The logistical crossroads of Google leaders

On the eve of September 19 - the 14th anniversary of the establishment of BEST Inc., the leadership team and staff are all excited and determined to maintain transportation activities, ensure the smooth flow of goods and provide effective support. buyers and sellers during peak epidemics. Mr. Johnny Chou - founder, chairman and CEO of the corporation - is considered by most employees as a "captain", with a broad vision, driving the "boat" of BEST to the sea, overcoming all storms.

Johnny Chou started his career while studying in the US, holding an interdisciplinary Master's degree in Engineering - Science, Princeton University. In the period 1985-1995, he joined the Alcatel - Lucent Bell laboratory, holding the position of Senior Director of Wireless Systems and Software Engineering. He then joined the telecommunications company UTStarcom (1996-2005) in California and became the president of UTStarcom China.

In 2005-2006, he worked for Google as Global Vice President and China Regional President. In 2007, Johnny decided to create his own career, self-employed, set specific goals in the first time he hit the logistics lane.

One day in November 2004, during a long business trip, Johnny Chou and his colleagues were stuck on the highway for hours. Looking at the congested convoy of kilometers long, he was curious about the logistics system of the logistics industry, sparking the idea of ​​​​transforming logistics activities using technology.

He said that at that time the internet was blossoming, opening up great potential for the e-commerce industry. However, support logistics is still in its infancy and fragmented, without the help of modern technology.

As an expert in the IT industry, Johnny soon realized that an increase in internet users would fuel the growth of the online business, opening up a potential market for logistics and logistics operations.

"Consumption is the driving force behind the development of the digital economy. Logistics also plays a pivotal role in consumption. In the next 5-10 years, we believe that supply chain and logistics are very important." , said Johnny Chou in the early 2000s.

BEST Inc. was born on September 19, 2007, at that time Johnny Chou and staff were constantly discussing, hoping for a bright future.
With this vision, in 2007, Johnny decided to establish BEST Inc. - advocates applying proprietary technology (BEST Cloud) to expand the scale of operations and create a foundation for the company to keep up with the strong growth momentum of the logistics industry in the future.

"I consider myself very lucky, from the early research, successful start-ups later, the changing trends of the times, the speed of technology development, the support of partners or shareholders are all the same. support," Johnny expressed.

In 2008, the unit officially introduced the BEST Supply Chain chain, contributing to connecting suppliers, retail businesses with consumers. A year later the network was operated by BEST Inc. develop rapidly. Since then, the business's operation has stabilized, continuously expanding other types of services such as: express delivery BEST Express (2010), transportation BEST Freight (2012), BEST Capital (2013)...

On the afternoon of September 20, 2017, at the bustling trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (USA), the globally famous small balcony was filled with brilliant red. Below the red color and the word BEST Inc. White. The brand's Chinese and English logos are particularly eye-catching.

"That night, the corporation officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with the amount of $ 450 million, becoming the largest IPO project of the year," Johnny recalled.

9:30 pm Beijing time, the listing bell rang. Photographers captured the moment Johnny Chou rang the bell and a smile was always on his lips. After 10 years of founding the corporation, the "captain of BEST" has led his team to write the story of prosperity on Wall Street.

BEST members during the listing ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange on September 20, 2017.

One of the biggest concerns of the BEST Inc team. is "how to expand the network globally". The unit possesses many good resources and favorable potential to scale, but faces three challenges when it comes to implementation.

"Express delivery is a service for local customers, so to attract franchise partners or build a network of post offices, it is important to attract local talent," said Mr. Johnny.

President Johnny Chou pays great attention to personnel organization, he often goes to the place to encourage and visit employees.
The founder analyzed that by attracting many local talents, complying with the laws and regulations of the host country, combined with the experience and resources of the corporation..., the new business can meet meet market needs and help customers believe in the service they provide.

The management believes that no matter how good the technology and how good the resource base is, it can't reach its potential without a quality local workforce. Therefore, BEST Inc. orientation of recruiting local talents to join the management level of member companies, meeting all domestic needs.

As a logistics company with an advanced technology platform, BEST Inc. owning modern technology resources, however, it is not possible to bring the same version of the management information system to all member markets because each country has different practical needs.

"Fortunately, we have a very good team of R&D engineers who are in charge of building information technology systems for local markets. They will improve the existing technology infrastructure to fit the needs of the market. practically every country", according to Mr. Johnny. Typically, the operating platform in China is Q9, changed to M9 in Malaysia, T9 Thailand and V9 Vietnam."

BEST Express experts advise investors on the post office franchise model.
In Southeast Asia, courier companies rarely have a franchise system, so it took a long time for BEST to explain the term, why to join this model and how to get involved. Only when seeing a number of franchised post offices operate effectively, the partners believe in accompanying them.

Regardless of challenges, the company always upholds trust, responsibility, fairness, solidarity and puts customers first.

"First of all, you need to have a goal, a clear vision, know where you're going and what you need to do so the team can grow even better. You need to build trust with your team. Employees must be created favorable conditions to promote all qualities and talents in an open, transparent and fair working environment. and train good seeds, develop them into the core team of the company", he emphasized.

With long-term management experience in the high-tech industry, Johnny Chou always attaches great importance to the application of science and technology to transform the express delivery industry. Instead of using handwritten forms, BEST Inc. independently researched and developed the industry's first electronic forms.

The application of information technology to logistics has digitized express delivery information, creating the foundation for the application of automatic sorting equipment and the development of intelligent logistics services in the future.

In 2013, the self-developed automatic sorting system by BEST was continuously deployed in many goods sorting centers and brought good performance.

Accordingly, this automatic classification system integrates Big Data data analysis technology on the cloud computing BEST Cloud. In addition, a high-quality image processing platform, automatic weighing and QR code scanning technology, helps to increase the accuracy of parcel classification to 99.9%.

In the coming time, the unit will continue to increase the application of automation technology to better serve customers. "We leverage technology and innovation to empower business partners and enrich consumers' lives with efficient delivery services. At the same time, we will focus on stabilizing the network, continued. improve service quality, adapt to the competitive context of the industry", emphasized CEO Johnny Chou.

Southeast Asia continues to be a key region in BEST's global development strategy. The unit makes a serious and methodical investment plan to provide individuals and online business units with smart express delivery solutions, at a reasonable cost.

Up to now, logistics enterprises have developed express delivery network in 5 countries including: Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore. Many customers appreciate that the group's services are quick and affordable, creating favorable conditions to promote the development of international e-commerce here.

BEST also expands its service network to other countries in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia and the Philippines. Indonesia's e-commerce scale and parcel volume account for about half of ASEAN's.

"The Southeast Asian market is only the first step in BEST's globalization, BEST's upcoming market could be the Americas. We will also look at Africa, Europe and other markets." , Johnny concluded.