Share of Distribution is 70% of the supply chain cost. Last Mile Delivery can account up to 53% of the supply chain cost. Therefore it has the biggest opportunity to improve cost, customer satisfaction and sales. A strategic approach to Last Mile Delivery is needed that is in line with the company's Supply Chain strategy
Bring efficiency through application of lean techniques. As for example :
Maintaining an optimum temperature in Delivery Van can reduce product wastage and cost of refrigeration. How? Install thermostat and monitoring & alerting through app.
Pre-pack customer delivery to reduce defect and improve delivery time.
Accessibility of the delivery items in the order of delivery.
Optimized product layout in the Delivery Van can reduce product expiry for delivery - Implement FIFO.
Voice enable field sales app can increase efficiency and driver safety above all.
Efficient field sales app – having information in hand and be able to communicate with back office is vital for field sales.
Embed a system driven business process in Last Mile Delivery. FSA apps step-by-step navigation through the delivery is an exmple.
A solution to a business problems can be addressed through people, processes and technology. Last Mile Delivery is no different. Solutions are build applying these three elements to a varying degree. However as improvements are made more and more weight shifts from people to processes to technology.
Although it's not always a technology solution to every problem e.g. A well organised and clutter free delivery vehicle can improve efficiency and reduce defects(Lean Six Sigma 5S tool).
So, key is have an open mind and be creative! Many a times solutions are simple and can come form unexpected quarters.
Technology is most often the solution to bring cost efficiency. Key is to choose the right technology i.e. one that is :
fit for purpose! Don't just use a vanilla last mile delivery app, use a industry specific one which employ industry best practices.
efficient viz. cost of running and low Carbon footprint. It's not easy to calculate cost if you are running your own technology service. If you are using a SaaS (Software as a Service) product then you just add the subscription costs.
Up-to date! Moors Law suggest that computer processing power doubles every two years however rate cost increases are considerably smaller. If you do not keep up with the technology then you are at a disadvantage both in terms of cost upgrade and capability. Again with SaaS you can keep on top of it.
Technology is increasing becoming the differentiator and the way to stay ahead of competition. Many of the field sales operation e.g. suffer from "out for delivery" syndrome - where back office have no visibility of the happenings in the field until the sales person returns to report at the end of day. Breaking the silos are vital for efficiency of your sales force. Karyam FSA addresses "out for delivery" syndrome by providing visibility and transparency of the field operation through easy to use monitoring and alert dashboard.
Technology can capture tons of data points about Field sales operation. These data can be mined for insight to make data driven decision. Karyam IN-SIGHT - a pluggable tool that can provide valuable insight to enable data driven decision.
AI has pushed boundaries of human imagination and made the Sci-Fi a reality. Companies these days are deploying AI solution at an incredible pace and scale. Imagine if you can get real-time update of stocks on shop shelves, get early warning of 'out of stock'.