[#95] Supply Chain in Numbers- Oct 4, 2021
ShopRite testing delivery robots, Amazon Logistics delivered 4.2B parcels, Hai Robotics raised $200M, AutoZone planning 20 Mega Hubs, China's thermal coal stockpile is at its lowest level now
Welcome to “Supply Chain in Numbers.” This newsletter tracks significant digits from the world of the supply chain. Five prominent numbers are published every Monday. If you have any feedback, please send it to me.
3 miles per hour with 150 lbs
A pair of ShopRite stores in Pennsylvania plan to test delivery robots from automated logistics specialist Tortoise for online grocery service. ShopRite of Yardley and the ShopRite of Bethlehem will be the first supermarkets in the Northeast to use Tortoise’s last-mile technology under a pilot program with Keasbey, N.J.-based retail cooperative Wakefern Food Corp. With an average speed of 3 miles per hour (7 mph maximum), Tortoise’s automated, zero-emissions delivery carts are tele-operated by trained drivers. Equipped with a camera and a speaker, the carts can hold up to 150 pounds in four lockable containers that support ambient, chilled and frozen groceries. ShopRite online grocery delivery customers receive a text message to come outside and pick up their groceries. [Supermarket News]
4.2 billion parcel shipments
For years, three companies — FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service — have controlled nearly the entire last-mile delivery market in the U.S. But a new report suggests that Amazon, through its shipping arm Amazon Logistics, is no longer a marginal threat to these companies — it has, in fact, begun shipping more parcels than FedEx, and is nearly at the shipping levels of UPS. In 2020, Amazon Logistics delivered 4.2 billion parcel shipments, up from 1.9 billion in 2019. [Modern Retail]
$200 million
Hai Robotics, a Shenzhen, China-based warehouse robotics startup that develops autonomous, case-handling robotic (ACR) system, raised $200 million. The latest fundings, which come after its $15 million Series B+ round in March this year, will be used to bolster its robot fleet with technological upgrades, penetrate further to the global market, hire talent and support its supply chain management. Hai Robotics, founded in 2016, has five overseas subsidiaries in Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore, the U.S. and the Netherlands with international customers in more than 30 countries. [Tech Crunch]
20 ‘Mega Hubs’
AutoZone plans to add 20 mega hubs to its distribution network within the next 12 months due to the success of its inventory replenishment model, CFO Jamere Jackson said on AutoZone’s Q4 earnings call. A mega hub is an AutoZone store that carries up to 110,000 SKUs and helps fulfill orders for nearby stores and customers within 24 hours, according to SEC filings. These hubs act as mini distribution centers, delivering fast-selling SKUs to stores within its network on a same-day basis, and slower-selling units overnight. Jackson said AutoZone currently has 58 mega hubs in its network, but its goal is to have more than 100. “Our mega hub strategy has given us tremendous momentum, and we are doubling down,” Jackson said. [Supply Chain Dive]
11.31 million tonnes
In past years, when the calendar turned to September, China’s power-generation groups set out to replenish their coal inventories ahead of the cold winter months. This year, coal is so scarce that they are struggling to merely keep the lights on. And some are failing even at that. As of September 21, the total stockpile of thermal coal — used to generate electricity — held by the nation’s six major power-generation groups stood at just 11.31 million tonnes — which is capable of meeting the demand for a near-record low period of just 15 days, according to Sinolink Securities. [SCMP]