We celebrated our 10th anniversary on April 1, 2024, with a commemoration. At the celebration, speeches were given by our CEOs and employees. In our final post, we will introduce a speech from Jun Suzuki from our Logistics Center Division.

I joined as a contract employee in November 2017, and my assigned location was at the Suita Logistics Center. The Kadoma Logistics Center opened shortly after I joined on November 3rd.

The Suita logistics center had around 5 permanent employees and a total of 30 staff members, making it a very small center compared to the Kadoma warehouse Initially, with fewer people and less volume, we rotated tasks.

My role mainly involved staff management, however after about a month of practical training, I transitioned to ticket operations. There were no manuals for logistics, and with few people who fully understood the system, I struggled to understand the ticket system and operations.

I remember struggling with questions like:

“Who should I send this reply to?”

“Which button should I press to create a new package?”

“Which button should I press to change the shipping method?”

While making numerous trial and error attempts, I made many mistakes, such as accidentally deleting packages, causing an inconvenience to others around me.

Looking at the logistic warehouses as a whole, there were periods of delays in receiving and packaging. When website campaigns started, the number of users increased, resulting in increased volume and tickets, leading to delays.

After about a year, night shifts started at the Suita Logistics Center for the first time, with a large increase of staff to help combat our delays. However, the improvements in delays did not improve, which was unpleasant.

I was transferred to the Kadoma warehouse in March 2020. At that time, there were about 50-60 staff members, which felt small considering our scale of operations.

Around that time, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to increase in Japan, I remember feeling anxious about whether the company would be okay. With each passing day, the volume of work at the logistics center during campaign periods increased dramatically, and we couldn’t keep up with the work.

The first floor was filled with packages waiting to be received. Our CEOs and staff members from the head office came to the warehouse to help install shelves, but even then, we were still overwhelmed. The hard times were not only felt at our warehouses; I believe everyone at head office felt the same way.

At a 10th anniversary celebration, people usually share “fun experiences” or “interesting anecdotes,”. My memories at ZenGroup may come off as being tough. However, this did not make me dislike my work. I am still proud to have worked at ZenGroup for more than half of its existence since its establishment.

Despite facing difficulties such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the company’s momentum has not slowed down, and we have continued to grow at an incredible speed to this day.

This is not only due to our services matching the needs of people around the world, but also due to the heartfelt dedication of our four CEOs and the countless hardships they have endured, which goes beyond what we can imagine.

The Suita warehouse no longer exists, but three warehouses are still in operation. Unfortunately, the Kadoma warehouse has become the smallest. However, the Kadoma still has one thing that can rival other warehouses, and that is our experienced team members. I am confident that there are no warehouses that can match us in terms of experience, knowledge, and productivity.

Several years have passed since Kadoma warehouse opened. During this time, all the employees and staff here have shared both the good and bad times. We will continue to work together and support ZenGroup. I myself am still in the process of growing professionally and personally and I will continue to improve my skills and work harder than ever.

The eighth speech by Ryuho Kinoshita talked about ZenGroup eight years ago, but Suzuki’s final speech discussed the slightly bitter experiences since joining ZenGroup. Over the nine sessions, we introduced speeches, allowing you to learn about the experiences and feelings of our CEOs and employees for the past ten years and beyond. With the intention of turning past experiences into future strength, ZenGroup will continue to grow.