In the logistics industry, the battle today is for the last mile. Artificial intelligence, Big Data and the Internet of Things optimize processes and provide a competitive advantage
The pandemic was a turning point for e-commerce and home deliveries. Once the modality was consolidated, the customer experience became central, with the leading role of the so-called "last mile": consumers want more speed and agility in deliveries, choose where, when and how their order is delivered and reduce delivery times to a minimum. It is there where logistics increasingly requires the management and administration of data to fight.
Artificial intelligence, Big Data or the internet of things are today key pieces to achieve logistics 4.0 that can respond to the new demand of consumers.
The supply chain of this industry is a source of multiplicity of data with respect to which It is necessary to seek order and structure to convert them into knowledge and added value.
However, even the investment in digitization is a debt for Spanish logistics. Although in 2020 the volume of sales through electronic commerce increased by 24% -a growth that at the end of February 2022 was even 11 points higher, it is worth noting that only a 36% of the companies of the sector began their digitization process.
Technology to win the last mile
If the decisive battle in the logistics market today is fought in the last mile, Limiting times and making the entire process agile is vital today, from comprehensive planning, to routes, through order tracking, security procedures, among others.
On the one hand, advances in the Internet of things and robotics allow today's “smart” warehouses become a reality. Big Data and algorithms enable the optimal parameterization of logistics management, merchandise control systems, and deliveries.
On the other hand, the transport route conditions the entire logistics process, the resources themselves and the customer's final experience, for this reason, the optimization of routes using Big Data implies choosing the most efficient and aǵil mode of transport. Algorithms help provide real-time information to estimate times and delivery for each shipment. Thus, a reduction in costs is achieved, since this optimization saves time and eliminates inefficient practices.
At the same time that time is better managed, transparency is achieved. Sensors and other monitoring tools allow detailed information on the journey of the merchandise, enabling easy planning of deliveries, eliminating blind spots and updating all information in real time.
All this generates an increase in profitability because it helps to improve the response capacity and allows to understand the total situation of the entire process based on true and precise information. It is possible to predict demand and find new opportunities to make the business more efficient. Finally, it is possible to a substantial improvement of the customer experience, given that an optimized supply chain makes it possible to respond more efficiently to demands. Delivering products in a timely manner is today a business imperative, especially considering that the shopping experience is a decisive factor for repurchase and customer loyalty.
