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The biggest challenge of logistics companies in the Middle East is supervising and managing last-mile delivery during peak seasons. Logistics managers are pressured to deal with increased demand during peak sales and ensuring that the packages are delivered to the customers on time.
Some logistical problems might pop up during peak sales which include:
Delivery of products can be delayed for customers due to inefficient pickup.
Challenges in planning routes for last-mile delivery due to the high demand for deliveries.
Unnecessary chaos in the warehouses due to challenges in managing sorting procedures.
Since businesses deal with thousands of orders daily it could lead to errors if shipping and dispatching are done manually. However, this manual management of last-mile delivery operations has proven impossible.
Ecommerce and retailer companies in the Middle East need an efficient and reliable supply chain to ensure smooth and fast last-mile delivery during peak seasons. This has led to the adoption of route optimization software by logistics companies to assist with some of the operations.
Advancement in data science algorithms, logistics technology, and artificial intelligence can help businesses solve this problem and maximize last-mile delivery during peak seasons.
Read along to figure out some of the ways the route optimization software has helped deal with logistics companies' challenges during peak sales.
Planning ahead of the peak delivery season.
The route optimization software bundles up previous records of past peak delivery seasons and uses them to plan ahead of the next peak. This record contains all information concerning the reliable suppliers and complaints from customers.
The automated route planning benefits e-commerce and retailers when planning for last-mile delivery during peak seasons in various ways such as:
Making a realistic budget plan and including storage facility costs.
Selecting strategic 3PL partners for effective shipment management.
Making demand predictions for various carriers, regions, and channels.
Capitalize on customer loyalty.
One of the biggest challenges facing logistics companies during peak sales is timely delivery and lack of communication on the status of the parcel. This turns off customers and destroys the brand's reputation.
In the Middle East, traffic can cause delivery delays. For timely deliveries, route optimization software is required. It builds alternative routes factoring in driver skills traffic and delivery timelines. Drivers can be able to cover the maximum deliveries within a specified period improving the brand's on-time delivery performance.
Sorting parcels and shipments.
During peak season warehouse activities can be hectic. Most third-party logistics companies still use manual methods for sorting packages before shipping them which is inefficient and time-consuming.
The automated route planner uses vehicle/rider or zone-based shipment sorting, interactive mapping, reduces sorting time and eliminates any possible errors. Smart sorting enables faster shipping of products to the customers.
Improve the return process.
Logistics companies should come up with a cost-effective and stable return policy. Return forms a big part of the customer experience. However, returns are very expensive on the company’s side.
More resources are needed when returning the package. If the returns are handled poorly, they can reduce a logistics company’s profit margins. The route optimization software can help with quickly processing the returns by suggesting routes using few resources.
Fleet management and tracking.
Tracking delivery operations and managing the fleet is cumbersome on normal days and worse when there is a spike in sales. Logistics operation managers & fleet managers can use real-time visibility solutions to be used by fleet managers to track fleet movement and on-ground deliveries as they happen. This averts delivery delays and ensures that the productivity of drivers is maintained.
Allocating the right personnel for the delivery task.
The route optimization software helps assign deliveries to drivers who are familiar with the delivery location. This goes a long way in helping logistics companies manage geographical problems. Assigning deliveries to drivers who are familiar with the geographical location enables them to make timely deliveries during peak seasons.
In conclusion, for the modern supply chains, it is very important to be ready when faced with new challenges may it be a pandemic or a sudden spike in sales. Online shopping fests, holidays, and sale days can be hectic for e-commerce sellers and retailers. An artificial intelligence and logistics technology like Norma helps you to efficiently utilize resources, manage peak sales deliveries and ensure a fast last mile operation.
Why NORMA is the right route optimization software for logistics & last mile delivery companies?
With an AI-based route optimization software like NORMA, Logistics Companies can develop mastery of their delivery routes in a manner that improves profitability.
Using Machine Learning and Evolutionary Computing, two key disciplines of Artificial Intelligence, NORMA can help Logistics Companies to optimize logistics operations and achieve more in an increasingly competitive and noisy market.
NORMA can be used standalone, but also quickly connected to your existing systems using APIs.
Below are some facts of what Logistics companies can achieve with NORMA:
Reduces the number of used vehicles by up to 35%
Reduces the number of miles driven by up to 22%
Reduces the actual driving time by up to 18%
For more information on how NORMA can provide similar results to your logistics operations, feel free to request a one-to-one live demo, and one of our experts will be happy to call you back to discuss your requirements in detail.