However, what about last-mile distribution in rural areas? Despite being places with low population density and less traffic, distribution of goods has its own challenges due to the long distances and lack of facilities that urban areas often have. In this case, how does last-mile distribution in rural towns differ from urban areas?

If you want to learn about the challenges of the last mile in rural areas and how it is distributed in such environments, read on.

Partnership with local companies

Nowadays, it is already common to see logistics operators and other companies having partnerships with small businesses and other local companies to use their physical spaces as urban hubs or delivery points. In rural towns, such partnerships are more frequent and essential to optimize the rural last mile.

This is because local businesses located in agricultural areas have a better understanding of distribution areas, such as logistics social services that facilitate the delivery of products to families. Therefore, they have the potential to offer better logistical support, such as temporary storage areas or delivery points for delivery routes that are very extensive or difficult to access.

Use of specialized vehicles

Due to the uneven topography and road conditions, transport vehicles must be adapted to the usual rural road conditions. Sometimes it is even necessary to have an off-road or four-wheel drive vehicle.

However, there are a number of trucking companies and other organizations with a fleet of vehicles adapted for rough terrain. Either having your own fleet of adapted vehicles or relying on the services of another company that offers them are suitable options for adapting last-mile distribution to the rural environment.

Use of community delivery points

One of the most obvious challenges in rural last-mile distribution is its capillarity, where there are long distances between delivery points and they are often difficult to access due to unreliable infrastructure that can cause delays. To this end, as mentioned in the collaboration with local businesses, the key to facilitating deliveries is community delivery points.

Community delivery points have the advantage of centralizing deliveries from more remote destinations where home delivery is not feasible. This brings out the potential of better-connected locations in a rural setting such as stores, post offices and other community gathering spaces to become collection points.

Apply delivery tracking

In modern logistics, more and more customers have the need to know in real time the location and status of their order to ensure that the goods arrive on time at the right address. In a challenging environment for logistics in general and last mile distribution, this demand is doubled.

For this reason, the best allies to achieve real-time tracking in deliveries are GPS systems, tracking tags and other devices to ensure visibility at all times and updating it at each passing checkpoint. In addition, delivery tracking technology is vital to employ route optimization for carriers to make routes more efficient in rural areas.

Conclusion

The challenges of last mile distribution in rural areas seem to be even more challenging than the urban last mile, mainly because of the lack of adaptable infrastructure in villages compared to cities. However, there are a few challenges that have more in common than they seem, such as delivery points and others that cover totally different needs, such as vehicles adapted to irregular topography.

At Hedyla we adapt the route optimization parameters according to the sector and use cases operated by the customer, covering their specific needs and guaranteeing a quality level of service.

Meritxell Vázquez

SEO & Inbound Marketing
Video Game Design and Production graduate currently training in Digital Marketing with a focus on SEO and Inbound Marketing.

Creating articles of value and supporting communication to the technology sector.

hedyla.com

In general, to adapt operations towards omni-channel logistics, the strategy must be customer-centric and linked to other departments such as sales and marketing. But the question is whether omni-channel logistics differs much from other more conventional strategies.

In order to know the ways to manage omnichannel logistics, the following points have to be taken into account:

System digitization

Once an omnichannel strategy is established for the company, it is essential to have a centralized logistics management system to keep all data on inventory, orders and shipments up to date and to receive them in real time. This is known as logistics 4.0.

To do this, it is necessary to look carefully or rely on experts in the field to choose the best solution that connects and keeps all the data updated with the database systems that the company already has. Whether it is an ERP with logistics modules or a more specific solution such as an inventory manager or a WMS, or even, to optimize transport management, a TMS.

Omnichannel order picking

The growing trend of e-commerce and, therefore, omni-channel logistics has marked a turning point in the way orders are prepared. It mainly consists of adapting picking and packing strategies to focus mainly on the preparation of orders to customers without relying on the distribution channel.

For example, boxes have become the packaging of choice for direct shipments and for multi-unit orders, i.e. orders of multiple different items and small quantities. Another important element to consider is the distribution centers or logistics nodes through which orders must be prepared that are closest to the customers, even when reverse logistics must be managed.

Flexibility in shipments

If you decide to apply an omnichannel strategy in both the sale and distribution of orders, you must offer the customer the option of different shipping options. Among these options, the most frequent are the following:

• Home delivery: This is undoubtedly the most popular option of all, both on the part of the customer and on the part of the transport services, but the most expensive in terms of fuel and delivery attempts. Your service can range from standard delivery to express delivery.
• Pick up at physical store: Known as Click & Collect, this is a more economical option in which the physical store of the customer's choice receives the product and it is the customer himself who goes to pick it up. It reduces last mile costs and has the potential to offer a more satisfying shopping experience.
• Convenience points or smart lockers: Similar to physical store pickup, with the difference that third parties outside the store pick up the product and hold it for a period of time until it is picked up. They consist of other stores outside the e-commerce or smart lockers.

The combination of different shipping options aims to offer an omnichannel shopping experience to customers. Apart from that, it has its advantages to leverage both online and offline distribution channels.

Suitable transportation and logistics options

If previously one or two transport companies were used to make deliveries, when implementing an omnichannel strategy, more options of logistics operators are needed to cover the sales channels.

To do this you have to take into account the different ways that direct delivery can be given. It may be that the shipment is made from the distribution center, a store near the customer or opt for a method such as dropshipping and is sent directly from an external supplier.

Monitoring and follow-up

Geolocating shipments and monitoring their current status is essential to ensure that deliveries arrive on time. Particularly when there is an omni-channel strategy and orders are shipped through multiple channels.

This is because omnichannel is customer-centric and the demand demands transparency and knowledge of the status of their shipment 24 hours a day. In addition, tracking provides more agility when it comes to resolving any possible incidents that may arise in the shipment.

Conclusion

As we have seen, effective omni-channel logistics management requires a combination of technology, processes and innovative strategies, just like any other 4.0 logistics strategy. However, it must be kept in mind that all logistics is focused on the customer and meeting their needs.

At Hedyla we adapt the software to any specific use case, providing the necessary tools to both staff and carriers to report and have full control of the transport management.

Meritxell Vázquez

SEO & Inbound Marketing
Video Game Design and Production graduate currently training in Digital Marketing with a focus on SEO and Inbound Marketing.

Creating articles of value and supporting communication to the technology sector.

hedyla.com

Lately, there has been a growing trend towards healthy consumption, i.e. fresh and frozen products whose demand requires better planning and management of their distribution. But what is the reason for this rigorous planning and what are the requirements for successful distribution in refrigerated transport?

To do this, we need to take a look at the challenges and risks to the products transported by the cold chain and why so many measures are necessary.

Rigorous temperature maintenance

All goods that are affected by changes in temperature and may even pose a risk for consumption have very strict regulations for storage, handling and transportation. In general, perishable foods, frozen foods and heat-vulnerable medicines are those that are part of the cold chain, i.e. goods that have biological and/or chemical components.

It is known that the ambient temperature (from 15º to 40º) is a breeding ground for bacteria and microorganisms. But, below 15º their growth slows down to 4º - 0º and, between -4º and -7º, their growth stops completely. In addition, the range of 30º and 6º promotes the ethylene hormone, responsible for the ripening of fruits and vegetables. But it is not until -18º that food is prevented from turning brown, which is why it is the standard temperature of the international cold chain.

Without forgetting that, within the challenges of the cold chain in the pharmaceutical sector, certain drugs lose their effectiveness when exposed to room temperature such as vaccines. In the case of others, like food, they can generate bacteria and other microorganisms that would cause the opposite effect of the medicine.

Critical cold chain breakage points

Apart from the fact that these goods must be kept at the right temperature, there are circumstances in which the cold can be altered, known as critical points. It is important to recognize them along the cold chain and study the necessary measures to minimize their impact, as this is one of the most important challenges of the cold chain.

The four critical phases in which cold storage can be affected are loading and unloading, storage, transport and sale. In loading and unloading, it is very important to handle goods quickly to minimize exposure to ambient temperature.

While in storage, transportation and distribution in stores and premises, good machinery, facilities, vehicles and good preventive maintenance must be available to anticipate failures and avoid product deterioration. So training and even technicians and other specialized personnel are required to gain knowledge about the peculiarities of this supply chain.

High maintenance and transportation costs

As we have seen, the fact that temperature-controlled products require a great deal of effort and investment of specialized equipment gives the idea that their budget in supply chain operations is very high. It is even much more than for other essential and perishable products such as hygiene products and dry foods.

Distribution of refrigerated goods is twice as costly as dry food and up to four times more expensive than transporting frozen goods. For this reason, the cold chain seeks to find the most efficient routes for products to arrive in the shortest possible time while maintaining their quality, making route optimizers are indispensable solutions for the cold chain.

Improved product traceability and documentation

One of the points of the cold chain that is not so well known are the hidden costs that such a use case has in logistics. Among them are those caused by delays, due to delays at the time of loading, missing or incomplete documentation. Even the timeliness of orders can be affected by out-of-control actions, such as delays in inspections by the authorities in charge.

Therefore, a type of merchandise where setbacks are more inconvenient, such as temperature maintenance costs, it is essential to implement improvements in traceability in order to document its entire journey: origin, transfer process and destination. This streamlines all picking activities for specific batches.

Conclusion

Maintaining low temperatures on goods involves more expense and effort than other types of goods without this requirement, as a small error can easily lead to product spoilage or higher than expected costs. For this reason, this type of supply chain is one of the most in need of advance planning to minimize delays and employ rigorous maintenance of facilities and equipment, whether refrigerators for an active cold chain or isothermal containers for the passive cold chain.

At Hedyla we adapt our software to any type of supply chain, taking into account all the constraints it usually has along with the option to apply your own for the user.

Meritxell Vázquez

SEO & Inbound Marketing
Video Game Design and Production graduate currently training in Digital Marketing with a focus on SEO and Inbound Marketing.

Creating articles of value and supporting communication to the technology sector.

hedyla.com

However, for people who are not deeply involved in the industry, it is not very clear to them what specific operations AI is involved in. What are the current supply chain issues for the supply chain to be optimized with AI? And what advantages does this technology confer over the competition?

If you want to learn how AI is being applied in supply chain management with these examples of artificial intelligence in logistics, take a look!

Warehouse automation

Sectors such as e-commerce have gained much relevance in recent years, so the increase in demand and the need for a more efficient storage management call for a solution. For this reason, there has been a notable trend in warehouse automation as one of the notable examples of artificial intelligence in logistics.

Warehouse automation encompasses various operations, from the application of automated storage systems with stacker cranes to warehouse management software. Within it, they use data analysis and demand forecasting to coordinate various processes in the warehouse.

And not only do they perform this step, but they synchronize the tasks of both the operators and the automated systems. In this way, personnel can focus on other tasks.

Inventory control

This operation usually goes hand in hand with warehouse automation and, it seems, is going to be an essential element for companies. Currently, it is known that the volume of shipments is dropping considerably due to inflation, as a result of which stock is accumulating and will take longer than desired to accumulate in the warehouse.

First, the warehouse is stocked with the right amount of inventory according to demand prediction based on previous sales, market analysis, among others. Then, automation systems would be unified with catalog control to improve stock visibility by alerting on low stock levels and detecting defective products and packaging before they are shipped via AI cameras or sensors.

Thanks to one of the examples of artificial intelligence in logistics, it is possible to reduce error margins and time spent on tasks, obtaining high customer satisfaction and competitive advantage over other companies where logistics plays a crucial role.

Route optimization

One of the most popular solutions within the logistics and transportation industry is to optimize delivery routes using AI software. It is also one of the most important in order to ensure on-time deliveries at the most economical price and fuel cost possible.

Among the functions of a route optimizationsoftware is to integrate data from various sources and use algorithms to plan routes according to the constraints to be applied at the time of deliveries. In this way, resources (vehicles and carriers) can be optimally organized, costs can be saved, and competent customer service can be provided.

Predictive maintenance

One of the current problems in the transportation sector is the lack of new vehicles on the market that can replace the old ones, thus requiring constant repairs to be operational. However, predictive maintenance is not as well known as one of the examples of artificial intelligence in logistics.

Using past and present data collected with IoT devices, machine learning algorithms can create predictions and maintenance recommendations for trucks, vans and other vehicles. In this way, the service life of vehicles is increased and further damage can be prevented thanks to these indications.

Conclusion

Several logistics processes are already being successfully automated and optimized thanks to AI. These solutions are key to overcoming the current challenges facing the logistics sector and offering a competitive and efficient service that responds to current trends and needs.

At Hedyla we offer several products and services developed with AI by our in-house engineering team that seeks to respond to the logistics needs of any sector.

Meritxell Vázquez

SEO & Inbound Marketing
Video Game Design and Production graduate currently training in Digital Marketing with a focus on SEO and Inbound Marketing.

Creating articles of value and supporting communication to the technology sector.

hedyla.com

Para encontrar la ruta definitiva que hará llegar antes a tus clientes se deben de tener en cuenta varias características de las paradas, vehículos y restricciones, entre otras. Además de mantener una comunicación sólida ante cualquier incidente que pueda ocurrir, ya sea un factor interno o externo.

If you want to know the key factors for optimizing delivery routes and how to reach your customer faster, take a look!

Distances between delivery points

Entre los principales factores que se piensan primero cuando se habla de optimizar rutas de reparto son las distancias entre el centro logístico y los puntos de entrega. Además de que es más sencillo calcular una ruta concreta en cuanto echamos un vistazo a la proximidad entre varios puntos de entrega.

Generally, if other factors and constraints are not taken into account, one of the best routes is the one that starts with the stop closest to the warehouse. And then follows the second stop close to the first, and so on until you have finished with all orders and return to the logistics center.

However, a simple glance at delivery points can hide narrow and difficult to navigate last-mile streets that can significantly delay deliveries. Consequently, this factor is one of the first to be considered when creating a "sketch" route and then assigning drivers, vehicles and other constraints.

Delivery and staffing schedules

It is known that, with a number of batches or individual orders for a specific day, a delivery time zone is agreed with the users when calculating routes. However, these customers are increasingly requesting more precise time zones, according to their needs. Therefore, such orders must be assigned to the carrier with shifts and agreements that are compatible with the assigned time slot.

It should be noted that special attention must be paid to labor restrictions for carriers. For example, drivers are not allowed to work more than 6 hours at a time without a break in a day, so they must rest for a minimum of 30 minutes. If it is a very long route, the appropriate time slot would be assigned in accordance with the regulations and, if necessary, another carrier would be assigned to cover the shift. Not to be forgotten are the hours when loading and unloading is allowed in the cities or at the logistics center receiving the delivery.

Road and traffic conditions

As mentioned above, last mile distribution is a challenge because of difficult access to certain streets, loading and unloading stops and peak hour traffic congestion. Of course, it is most advisable to unload outside of peak traffic hours, but it is possible to coincide with this time period.

It should be noted that it should not be forgotten that the road and traffic are often conditioned by multiple external factors that can cause cuts on highways and certain streets, from the presence of workers on construction sites to accidents. As these incidents are almost impossible to predict, in this situation it is essential to maintain a solid and effective communication with the customer (either by calls, SMS or WhatsApp) and report the problem in order to find the best possible solution.

Veicoli e merci

Por último, uno de los elementos clave a la hora de optimizar las rutas de reparto es el vehículo y las restricciones adjuntas, como la capacidad de su volumen y peso. Dadas las medidas actuales dentro de ciertas ciudades, como las zonas de emisiones bajas, es posible que vehículos con motor diésel o con cierta antigüedad no puedan entrar en dichos lugares, por lo que se deberían asignar otros vehículos. Por ejemplo, los light electric vehicles are the best option for driving on streets that are difficult to access.

In the same way that the goods are also an important factor in loading the assigned vehicles in the most optimal way possible, either in terms of the maximum weight and the maximum number of pallets or containers that can be transported. In this case, tools to control the loading of vehicles, such as a route optimizer , are of great help in choosing the right truck or van for a particular route.

Además hay que tener en cuenta que ciertos productos necesitan estar regulados y que el vehículo debe disponer de condiciones especiales para que pueda cargarlos con seguridad. 

Conclusion

As we have seen, there are many factors that affect route optimization and that, without an automated tool, are complex to organize. Not only does route optimization help to save fuel and time, but also the customer will appreciate good service and quality support, and good and long-lasting business relationships will be established. Therefore, there is no single answer to the question "how to reach your customer sooner".

In Hedyla tenemos múltiples módulos dentro de nuestras soluciones que se pueden añadir o quitar para trabajar eficientemente con las herramientas necesarias para cada caso de cálculo de rutas.

Meritxell Vázquez

SEO & Inbound Marketing
Video Game Design and Production graduate currently training in Digital Marketing with a focus on SEO and Inbound Marketing.

Creating articles of value and supporting communication to the technology sector.

hedyla.com