"SOIL" 98th Forum: Status and prospect of B2B business platform for industrial supplies

On March 31, 2021, the “SOIL” Forum of the China Leaders for Global Operations (CLGO) program of Antai College of Economics & Management (ACEM) was honored to invite CLGO alumni Li Ruiqiu and Shen Zijun, who have just graduated and are now working in ZKH Industrial Supermarket (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Li Ruiqiu, the manager of Pneumatic and Hydraulic Products at Proprietary Product Business Division of ZKH Industrial Supermarket (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., is mainly responsible for pneumatic and hydraulic product planning, supplier development and performance improvement. Shen Zijun, the manager of Product Strategy of Proprietary Product Group of ZKH Industrial Supermarket (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., is now mainly responsible for supply chain strategy research and planning. This time, they introduced the industry status analysis and future prospect of B2B business platform for industrial supplies to the students.

ZKH and industry status

First, the two guests shared the status of ZKH. ZKH Industrial Supermarket (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is a digital service platform of industrial supplies founded in 1998. The company now has over 5000 strategic partners in in-depth cooperation, and maintains long-term partnership with more than 18000 advanced manufacturing customers. The company obtained USD 315 million of series E funding in October 2020.

Two guests said that as a large-scale B2B platform, ZKH was constantly exploring new development directions of the industry, e.g., how to effectively use the push-pull system and how to optimize the timeliness of long tail orders.

MRO procurement integration solution

In the training plan of CLGO, supply chain management and operation management are all crucial parts. Today, with the popularity of platform and the development of informatization and digitization, MRO one-stop service has become a trend. The guests said that the core advantages of ZKH in the industry were the large number of products, high degree of specialization and wide coverage. Specifically, the company divides it into five parts: demand sorting, simplification & optimization, digital system linking, quick response and inventory management.

In demand sorting, the company first sorts out the historical lists of customers, to make clear the brands and models of products needed by customers, and then separate and extract the demand of uncertain models. The second step is simplification & optimization, in which the brands and models sorted out previously are integrated, to simplify the brands and SKU, and recommend the right products selected to customers. In the process of digital system linking, ZKH provides a variety of linking methods, and will provide personalized and customized online approval process permission for every customer. Finally, intelligent data report is used to achieve the goal of whole visible process from source finding to delivery. In addition, ZKH provides quick response services, including quick quotation, quick delivery, urgent demand and other derivative services. Finally, in terms of inventory management, ZKH makes use of its own warehousing and logistics advantages, and promotes intelligent warehouse, ZKH regional service center and last-mile delivery service.

The two managers also brought the practical application cases of intelligent storage equipment in the electrical manufacturing industry and other industries to the students. The students expressed various opinions on that. They hoped that they could learn from the experience in the future courses, internships and work, learn from the successful cases of ZKH, and make more scientific decisions in the supply chain and operation management.

Experience sharing from senior students

At the request of the students, the forum invited two seniors to share their learning experience in CLGO and give suggestions to everybody, including the prospect of digital industrial supplies platform, the most closely related courses, study plan, internship suggestions and so on. The students responded positively and participated actively, and the atmosphere was very active.

Finally, the two guests sent sincere wishes and expectations to all students of CLGO and forum participants, hoping that everybody can advance bravely and take the lead.

The CLGO program aims to cultivate leaders who are proficient in technology and management with global vision and deep understanding of Chinese market environment for the field of operation in China and even the world. It is hoped that more students who are interested in global operation can participate in the events such as the “SOIL” forum, so that the CLGO program can be supported and recognized by all business parties and all parties can benefit from the industry-university-research interaction.