Role of Iot in Express Delivery Services Logistics

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Applying IoT to logistics operations promises a substantial impact. We can monitor the status of assets, parcels, and people in real time throughout the value chain. We can measure how these assets are performing, and effect change in what they are currently doing (and what they will do next). We can automate business processes to eliminate manual interventions, improve quality and predictability, and lower costs. We can optimize how people, systems, and assets work together, and coordinate their activities. And ultimately, we can apply analytics to the entire value chain to identify wider improvement opportunities and best practices. In essence, IoT in the world of logistics will be about “sensing and sense making”. “Sensing” is the monitoring of different assets within a supply chain through different technologies and mediums; “sense making” is concerned with handling vast amounts of data sets that are generated as a result, and then turning this data into insights that drive new solutions. But is this the right time to leverage IoT in logistics? Today, we see optimal conditions for IoT to take off in the industry. There is a clear technology push through the rise of mobile computing, consumerization of IT, 5G networks, and big data analytics, as well as a pull from customers who are increasingly demanding IoT-based solutions. Combined, these factors are enabling logistics providers to adopt IoT at an accelerating rate.

Need for logistics solutions

- High need for transparency and integrity control (right products, at the right time, place, quantity, condition and at the right cost) along the supply chain

- End consumers are asking for detailed shipment tracking to have transparency in real time

- Business customers are asking for integrity control especially for sensitive goods

- Logistics companies need transparency of networks and assets being used for ongoing optimization of efficiency and network utilization

IoT in Parcel Delivery Services

Service Gaps and Opportunities

Asset Utilization

As the logistics industry is battling with the huge problem of driver shortage, it is the need of the hour to find more autonomous solutions and better ways for asset utilization. As suggested by Cisco, imparting greater efficiency into the system and optimizing the asset utilization goals accounts for the 25% of the value generated by IoT solutions. This validates that internet of things is one of the primary technology solutions which are employed to reduce the detention periods, making the last mile delivery efficient, delivering better monitoring practices for in-transit cargo.

Last Mile Delivery

With the final part of the delivery journey (the so-called “last mile”) being highly dependent on labor, and as consumer demands become more sophisticated and delivery points continue to multiply, logistics providers face new challenges. They need to find creative new solutions for this important stage in the supply chain – cost-effective solutions that provide value for the end customer and operational efficiency for the logistics provider. IoT in the last mile can connect the logistics provider with the end recipient in exciting ways as it drives dynamic new business models.

Freight Safety

946 is the number of cargo thefts recorded by FreightWatch across US. Organized freight theft has been increasingly becoming one of the major reasons for losses for freight companies. Solutions such as SmartSensor by DHL are becoming popular as they provide full monitoring for the freight across the transit time and region. The advanced sensors which are employed by many freight monitoring systems are equipped to detect the changes in temperature, any light or shock events and breach in the freight container also helps in ensuring that immediate action can be taken in case the freight is in danger or prone to any damage.

Travel Time Utilization

Travel-time information could be applied in various fields and purposes. From the travelers’ viewpoints, the travel-time information helps to save travel-time and improve reliability through the selection of travel routes pre-trip and en-route. In the application of logistics, travel-time information could reduce the delivery costs, increase the reliability of delivery, and improve the service quality. For traffic managers, travel-time information is an important index for traffic system operation.

Potential Applications

E Commerce

IoT can help e-commerce companies in tracking and monitoring the shipments in transit, in real time, and it will solve multiple issues associated with delivery, which will improve the customer satisfaction considerably. Knowing the rate of movement can help in better estimating delivery times, taking away the guesswork for customers. This will also put an end to the issue of losing shipments or misplacing them, thus saving the company from losses.

Another IoT application arising from the proliferation of smart devices and home products is the flexible delivery address. Today, most online consumers have the choice of giving one preferred 22 IoT in Logistics IoT in Logistics 23 delivery address or selecting an alternative means of delivery, such as to a parcel station. Many experiments have been conducted to provide more flexible delivery, but one of the key issues has been in matching real-time delivery to the given addresses and time slots in a cost-effective manner for the logistics provider. With IoT-enabled solutions, tagged parcels offer more visibility to the recipient on when their parcel is expected to arrive and whether a change in address is required — for example, if they are at work. If a delivery is planned during the day, a customer could change the address to that of a neighbor who is home or at a workplace in the vicinity. If it is unclear what a recipient’s schedule will be, smart home products with proximity sensors (e.g., smart lights) could sense if the recipient is at home and communicate to the delivery person ahead of time if a delivery is possible. A flexible delivery address service could also be initiated by the logistics provider. Applying predictive analytics to the recipient’s historical mobile device location data (with the recipient’s opt-in to the service), the provider could request confirmation of the expected delivery window and