Plan, procure, execute, & track transportation for every shipment across your supply chain & logistics operations
A SaaS solution to help grow your business by achieving 100% perfect order execution at high volumes
Increase vehicle capacity utilization and customer promise adherence
Grow your business with omnichannel presence and automated pickups
Consolidate shipments for hub to hub movement across land and air
Real-time customer communications and collect accurate PODs
Orchestrate logistics operations with multiple 3rd party carriers
Achieve cost effective, scalable, sustainable, and customer centric deliveries
Orchestrate all your cross-border logistics operations with ease
Improve address accuracy, ensure first-attempt delivery success, reduce costs and boost customer experience
Gain end-to-end shipment visibility, get proactive alerts, and send customers live tracking links
Grow business in a dynamic world and manage operations across First, Middle & Last mile
Delight customers by seamlessly managing store and online orders across own fleet and 3rd party
Reduce freight costs & get end to end visibility across shipments
As customer expectations soar, online delivery demands skyrocket, and the need to make logistics operations cost-efficient gets more imminent, businesses need to revisit their end-to-end delivery management strategies. Businesses need to streamline and optimize the three core logistics components, the first, middle, and last-mile logistics operations. Let’s begin by delving deep into first-mile logistics operations.
First-mile delivery refers to transporting goods from a pickup hub or a manufacturing unit to a warehouse or multiple distribution centers. Having said that, it will be wrong to standardize this definition across industries as the first-mile entails different movement types for various industries.
For instance, with regards to courier, express and parcel businesses, first-mile logistics would usually involve picking up parcels from a hub or a store to a warehouse or a distribution center. In the case of manufacturing businesses, it would include finished loading goods from a plant or warehouse and shipping them to multiple distribution centers. For retailers, the first-mile refers to moving goods from distribution centers to brick and mortar stores.
As aforementioned, first mile shipping/delivery plays a significant role in the success of overall logistics operations. Well-managed first mile operations ensure that there is no delay or damage to the goods. It also helps to control the cost of transportation of goods and also has a direct impact on the shipping experience.
Like the other two stages of logistics, businesses may find problems with the 1st mile delivery. Here are some of the common ones-
Manually labeling the products is one of the biggest obstacles that cause inefficiencies in first mile operations. Some businesses still use handwritten labels that might not include complete address details every time. In the lack of incomplete information, courier companies may find difficulty in delivering goods at the right location and specified time.
Similarly, packaging is another big challenge when it comes to first mile delivery management. Most businesses find issues in following the right packaging norms and using inappropriate packaging material.
Lack of trained personnel is another big issue associated with the first mile logistics as well as first mile tracking. Both can cause a delay in the movement of goods and also increase the overall transportation costs.
Not using tech-enabled platforms or manually performing all the first mile shipping-related operations can cause inefficiencies. It can also lead to poor operational visibility and tracking, which might increase the cost of moving goods. Business with in-house first mile management as well as first mile delivery services providers, both can face several issues with manual delivery management.
Here are the key points that can help to improve first mile shipping-
First mile delivery or first mile pickup software can help businesses to streamline the first leg of the logistics. The software brings automation and transparency in all the processes involved in moving finished goods to a retailer or courier company’s warehouse. Besides, the first mile delivery software can also assist in controlling the transportation cost, minimizing dependency on the workforce, and improving shipping experience.
First mile delivery is the first movement of finished goods from a retailer to the logistics company’s warehouse. The final destination could also be an order fulfilment center. Like the last mile and middle mile, first mile delivery also needs proper management. And this article covers it all. Read now to know about first mile delivery optimization, challenges, and more.
The transportation of freight/goods from one point to another by land, air, or waterways is known as line haul shipping. It may also occur between two cities or two countries.
Using a Last mile delivery solution is a perfect way to deal with delivery-related challenges and meet continuously growing delivery expectations and changing industry trends.
