AI-Powered Logistics: How SingPost enhances last-mile delivery.

The last mile of transport of a particular product to the final customer or to a particular point of sale is often referred to as the most important element of the process of processing all orders. Distribution of orders for this last mile is the most important logistics process. Last-mile logistics refers to this part of transit in supply chains, where the goods are delivered from the last point of transit to the end point or the place of delivery.

It represents a part of logistics, which includes the direction of vehicles to physical distribution, and thus plays a crucial role in ensuring the delivery of goods, in the right quantity and within predetermined deadlines, to customers. In many cases, logistics providers, face many challenges and problems in overcoming the last mile.

Such challenges include high order fulfillment costs for high price-sensitive customers, strong competitive external pressure on free delivery services, and increased customer expectations due to short, individually scheduled delivery times.

The logistics industry is coping with many challenges and problems simultaneously, forcing the industry, in addition to developing innovations, to solve things in new ways. Logistics service innovations apply to basic as well as complex logistics services.

However, new innovations, models, and concepts are also being implemented specifically as part of last-mile delivery. The rapid growth and development of cities force the optimization of distribution processes through efficient last-mile logistics models. The development of urban logistics vehicles with low fuel consumption and high efficiency is expected. In addition, the ever-increasing volume of packages that need to be delivered to end customers every day has meant that many new last-mile concepts have been introduced in recent years.

The reason for which these new concepts were introduced was caused by the trend of the increasing number of orders, which has a negative impact on the environment and safety, as more and more vans are needed to cover the last mile towards the customer. New last-mile concepts include the distribution of goods by electric vehicles, deliveries to the trunk of parked cars, combined distribution of freight transport with public and private vehicles, and reverse logistics.

With the growing digitalization of the logistics industry, more and more companies are also starting to use artificial intelligence. They use it in their logistics and supply chain to reduce the amount of time and money they have to spend on finding out how, when, and where to deliver a good or service.

A good example of a technology that allows delivery routes to be optimized in this way is an AI-based logistics platform called the Last Mile Platform developed by the Singaporean delivery company SingPost. Last Mile Latform combines various last-mile delivery services such as couriers, collection points for brick-and-mortar stores, or consignment boxes into one universal platform, regardless of the variability of technologies used by different courier companies.

Last Mile Platform also uses AI to automate courier routes depending on a variety of factors, including parcel delivery destinations, real-time traffic data, or weather data. The software is also able to inform all parties involved about the movement of couriers. This feature allows customers to be notified 30 minutes before the order is delivered that the order is almost at its destination. All the mentioned factors and possibilities can be operated through a single screen called the control center, which provides comprehensive visibility connecting a number of GPS and API tracking systems.

Data from various sources can be used to optimize the route. This includes transport information, traffic patterns, GPS data, or weather information. Such data collection can significantly affect fuel, personnel, or other overhead costs associated with last-mile delivery.