The last move in a shipment procedure is termed the ‘Last Mile Delivery’ (LMD) and, as the name implies, how the manufacturers reach out to their customers or retailers in the last leg of their supply chain process. A final/last mile delivery begins when the products of a particular manufacturer are shipped from their respective warehousing centers and reach the eagerly waiting receiver, i.e., either the final consumer or the retailer. We have shared about the rise of Technology-Enabled Logistical Services.
The instantaneous and sweeping advancement of technology has flowed into the logistics business as well which leads to the rise of technology enabled logistics services. Owing to the rise of e-commerce industries, logistical service providers are necessitated to realign and adopt newer models of distribution systems. The reason for such movement is the rapidly changing customer behavior and increased expectations of faster and more accurate order deliveries. The traditional methods of order fulfillment that included the hub-and-spoke models or the milk-run methods are not sustainable enough for a company in the current business environment despite being fruitful in the process of the supply chain over many years.
Importance of Technology-Enabled Logistical Services
Through our previous blogs, we have validated by now, how the logistics industry is one of the most cardinal and strategic industries of any nation and can be attributed to being paramount in the rise of any major economies, strengthening their economic competitiveness and better participation in the global market. It is for these reasons that businesses are now focused on developing express logistics solutions by utilizing technology-enabled aides by investing in newer models that include methods such as drop shipping, drone delivery, aggregation, etc. In India, major logistical companies are also moving to set up their logistical operations to digitize and mechanize their supply chain processes and have begun testing machines such as robots and drones for their logistical operations.
Supply chain managers are constantly competing to provide comprehensive end-to-end logistic services for meeting consumer demands worldwide, essentially striving to become fully digitized and automated. Digitization of the supply chain process would create more transparency by providing real-time data to the concerned parties. This would mean that companies would be able to keep better track of their inventory, inbound and outbound delivery, tracking and locating transport vehicles via GPS, etc., while customers would easily be able to track the route of their orders.
Recent Blog: Advantages of 3PL Logistics Service Providers in Supply Chain
Today technological advancements are disrupting every facet of businesses and the supply chain sector is not an exception. Technology such as AI or machine learning, shipment tracking systems, fleet management software, and cloud-based computing are some of the developments that are helping the LSPs to automate their businesses to tend to their customers in an efficient and cost-saving manner leaving lesser chances of error. That being the case, it is interesting to witness the logistics industry embracing and adapting to the changing times, which does seem to create a certain curiosity about its future given that we are living in the golden age of technology.
