、安得智联 On December 6-7, 2024, the 21st China Marketing Ceremony and the 2nd China Consumer Goods New Supply Chain New Growth Conference, hosted by Sales and Marketing magazine and Ande Zhilian, and co-organized by New Distribution, was grandly held in Foshan, Guangdong. The conference's core theme was "Crossing the Mountain Pass". In the face of slowing demand, intensifying involution, and other changes and challenges, Chinese enterprises have not flinched or retreated; they are using courage and effort to break through cycles and innovate for growth. At the conference, Mr. Liang Pengfei, President of Midea Group's Ande Zhilian, delivered an important speech titled Supply Chain Innovation Supporting New Growth. In his sharing, he used multiple vivid cases and profound industry insights to systematically elaborate how to use supply chain innovation to reconstruct business growth models, providing new directions for FMCG manufacturers to break through involution and return to the growth track. A Fundamental, Irreversible Supply Chain Transformation "From the perspective of global structural forces, changes in the supply chain are irreversible; we can never go back to the past," Liang Pengfei pointed out. Economic structural changes, the fading demographic dividend, and rising operating costs have forced enterprises to re-examine the role and function of the supply chain in business operations. From a supply chain perspective, the FMCG industry cannot escape three dimensions: the supply side, the circulation side, and the demand side. Over the past four decades, the development of the FMCG industry has been driven by the supply side. Thus, from the earliest "manufacturing is king" to "channels are king" and then "terminals are king," the enterprise value chain has undergone multiple iterations. But today, whoever controls retail controls the initiative for growth. In this era, traditional retail models are losing growth momentum, and traditional marketing models are becoming increasingly inefficient. However, new retail channels with growth potential present orders that are infinitely diversified and fragmented, making it difficult for FMCG manufacturers to serve such orders. The times force business models to change, but only by successfully transforming the supply chain model can manufacturers support the completion of business model transformation. He emphasized, "Any enterprise today must undergo the baptism of the times; this supply chain transformation is 'fundamental' and irreversible." Manufacturer-Dealer Relations Can Move from Game Theory to Win-Win In the traditional channel model, brand owners and distributors have clear boundaries, and the manufacturer-dealer relationship is both cooperative and contradictory. Brand owners want to expand more channels, make existing channels more efficient, and always pursue the shortest chain, the fastest speed, and the lowest cost. Channel operators, on the other hand, pursue specialization, hoping to connect more categories, more brands, and more SKUs. While there is business game theory, brands and channels can also cooperate for win-win outcomes. Today, strong channels and strong brands joining forces, collaborating, and jointly seeking incremental growth has become the industry's main theme. How can supply chain delivery and operations become more professional with limited resources? How can we create a possibility for both brand owners and channel operators to grow together? Ande Zhilian proposes an integrated supply chain service of "One Less Jump (One Pallet)" + "New Growth", which can also achieve multi-party win-win. On one hand, Ande Zhilian helps brands enhance channel control, link more resources, complete delivery with shorter chains, faster speed, and lower costs, achieving channel growth and digital operations; on the other hand, Ande Zhilian helps distributors link more brands, categories, and SKUs, achieving scale development and integrated online-offline operations. This also prompts distributors to complete delivery more professionally, reduce costs and increase efficiency, and gradually grow into regional platform-based operators. Traditionally, the supply chain has been viewed as a cost center. However, for Ande Zhilian, the supply chain is not only a cost center but also a value center. Through supply chain innovation, enterprises can drive the transformation of the entire business model, allowing manufacturer-dealer game theory to move toward win-win. "One Pallet - One Less Jump" Supports Efficient Fulfillment, Cost Reduction, and Efficiency Enhancement Global Brand in Daily Chemicals/Beverage Industry In his on-site sharing, Liang Pengfei shared a case of supply chain transformation for a global daily chemicals giant. This daily chemicals giant has sales exceeding 40 billion RMB in the Chinese market, with a vast brand and channel network, but the traditional large-dealer system and sub-warehouse model were becoming increasingly inefficient. Ande Zhilian helped it establish centralized warehousing and a "one pallet" model, integrating the inventory of multiple distributors into a unified platform. This change initially caused unease among distributors, but through transparent operations and flexible return mechanisms, it ultimately achieved a win-win for both the brand and distributors. This supply chain innovation significantly reduced inventory costs while optimizing the efficiency of goods flow. Another global beverage giant's supply chain cooperation with Ande adopted a transformation model tailored to local conditions. This global beverage giant receives 50% of its orders from small-batch direct delivery, while the remaining large orders rely on traditional channels. Liang Pengfei pointed out that this enterprise adopted a highly forward-positioned warehousing model from the very beginning, greatly improving store supply efficiency. Midea Ande Zhilian originated from Midea Group. More than a decade ago, Midea Group also encountered the same growth problems that China's FMCG industry faces today. The traditional multi-level distribution had many drawbacks; for example, delivering a bottle of beer to the terminal required multiple transfers and multiple loadings and unloadings, resulting in high costs. Subsequently, Midea Group implemented a resolute strategic transformation: In business model transformation, Midea abandoned the "multi-level distribution with layer-by-layer inventory pressure" model and shifted to a "real-time order-driven" distribution model; in supply chain model, Midea stripped distributors of their logistics functions, allowing them to focus on commercial flow, and completed fulfillment through Ande Zhilian's integrated supply chain platform, achieving "one jump to the store" or even "one jump to home." In this process, Ande Zhilian built the "one pallet - one less jump" supply chain efficiency model, integrating warehouses and cutting intermediate logistics links to achieve "one jump to the terminal." By improving full-chain inventory turnover and production-sales connection efficiency, it helps manufacturers achieve significant cost reduction and efficiency enhancement. "One Pallet - New Growth" Helps Brands/Channels Achieve Greater Business Success In today's rapidly changing business environment, competition in the stock market has quietly escalated. Liang Pengfei pointed out, "In the era of stock, only by finding or developing new increments can there be a possibility to break through involution." Based on the "one pallet - one less jump" supply chain efficiency model, Ande Zhilian has built a "one pallet - new growth" business growth model. "New Growth" helps good brands find good channels, and good channels find good brands. Pan-FMCG New Growth In just the past two years, Ande Zhilian has helped dozens of brands such as Yinlu, Baixiang, Jinmailang, Youleduo, and Hsu Fu Chi complete the connection and cooperation of hundreds of distributors. The successful implementation of these "New Growth" initiatives has, on one hand, quickly built channel systems in weak regions for brand owners, achieving new growth; on the other hand, it has matched distributors with new high-quality brands and products, bringing more new growth opportunities. Xinjiang Products Going National The "New Growth" model is not only applicable to FMCG brand owners; non-standard products such as agricultural specialties can also achieve "New Growth" through supply chain innovation. Ande Zhilian helps Xinjiang's regional specialty products expand their markets; "Xinjiang Products Going National" is a wonderful case. Due to remote geographical location and high logistics costs, many high-quality agricultural products from Xinjiang find it difficult to enter the national market. Ande Zhilian provides Xinjiang clients with direct nationwide logistics services by building a regional integrated supply chain platform. This incremental expansion based on supply chain innovation not only helps brand owners achieve broader market coverage, changing the fate of enterprises, but also promotes the sustainable development of the local economy. Regional B2b Platforms As a docking platform for new growth, Ande Zhilian also provides assistance for the transformation and upgrading of regional distributors. Liang Pengfei cited successful cases such as Chongqing Tomato Steward and Guangxi Yixing. Both companies are B2b platforms transformed from local regional distributors. With the support of Ande Zhilian, they integrated multiple brand resources and upgraded their traditional single-product operation model to multi-category joint services. Through the combination of online and offline, both companies have grown from regional distributors to omni-channel comprehensive platforms, with annual sales exceeding hundreds of millions of RMB, and are now moving toward higher goals. From cost optimization to value creation, from end-to-end reconstruction to precise scenario matching, supply chain innovation is not only an important engine driving the growth of many enterprises but also the core foundation for FMCG manufacturers to reshape their business models. Game theory is everywhere, but win-win can achieve even more brilliance. After the promotion of the "New Growth" cooperation model, it helps brand owners enhance their brand power, product power, channel power, and service power; it helps distributors achieve professional, multi-product, digital, and platform-based transformation, creating a cooperative ecosystem of co-construction, co-creation, and sharing. This also aligns with Liang Pengfei's proposed service philosophy of "Heaven and Earth are vast, growth is the greatest". "Difficult times are often the prelude to success; new things grow with many twists and turns, so we must be prepared for long-term struggle," Liang Pengfei said at the end of his speech. "The mountain pass is hard to cross, but we cross it pass by pass; the road is long, but we advance step by step. Breaking through the wind and waves, crossing the mountain pass, we will eventually see the dawn. As long as the belief and spirit of 'Crossing the Mountain Pass' remain, Chinese enterprises will surely traverse the cycles and continue to shine brilliantly on the world stage!"