Yamato set the benchmark for quality in a fast-growing delivery market
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21 organisations from the UK, Japan, China and Taiwan helped to develop the PAS, which was later used to create a new international standard.
The story at a glance
- As demand expands for delivery of temperature-sensitive goods like fresh food, the growing complexity of the supply chain brings increasing risks.
- Japanese logistics company Yamato Holdings wanted to reduce these risks in order to build trust in the industry, grow the market and expand its business globally.
- Yamato Holdings came to BSI to develop a Publicly Available Specification (PAS). The fast-track standard establishes best practice in refrigerated delivery services, bringing benefits for both businesses and consumers.
- The creation of PAS 1018 defines good practice in a fast-growing and important industry – helping to protect and reassure consumers, expand the global market, and position Yamato as a trustworthy leader in the field.
“The reason why we chose BSI as our partner was that we knew their long history of achievements and success in the field of standards development,”
Katsuaki Okawara, Manager of International Strategy Department, Yamato Holdings.
The starting-point
Across the world, more consumers and businesses are buying perishable goods online – from chilled and frozen food to flowers and pharmaceuticals. This is expanding the market for refrigerated parcel delivery services. These services can be an affordable option for consumers and small businesses, because it avoids having to pack every parcel separately with its own bulky and expensive cooling materials.
But these services carry risks. The products can spoil in transit if they aren’t kept at the right temperatures throughout their journey, which can involve many different stages.
And when the product is food, this can not only disappoint consumers but endanger them. Each year worldwide, unsafe food causes 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420,000 deaths.
On top of the risk to health, low-quality refrigerated delivery services can have a wider negative effect. By damaging consumer confidence, they can stifle market expansion and shut down SME growth opportunities.
The challenge
Yamato is a Japan’s largest door-to-door delivery company, delivering 4-5 million parcels
a day across the country. It also provides door-to-door delivery to over 200 countries and regions worldwide, including an express refrigerated parcel delivery service called Cool TA-Q-BIN. But as more and more competitors entered the fast-growing refrigerated delivery market, low-quality services were harming the industry’s reputation – and thus Yamato’s opportunities to expand.
Yamato believed that establishing a safe refrigerated transport infrastructure would benefit not only their own business, but SMEs in the market and society as a whole. “We needed to demonstrate what a trustworthy service provider looks like, as this is important for the whole logistics sector,” says Katsuaki Okawara, Manager of International Strategy Department, Yamato Holdings.
The challenge was to ensure that providers operated properly – and to build up the trust of service users and end consumers.
The solution
To introduce a service standard quickly, Yamato asked BSI to create a Publicly Available Specification (PAS). A PAS is a fast-track standard that can be created in 9-12 months.
With Yamato sponsoring the PAS, BSI began its established, independent and consensus-based development process. It brought together a steering-group from the UK, Japan, China and Taiwan, including organizations from the supply chain, food handling, and environmental, transportation and courier services.
This group developed the PAS, commenting on drafts, resolving technical issues and submitting it for public consultation before reaching consensus and producing the final document.
Following approval by BSI’s Director of Standards, PAS 1018 Indirect, temperature-controlled refrigerated delivery services was published.
The comprehensive PAS covers:
- Monitoring and improving the refrigerated delivery service, including parcel handling
- Transportation of chilled or frozen parcels in temperature-controlled vehicles via geographical routing systems
- Requirements for resources, equipment, operations and communications
- Conditions for operation sites, work instructions, operational manuals and staff training
The result
By showing leadership and driving forward the development of industry wide good practice, Yamato has increased its market influence at an international level, strengthening their position in the global market.
Creating the PAS brought Yamato into contact with a range of experts across different countries - which expanded not only their network but also their expertise.
The benefits of Yamato’s association with the PAS include:
- Has helped Yamato build trust and expand its business overseas
- Has helped the delivery industry as a whole increase quality and consistency
- Has helped service users to make informed decisions when choosing providers
- Has helped consumers receive fresh products and enjoy a better quality of life
- Has developed customer confidence, boosting market growth and business expansion
- Has helped Yamato become a global leader and expand their range of expertise.
In addition, a PAS 1018 audit and certification scheme has enabled any providers to improve their service further and show users a badge of quality. Yamato was one of the first providers to receive PAS 1018 certification, strengthening its standing in this competitive market. “When we were considering taking part in standardization as a beginner, BSI gave us a lot of advice and references about creating a standard,” says Katsuaki Okawara, Manager of International Strategy Department, Yamato Holdings.
About the sponsor
Yamato Holdings is Japan’s largest door-to-door delivery service company, with around 70 transportation bases and 4,000 delivery centres. Its global network spans 24 countries and regions (correct as of 31 March, 2019).
Yamato’s door-to-door express refrigerated parcel delivery service “Cool TA-Q-BIN’ runs across Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.
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