JD.com Adds Supply Chain Management Partner

Digital commerce platform JD.com has added APICS as a supply chain management partner, the companies revealed Wednesday (March 29).

The Chinese conglomerate will work with APICS in an effort to develop industry standards for supply chain optimization in the nation, the firms explained. Through its partnership with JD.com, APICS is expanding into China and will work with other business leaders and businesses to promote supply chain management development.

In addition to the partnership, APICS also launched the Chinese Corporate Advisory Board, a way to help the company collaborate with Chinese companies as part of broader efforts to expand in the country.

“With the rapid growth of eCommerce in China, finding and fostering the professionals needed to run complex supply chains is becoming more and more critical,” said APICS CEO Abe Eshkenazi in a statement. “This strategic agreement, and the CCAB in particular, gives us new avenues for communicating with key corporate members, and it will re-energize our relationships within China, further developing a supply chain community that shares common goals and interests.”

Through its deal with JD.com, APICS will create the JD Supply Chain Academy as part of JD.com’s JD University, which will foster development and research surrounding eCommerce supply chain management and optimization. Together the companies will create a curriculum and research topics for the Academy.

“JD.com is strongly committed to having the most professionals retail supply chain professionals in China within three years,” said JD.com’s Y Business Unit President Yu Yongli in a statement. “JD.com offers hundreds of millions of SKUs to our more than 226 million customers from thousands of suppliers. The JD Supply Chain Academy is a key component of our strategy to build a smart commerce, and we’re delighted to work with APICS to advance our supply chain and develop our people.”