10 January 2018

The School of Decision Sciences and the Policy Research Institute of Global Supply Chain of HSMC partnered with INFORMS TSL to host the 6th INFORMS Transportation Science and Logistics Society Workshop from 7 to 10 Jan 2018.

Forty-eight researchers from different regions presented their recent work on the topics of green urban logistics, business module of urban logistics, revenue management, last mile delivery, e-commerce, collaborative logistics and ridesharing, vehicle routing, etc.  In addition to academic presentations, the workshop also featured company visits hosted by Hutchison Ports and Power Hub Limited.

As the highlight of the workshop, an Industry Panel was organised by the Policy Research Institute of Global Supply Chain on 10 Jan 2018, bringing together business leaders, industry experts and academics to share thoughts and insights on e-commerce and urban logistics in the region and worldwide. It attracted nearly 100 participants from overseas and local universities, and business leaders in China and Hong Kong.

Six distinguished panel speakers shared their expertise: Mr Stephen Chan, Managing Director of Power Hub Limited; Mr Fu Bing, Vice-President, Head of Logistics Planning & Development of JD Logistics; Mr Reeve Kwan, Co-Founder of GOGOVAN; Dr Anthony Lau, Chairman of Pacific Air Limited; Mr K K Leung, President of UPS North Asia District and Mr Jeffrey Tse, Strategic Partner Manager, Alibaba HK Limited.

Ms Beth Bao, Director of JD Logistics Strategic Planning, delivered a talk together with Mr Fu, focusing on exploring picking path optimisation, dynamic routing planning, smart delivery and unmanned technology; as well as solutions and challenges in large-scale urban delivery for e-commerce. They raised the question “Should the logistics industry be in form of technology-driven logistics or logistics technology in the future?”

Mr Stephen Chan talked about the positioning of SME in the e-commerce era. He said SME can stay competitive by making a balance between automation and investment. In addition, the source of experienced and trainable labour force and the availability of infrastructure were also crucial.

Mr Reeve Kwan shared with participants the current operations of GOGOVAN which is the first on-demand logistics and transportation platform in Asia. Their success rested on the wise application of data through different analytic tools on route, product, driver profiling, scheduling, etc.

Dr Anthony Lau shared his experiences on the major changes of e-commerce in the past ten years and future development, especially in China. With fast development in e-commerce, Dr Lau highlighted an issue: whether positive or negative impacts will be incurred on job opportunities?

Mr K K Leung shared his insights on the trends of online shopping in Asia, the importance of maintaining post-sales services and the key of delivery flexibility.  Despite the rapid growth of online shoppers, Mr Leung considered in-store shopping still has a role to play and important.

Mr Jeffrey Tse talked about the Alibaba ecosystem and mentioned that China has the world’s largest e-retail market and mobile internet user base. He explained how Alibaba linked up global suppliers with global buyers through its global network.

After presentations by panellists, a panel discussion was held with Professor Jeff Yeung, Director, Knowledge Transfer Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong as the moderator.  The panellists shared their views and exchanged ideas on the perspective of Hong Kong’s logistics industry. Discussions were carried out on different topics: how to manage the “Bullwhip Effect”; is the Cantonese old saying “If you do not study hard when you are young, you are going to join the transportation industry” still true for the younger generation today; what should Hong Kong do to maintain its international hub position; how to encourage students to join the logistics industry after graduation, etc.