Press releases

• Cloud-based Digital Dock Management Solution reduces waiting time by 90%
• First step in co-creating digital supply chain solutions for the logistics industry

LF Logistics, the logistics arm of Li & Fung, the world’s leading supply chain solutions partner for consumer brands and retailers, and GLP, a leading global investment manager and business builder in logistics, real estate, infrastructure, finance and related technologies, collaborated to implement new technology solutions at the opening of a new 24-hours Transportation Super Hub in Jiading district, Northwest of Shanghai.

Occupying 6,600 sqm, the Transportation Super Hub enables fast-in, fast-out cross-docking for the sorting and transportation of merchandise arriving from LF Logistics’ facilities across China to different distributor warehouses and retail store locations for efficient national distribution. The Super Hub employs an advanced sorting system of conveyors and robotics to fully utilize cargo space and achieve a peak throughput of 5,000 CBM per day, speeding up the sorting process by 50%.

Key features of SuperHub:

• Double-sided docking warehouse with 19 loading docks to allow efficient simultaneous cross-docking of cargo without congestion
• 24-hour control tower and operations allowing for real-time order management visibility
• Automation features to enhance efficiency and reduce manual sorting errors include:
  – a sorting conveyor with 57 lines for auto sorting with a capacity of 6,000 cartons per hour.
  – a de-palletization robotic arm with a capacity of 600 cartons per hour.
  – a customized warehouse control system (WCS) for different customers sorting requirements from long-haul and in-city delivery to specific distribution channels such as wholesale or retail.
  – a cubic scanner to measure the weight and volume of palletized, fragile or irregular size cargoes that cannot be conveyor sorted.

Cloud-based digital dock management solution (diagram below)

 The efficiency of a distribution center is directly linked to both the operations inside the warehouse as well as the flow of vehicles and merchandise entering and exiting the facility. The high volume of trucks entering and exiting the park within a short time window puts great strain on available dock space. LF Logistics and new partner, G2Link—GLP’s technology division—wanted to create a solution to better match trucks and merchandise with available docks while enabling the overall entry-assign dock-park-unload-load-confirm-exit process to minimize time spent finding and occupying docks.

The two parties implemented a cloud-based digital dock management solution tailored for LF Logistics’ Super Hub. Applying algorithms and computer vision, the digital dock management solution accelerates and automates the queue management process within the warehouse, reducing overall waiting time by 90%. It also enhances the visibility for better scheduling and matching of trucks and merchandise to the available docks. The entire process is paperless and can all be done via the app on the truckers’ smartphone or tablet. After initial monitoring, the solution will be rolled out to other LF Logistics facilites in China and then tailored for overseas markets.

“The Super Hub represents the first of many steps in the partnership of Li & Fung and GLP. I am proud to see the efficiency and synergies of the two teams in bringing the dock management solution to life so quickly. I look forward to deepening our collaboration in looking for new ways of working and new digital solutions to bring efficiency to our customers,” said Dominic Gates, President of LF Logistics.

“Li & Fung and GLP have a shared vision of driving the digital supply chain of the future, and the Super Hub is an important milestone in our partnership. Our collaboration highlights how GLP and Li & Fung are co-creating tools in AI, IoT, automation and other areas that will optimize costs and increase efficiency across the supply chain,” said Victor Mok, Co-President of Logistics and Industrial Real Estate, Chairman and CEO of Asset Service Platform, GLP China.

A diagram showing the flow of the cloud-based digital dock management solution