RFID is gaining momentum in express logistics

For many players in the RFID industry, what they most expect to see is that RFID tags can realize the application of item-level logistics, because compared with the current tag market, the application of express logistics tags means that the shipment of RFID tags will increase dramatically. increase, and will lead to a large number of applications of upstream equipment, readers, access doors and other products. Not long ago, in the "2023 China RFID Passive Ecological Report - Express Logistics Application Market Analysis Report" published by AIoT Star Map Research Institute, a simple review of the application of RFID in express logistics was made, hoping to find RFID through the understanding of the current situation. A new increase in the field of express logistics.

market size

At present, the express Logistics industry has entered the era of a business volume of 100 billion yuan and a scale of trillions. Compared with foreign countries, the domestic express logistics industry has a series of characteristics such as low unit price, high frequency, and dense transportation network. With the development of e-commerce in China, the express logistics industry is also booming.

The development of the express delivery industry can be divided into three stages.

①The 50% growth rate stage is the industry development period. Thanks to the development of e-commerce, the express delivery industry is expanding at a high speed at this stage, and the business volume is also increasing rapidly.

②In the stage of 30% growth rate, the industry is rising. With the gradual increase of the market size, the growth rate of the logistics industry is gradually slowing down. At the same time, the industry has begun to move towards a more efficient business model. The establishment of distribution centers, transfer stations, and assembly lines has gradually increased the automation of the express logistics industry. At the same time, the timeliness of express delivery has also greatly increased.

③In the stage of 10% growth rate, the industry is in a stable period. From 2022 to the present, the growth rate of the industry continues to slow down and has entered a stable stage. At this time, the express logistics industry has entered a mature stage, and the express reach rate and express delivery timeliness have reached a level of more than 90%.

Nowadays, the express delivery industry has gradually matured and began to seek more intelligent methods to manage the current express delivery business. RFID, as one of the core technologies of Asset MANAGEMENT, is gradually accepted and applied by the express delivery industry. In the future, RFID players will be most concerned about whether RFID can be applied to every express package, which will be a potential market with hundreds of billions of RFID tags.

Feasibility Analysis

industry needs

The demand for RFID in the field of express logistics is relatively clear. First of all, the express delivery industry has been in the development stage. From the early multi-layered form to the current barcode form, its application technology is constantly developing. The RFID face sheet will be an inevitable trend of future development. For the logistics industry, compared with barcodes, RFID can provide convenience for precise tracking of goods, high-speed identification of express delivery, intelligent scheduling, tracking of returned and exchanged products, search of lost goods, and other procedures in the express logistics transportation process, increasing the efficiency of express delivery.

Cost and Benefit Calculation

First of all, for the express delivery industry at this stage, Tongda and the postal express delivery unit income is about 10 yuan, and the profit is at the level of a few cents. If RFID is to be used, it means that the current express delivery industry needs to allocate a relatively large part of the profit. Given RFID, this is still unacceptable for the express logistics industry at this stage. In addition, when RFID is applied in express delivery, fixed assets such as readers must be used before tags, and the depreciation of this fixed asset also needs to be taken into account in the calculation of costs and benefits.

policy impact

The logistics industry is sensitive to policies. If there are policies that require the use of certain technologies, it will greatly accelerate the evolution of the industry. At the end of 2021, the state issued the "Technical Requirements for the Application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in Delivery Packaging", which regulated the use of RFID, which greatly promoted the application of RFID recycling packaging bags in the industry. Immediately, in 2022, China Post also launched relevant standards for the application of RFID in the logistics industry, boosting the application of RFID in the express logistics industry.

timing analysis

At this stage, the main problems restricting the application of RFID in the express logistics industry are three issues of cost, equipment and production capacity. As for the cost issue, the current label price is far from the acceptable price in the field of express logistics, and it is estimated that it will take 1-2 years to reduce the cost to its demand level. The issue of equipment needs to be determined according to the level of fixed capital usage of different express companies, and the use of RFID will also be gradually promoted on the basis of express players. Regarding production capacity, the current global production capacity of RFID is about 50 billion, and most of them are occupied by the clothing Retail Industry. If the domestic market wants to fully apply RFID to the logistics industry, the current production capacity is far from enough, and it will take 2-3 years of capacity expansion to realize full application.

Application

At present, the application of RFID in the express logistics industry is mainly concentrated in three scenarios:

① Collect bags. At present, the penetration of RFID tags is mainly in the bag, and the number of express packages that can be contained in a bag is about 20-30. Under normal circumstances, after the single-product package is ordered, it is sent from the merchant's warehouse to the transit warehouse, and then it is transported to the destination sorting warehouse in the form of a collection bag. After the sorting is completed, it is still transported to the secondary or even the tertiary sorting point in the mode of bag bag. Finally, the single package is sent to the resident post station or express cabinet by the courier in the area through the bag bag.

②Fixed assets. In the field of express logistics, RFID has been widely used on some fixed assets. Scenarios such as warehouse shelves, transfer pallets, turnover boxes, and trucks all use RFID to manage the fixed assets circulating in the scene. However, since these fixed assets belong to the fixed assets in the warehouse, they have little impact on the shipment of RFID tags, mainly because of the equipment of hardware facilities (handheld devices, readers, access doors, etc.).

③E-commerce management. For companies such as JD.com and Cainiao, RFID has begun to use RFID to manage the supply chain of some retail and shoe and apparel brands. Using RFID facilitates the rapid and accurate management of goods in the transit warehouse. At the same time, RFID tags are bound to shoes and clothing or high-end retail products, which solves problems such as transportation, distribution, and inventory management, and makes the inventory and supply chain of branded products more transparent.