Logistics companies in Mumbai need to modernize last-mile delivery

Fast and effective last-mile delivery is the most crucial part of supply chain management.  Last-mile delivery refers to transporting products from the warehouse to the customer’s delivery address. For a logistics company in India, the last-mile delivery is the most expensive and time-consuming part of the process that amounts to about 53% of the total cost of shipping.

Mumbai’s infrastructure is a constant last-mile challenge for most logistics companies operating in the city. With its traffic snarls, congested roads, narrow by-lanes and lack of coordination among various government agencies, logistics companies need to think out of the box for solutions. 

Mumbai suffers from serious traffic congestion with the average speed on major city roads being less than 15 km per hour. So, you can imagine the amount of fuel wasted on travelling within the city. With various infra projects in the pipeline, hopefully, we will see a solution to the city’s congestion problems soon.

Some of the key last-mile challenges faced are:

· Lack of proper infrastructure

· Shorter delivery windows

· Cost of last-mile deliveries

· Unpredictability in transit

· Lack of transparency

· Embracing new technology

· Coping with seasonal demands

· Route optimization

Implementation of technology solutions such as online tracking, using data to process and optimize the route for last-mile delivery in a real-time manner and crowd sourcing help to increase the efficiency of last-mile delivery helps to some extent. Using technology, services such as automated notifications to customers on their delivery status,  coordination with drivers on route updates helps to improve service deliverables, turn-around times and increase customer satisfaction. 

Last-mile technology helps logistic companies to factor in many variables like delivery time windows, traffic congestion, location of stops, vehicle load capacity and many other parameters to map out the most efficient delivery routes.

Apart from this, implementing intelligent concepts such as automated delivery vehicles and aerial drone delivery can have a great impact on the future of the last-mile logistics industry. Many big logistics players are investing in electric vehicle mobility. The conventional modes of transport increase carbon footprint whereas e-vehicles are not only environment-friendly but also economical. 

Both the central and state governments are also offering huge discounts and lucrative offers to promote electric mobility. The Indian government has set a target of moving 50% of the vehicles plying on the roads to an EV-led mobility system by 2023 and switching to complete EV-led mobility by 2025.

Safexpress, a complete logistics solutions provider, offers door-to-door delivery service through their Safextension service, which can deliver to every possible place in India. Their services such as Campus2Home, Easy2Move, Sainik Express and SafeReturns cater to various types of customers, be it college students, people moving to new locations, soldiers or people participating in exhibitions and expos.

Benefits of modernizing the last-mile delivery

· Improves transparency

· Increase in first attempt delivery

· Automation of delivery operations 

· Delivery management tools to optimize the last-mile delivery

· Optimizes delivery routes

· Flexible deliveries

· Increases profitability

· Provides insightful data, reporting and analytics

· Improved performance and happy customers 

· Real-time supply chain visibility

In Conclusion

Mumbai is undergoing a major infrastructure transformation, giving a major impetus to connectivity. Logistics companies in Mumbai need to embrace technology to keep up the pace with the increasing demand of their customers. With the adoption of technology, contact less delivery and cashless payments has helped to make deliveries safe. Being innovative and using artificial intelligence to gather information will help logistic companies to stay ahead of their competitors.

Source:- https://www.reddit.com/user/safexpress1/comments/mn9tf3/logistics_companies_in_mumbai_need_to_modernize/