October 26, 2023 Press Release
The average consumer today has experienced some form of real-time package tracking. Parcel tracing for retail purchases and items picked up by local last-mile couriers is quickly becoming commonplace. In some sectors, modern technology has even made real-time parcel tracking table stakes.
For Posts, this transforms what was once a competitive differentiator into a near necessity. In this first of two posts on track & trace and last-mile delivery, we’ll explore the logistical challenges Posts face in meeting this demand and potential solutions.
As the world digitally transforms before our eyes, Posts are reassessing the effectiveness of their current systems. Many Posts rely on a variety of hardware devices, software, and paper processes to manage logistics and business flows. Unfortunately, many of these devices and systems do not integrate with one another or scale as operations expand.
These systems leave Posts with fractured data. Information is stored in multiple places, with no single location offering a single, unified view of overall operations. Often, operations managers can only see one process at a time.
This limited perspective leaves them vulnerable to blind spots. It also makes end-of-day data consolidation a difficult and time-consuming process and makes it impossible to look ahead into what’s coming down the pipeline in the near future.
Finally, this spread of information over an array of devices and platforms makes onboarding new partners and employees laborious. Accounts must be created on multiple systems and training has to cover all of these as well as hardware devices.
With parcel delivery only increasing, no Post can afford these inefficiencies. Fortunately, modern Track & Trace and Last-Mile Delivery technologies offer a solution.
Track and trace is more than just what online shoppers see on their smartphones when their package is en route. Retailers and Posts alike use track and trace to see where items are, both outside and inside their enterprise, both before those items arrive at a warehouse and after they leave.
Robust track and trace technology can track items in your partner networks before they reach your operation. This provides a view of the incoming workload so your team can prepare accordingly. It also means you can get a head start on any potential issues, such as ensuring customs manifests are submitted for any cross-border shipments.
Once parcels leave your facility, last-mile delivery becomes the most critical part of the shipping process. To ensure each package arrives at its correct destination in a timely manner, last-mile delivery solutions make it easy for drivers to get real-time route optimization, receive logistical updates, and confirm delivery all on a mobile device.
Check back here for the second part of this blog series. We’ll delve into more detail about the benefits of Track & Trace and Last-Mile Delivery.
