The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Operational decision · 1979–1987
7-Eleven Japan mixed rival suppliers' goods on one truck, split by temperature zone
From 1981 Seven-Eleven Japan consolidated deliveries by temperature zone—chilled, frozen, ambient—so one truck served a store instead of supplier runs.
Seven-Eleven Japan
the move
In 1970s Japanese retail delivery, each manufacturer or wholesaler ran its own trucks to each store. Seven-Eleven Japan proposed the opposite: load different makers' products together on one truck and deliver each store a consolidated, small order—arguing patiently that suppliers' delivery costs would fall too.
Combined delivery started in parts of the Tokyo metro area in the 1980s, then evolved by temperature. Chilled-goods combined delivery began in 1981, frozen and ambient zones were added through dedicated combined-delivery centers, and from 1987 rice moved three times a day through the same network—keeping bento and fresh items short-lived and safe.
The company's own history calls this 'temperature-zoned logistics': each product travels at its ideal temperature, and one truck replaces many. The system underlies 7-Eleven's daily single-item reordering—store-level demand signals only work if the supply network can respond in hours.
why it works
- Many small orders from many suppliers made per-supplier delivery uneconomical.
- Temperature zoning protected food quality while consolidating volume.
- Supplier cost savings made rivals willing to share trucks.
- Frequent combined drops let stores restock as demand changed, not on supplier schedules.
what transfers
If your demand is small and frequent, pool upstream volume: competitors will share a truck when pooling cuts everyone's cost and improves the store's freshness.
what came after
Temperature-zoned combined delivery became the backbone of 7-Eleven Japan's freshness and new-product model, later extended with a full cold chain (2005) and multi-temperature trucks; the approach is now standard practice in Japanese convenience retail.
references
- 物流システム 共同配送と温度帯別物流 (Logistics system: combined and temperature-zoned delivery)
- 共同配送網の改善で物流危機時代を乗り切るセブン-イレブンの戦略とは (How 7-Eleven's combined delivery network rides out the logistics crunch)
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