Design And Optimization Research Of Express Land Distribution Center Of SF EXPRESS Company

Along with the rapid growth of national economy in recent years, expressindustry has been going through a fast developing period. Though seems to be a kind ofproduct operation, the operation of express delivery can be treated as service operation.However, the true value of express delivery operation is network operation. Therefore,network control is the core competiveness of the express company operation. The mostimportant component of network control is to build up network routing system whichenables the development of express business. Express distribution center is different fromthe traditional warehouse since the express distribution center emphasis on the multifacetedfunction of goods transportation which includes goods storage, commodity distribution,order organization, express delivery and information processing whereas the traditionalwarehouse only focuses on goods keeping. In another word, it can provide full range ofuser-friendly services. Thus constructing green, efficient and smart interconnecteddistribution centers is crucial for express company to keep competiveness by leading inindustry and developing sustainably. The project of distribution center design optimizationis a vital strategic move for express company to improve service quality, gain brandreputation, and promote business development. It’s the inevitable path for the developmentof China’s express delivery industry.SF Express Company has earned tremendous economic and social value since itsinception in1993. It has been providing express product convenient and secure distributionchannels with various services. However due to the keen competition in the expressdelivery recently, SF encountered numerous problems during its expansion which limit itsfurther development. In this paper, SF is researched as an instance by optimizing itsregional distribution center design, through facility layout, workflow, cargo loading,intelligence interconnection and control four levels. A feasible solution plan is provided forSF Company’s deeply development and reformation.Paper is started from the analysis and identification of current problem and demandforecast, and followed by the introduction of the current status of SF land distributioncenter development, and the analysis of freight demand forecasting and conditions ofdistribution center planning. Based on those, the overall design goals and planningprinciples for distribution center is raised and the distribution center functional processesand the layout plan is designed. According to the design approach of "Categorize the goodsin rough distribution, two-time-checking in detail distribution and match again afterdistribution”, the ideas of human-machine hybrid sorting method is brought up, the sortingcontrol system is established, and the equipment selection and benefits of equipmentinvestment are analyzed. Finally, the distribution center optimization plan is simulated by Witness simulation technology. The optimal storage gate count and maximum sortingcapacity is determined with the simulation results. The research conclusion not only appliesto the SF Suyun, but also has reference value to the promotion of logistic and informationprocess of other express or logistics organizations’ distribution center (or distributioncenter/logistics center/logistics campus/sorting centers/bonded warehouse).