New achievements have been made by Cainiao Logistics Technology in the continuously developing automotive industry. On November 15th, 2023, the Automotive Logistics Industry Annual Conference was held in Shiyan, Hubei. Cainiao Logistics Technology won the 2023 Automotive Logistics Industry Innovation Award, with the Dongfeng Honda After-sales Parts Smart Dispatch Projectand the Huichuan New Energy FactorySmart Logistics System Project. Based on the innovative achievements brought to the automotive industry by relevant solutions, Cainiao has also been awarded as the outstanding technology equipment supplier in the annual automotive logistics industry.

Relying on leading technological capabilities such as digital supply chain, automation, and Internet of Things, Cainiao Logistics Technology has identified the automotive industry as one of the key focus areas for its logistics technology business. Cainiao provides a one-stop logistics technology solution for the automotive industry, covering four major business scenarios: inbound logistics, factory logistics, vehicle logistics, and spare parts/after-sales logistics. As of June this year, nearly ten vehicle and parts manufacturing companies including BMW Brilliance, Changan Automobile, and BYD have entered into technology cooperation with Cainiao. The latest collaboration between Cainiao and Dongfeng Honda focuses on the aftermarket spare parts sector.

According to industry insiders, benefiting from the rapid development of the automotive industry, the scale of the domestic automotive aftermarket is steadily growing. From a logistics perspective, the after-sales spare parts supply chain covers multiple links from upstream parts manufacturers to end users, and each link has a demand for inventory management optimization. Generally speaking, the more inventory points there are, the higher the inventory level, and the higher the customer response rate, but the inventory cost is also higher. On the other hand, inventory costs may be lower, but customer satisfaction may decrease. To this end, improving prediction accuracy and managing inventory effectively have become the key to reducing costs and increasing efficiency for automotive companies.

Currently, automobile companies typically use a linear prediction based on historical data plus manual correction for aftermarket parts forecasting scenarios. However, car companies still face pain points such as inaccurate predictions and plans in adjusting business, “one-size-fits-all” inventory benchmark setting, uncontrollable supplier stocking time, and lack of visibility in overall inventory and performance. In comparison, the application of algorithms and big data is not only a highlight of the collaboration between Cainiao Logistics and Dongfeng Honda, but also a new solution to overcome pain points in the automotive industry's distribution business.

It is reported that Cainiao Logistics Technology and Dongfeng Honda have collaborated to create the Smart After-sales Parts Dispatch project, which includes multiple aspects such as spare parts label imaging, demand forecasting, dynamic inventory management, and visualized delivery. In terms of demand forecasting, Dongfeng Honda has achieved intelligent forecasting and intelligent replenishment by applying the latest supply chain intelligent planning capability of Cainiao Logistics Technology and setting different algorithm models for different parts. In addition, the project also incorporates data such as weather temperature season, geographical information, and unexpected situations while predicting component demand based on historical data. More feature inputs also further improve prediction accuracy.

With the technological assistance provided by Cainiao, Dongfeng Honda has achieved a high level of service rate under reasonable inventory levels. According to calculations, in the collaboration to create the smart dispatching project for after-sales spare parts, the accuracy of predicting high-frequency parts and medium-frequency parts, the rate of automatic purchase order issuance, and the rate of first-time distribution service have all been greatly improved.