The pandemic catapulted E-commerce and Q-commerce to new heights, offering seamless deliveries propelled by advanced analytics, automation, and tech tools.
FREMONT, CA: The Covid wave's aftermath shocked everyone in the world. Staying connected online became even more crucial amid pandemonium. Whether online communication, working from home, online shopping, or e-learning, technology and AI helped the world get through this challenging time. The logistics industry was one of the main benefactors of these technological developments. When there were several lockdowns, limits on mobility, border controls, etc., customers took comfort in prompt doorstep deliveries. It was necessary to reevaluate the logistics industry and work toward cutting-edge, technologically enabled solutions to revolutionise the delivery of vital and non-essential goods. That is how the last-mile market changed almost immediately, gaining prominence, agility, and technological advancement.
SaaS platforms that are intelligent and responsive offer flawless coordination across many pick-ups and delivery points while nailing end-to-end visibility, which is essential for last-mile deliveries. The same is now achievable because of developments in technology like AI, blockchain, and big data. The sellers can forecast the demand and supply graph and provide inventories with real-time data on order placements and cancellations. The current technological instruments facilitate flawless last-mile operations. Thanks to technological improvements and tech-enabled tools supporting cost optimization, the logistics crew is now aware of the order placing and cancellations from the moment of collection of an order from the seller to the final last-mile delivery to the client. Owing to cutting-edge technology and AI, making strategic decisions on micro-warehousing, setting up dark stores, sorting facilities, manpower, rider tie-ups based on pin codes and demand and supply, etc. is no longer a time-consuming procedure. The function of logistics has evolved from being a back-end operation to a crucial part of a company. The supply chain is kept robust and flexible by last-mile delivery and end-to-end visibility supported by technology and AI. Back-end operations like order picking, sorting, and FDA is becoming more automated. The method should eventually help with quick last-mile deliveries without endangering people's lives. Automation can assist businesses in addressing this problem by removing problems like human mistakes, needless delays, hazards to human life, theft, and ultimately speeding up the process. Retail conglomerates have begun deploying drone delivery in some places in addition to automating warehousing to improve last-mile deliveries.
More and more logistics organisations are looking into machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimise their delivery routes to lower transportation costs and exceed client expectations. The optimal number of vehicles needed and the shortest route to travel to deliver the packages within the delivery window can both be determined by an AI/ML-enabled route optimization solution. The system may simultaneously refine itself to fulfil the widest possible delivery windows while minimising transportation costs by continuing to learn from the daily deliveries that have already been performed. Artificial intelligence-powered route optimization software can streamline logistical processes and reduce costs while improving customer satisfaction and resource management. It can lessen the amount of manual work needed to modify the routes and give planning managers and customers better visibility into the shipment.
