Preparing for the future
In a letter sent to Alibaba’s shareholders yesterday (17 October), group chairman Jack Ma said that the logistics industry in China has experienced “miraculous growth” – and ten years from now “we may be faced with one billion packages per day”. In a wide-ranging essay, Ma looked back at Alibaba’s 18-year history and gave some pointers on where he believe the company was heading in the future.
His thoughts on the logistics sector were particularly telling:-
“The development of logistics is crucial to the success of globalization. Over the past 10 years, the logistics industry in China has experienced miraculous growth.
“Last year, the industry processed 80 million packages each day, and we soon expect that figure to reach 100 million per day.
“Ten years from now, we may be faced with one billion packages per day.
“Cainiao, our logistics network company, must prepare for this future.
“We are taking part in the transformation of the logistics industry through integration of data and assets in the supply chain.
“Our goal is to realize delivery anywhere across China within 24 hours and anywhere in the world within 72 hours.
“More importantly, technology and innovation in demand-driven New Manufacturing and logistics will help small businesses reduce inventory risk and create new opportunities for profit growth. We believe this will bring hope to the physical economy and manufacturing sector.”
