If you are looking to optimize the last mile deliveries with the most efficient practices, you have come to the right place. Even though last mile deliveries are usually the last stage of the supply chain, they need to be as carefully executed as the other stages of the supply chain.
Ideally, last mile deliveries are the most important part of the supply chain as the delivery is only completed once the goods are finally deliveries. According to estimates, the e-commerce market is estimated at $3.3 billion and some predict that the market will grow to $4.5 billion in 2021. Around 22% of the world’s population purchases online, and studies indicate that by 2040, e-commerce will account for 95% of all purchases. A large factor for this is also the Pandemic, where online sales increased and e-commerce purchases became the new normal!
While we speak of the importance of these deliveries, let’s take a look at the best practices in the industry.
Whatever your mode of transportation may be for the these deliveries, the end goal should be to save on costs. When your costs increase, you customer’s costs will also increase making you an unfavorable player in the market. To be the number one option for a delivery, you need to have costs which are favorable for all parties involved. While most last mile deliveries use solutions which are heavily dependent on fuel costs, at Tessol, our solutions are completely engine and fuel independent. We use phase change materials which are charged and conditioned to the desirable temperature at our warehouse, before being placed with the consignment in our last mile delivery bags. This ensures temperature maintained for up to 8-10 hours, at a temperature rang of 2-8C and +15C. The temperature maintenance is particularly important for perishables and pharmaceutical items as they can get damaged.
Another important practice to take into consideration, is transparency and tracking. When the end user relies on last mile deliveries, there needs to be complete transparency, especially for temperature sensitive items such as meats and fruit and vegetables. It is not enough to only provide the customer with the temperature of the consignment at the beginning of the delivery, and the customer deserves to know that the temperature was maintained throughout the supply chain. For this reason, Tessol provides a real time monitoring system known as TAMsys, which provides updates throughout the delivery. This is also beneficial incase of sudden drops in temperature, which will then allow the operations staff to take immediate action. This ensures safety to the consignment and the end user, and prevents wastage and harm to the products.
The third point to keep in mind is, the unpredictability of external factors such as temperature, weather conditions, traffic and vehicle breakdown. All of these could play a huge role in the quality of the delivery, especially when it comes to food and pharmaceuticals. For this reason, our PCM based solutions come handy. Our solutions being completely engine and fuel independent, can withstand any unforeseen circumstances. Once the PCM is charged, it maintains temperatures for up to 10 hours with multiple openings and drops! Our cartridges are also suited for Indian ambient temperatures.
