FASHION LOGISTICS Vol.4

March 25,2021

― Online and on time

Achieving growth in this highly competitive market will require even more efficiencies and capabilities. As with most industries, digital transformation is key.

“The greatest challenge is to be capable of constant innovation and a prompt capacity to respond to the needs of markets,” says Mr. Vivoli, “For this reason, use of IT tools will be indispensable to offer dedicated solutions.”

Last year, Nippon Express unveiled its own proprietary warehouse managing system involving RFID tags and smartphone terminals for its high-fashion operations. The system can speed up warehouse shipping operations and stocktaking in shops by as much as 30 per cent.

In the future, combining the tags with blockchain technology will help comprehensive tracking and prevent theft as well as counterfeiting of high fashion items. The tags will be vital in keeping up with booming ecommerce trade, which is particularly sensitive to delivery time constraints and security risks. Besides these IT initiatives, the company has also been investing in automating operations through robotics – such as automated hangar systems in warehousing. The measures are not only to improve efficiencies, but also to prepare for the potential shortage of workers in the future, explains Mr. Otsuji.

“The expansion of ecommerce in high fashion will mean there will be an increase in smaller lot orders,” says Shinichi Kakiyama, executive director for Nippon Express Italia. “To respond to such changes, warehouses will need to be even more efficient in space utilisation and per item processing capacity. One solution is to adopt the kind of automation techniques and logistics knowhow which Nippon Express has already developed in other industries with similar multiple small lot orders, such as electronics logistics, for its high fashion operations.”

Faced with the accelerating tempo of ecommerce and fashion cycles, another key to on-time delivery is having an adequate network of physical assets. “We are one of the few logistics and supply chain management companies which have large-scale distribution centres near airports which allow us to sort and then deliver directly to stores while bypassing warehouses, ” says Mr. Otsuji. Nippon Express is building on an already extensive one. The company has recently invested in distribution centres near airports for emerging luxury brand markets including in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

High fashion logistics is a volatile and competitive market, where clients expect boutique-like handling of their products from warehouse to store and door. But it is also a magical one, where the newest sensibilities of beauty are delivered in physical form to a global audience. For this challenge, Nippon Express is clearly committed to finding the way for fashion’s future.