The online e-commerce industry has seen unprecedented growth in 2020, with users able to access a wide variety of products in just a few clicks. Currently, retailers’ top priority is to ensure customer satisfaction through flexible and fast order fulfillment, while the logistics industry needs to implement digital transformation to provide flexible, faster and on-time delivery services by optimizing last-mile delivery.
This requires managing parcel volumes, improving flexibility, optimizing cost structures, and promoting process improvements. However, since the parcel delivery value chain includes multiple players in the B2C, B2B, and logistics fields that provide region-specific services, it is not easy to meet the flexibility and speed requirements of shippers and consumers for last-mile delivery.
In addition, the lack of visibility and traceability across the value chain makes it difficult to optimize delivery. Moreover, it is not easy for sorting and logistics operations centers to drive robustness and flexibility to meet the different traceability needs and preferences of the last mile channel. With the continuous increase in package volumes and rejection rates, AI-driven logistics transformation is necessary to improve end-customer value. There are four ways to achieve this goal:
Leveraging AI in logistics to predict and forecast incoming volumes at the terminal, geographic, and retailer levels is a great way to improve operational efficiency. Companies can also provide chatbots and self-service applications for proactive and timely communication. This will help accurately predict call volumes and types of customer inquiries, such as package tracking or changing delivery preferences and times to improve on-time delivery of packages. In addition, proactive customer communication not only helps improve customer satisfaction, but also promotes first-time delivery success rates.
Control tower automation and real-time intelligence enable companies to improve asset utilization and achieve preventive maintenance. Companies can improve operational efficiency by gaining real-time insights into personnel health, packages, and fuel consumption. To optimize labor utilization, companies can also introduce real-time navigation and eco-driving to gain insights into their last-mile delivery.
Implementing machine vision can help improve operational efficiency by monitoring chute blockages, performing parcel and size sorting, measuring truck fill rates, and performing vehicle inspections; it can also help detect distances between resources and improve compliance. For example, companies can support drone deliveries and provide frictionless payments as part of a contactless delivery experience. Network optimization for dynamic demand and planning is an effective way to achieve dynamic route deployment on the day of delivery. Companies can also view freight CO2 emissions, last-mile delivery emissions, and facility energy consumption in real time.
Forecasting and scenario planning can also be improved by leveraging digital twin technology. This may involve sorting terminals, line transport networks, parcels, and last-mile delivery. Companies can provide environmentally friendly services such as reusable and traceable packaging bags, as well as solutions to improve operational efficiency, such as last-mile crowdsourcing platforms and asset trading markets for asset sharing, increasing throughput and capacity while reducing costs. Finally, the use of autonomous robots, 3D printing, and AR-assisted loading and unloading can achieve hyper-automation and increase capacity and throughput.
Proactive and responsive operations supported by real-time data platforms and core artificial intelligence engines are essential for logistics companies to transform digitally. To be future-proof is not just about improving the efficiency of last-mile delivery or forming a competitive advantage. It is about democratizing ideas, collaborating with experienced partners in the ecosystem, enhancing robustness and resilience, and driving business results in a seamless manner. It is about providing more contextual ideas. It is about accelerating the adoption of technology-led intervention ideas to reach the right people through the right channels at the right time to make timely decisions.