9 minute read
RouteQ
RouteQ showcases innovative delivery-routing solutions at Seamless 2022
RouteQ, a provider of cloud-based, AI-driven solutions for route planning, recently participated at the recently concluded Seamless Middle East 2022, the regional e-commerce industry’s top trade event, which took place at Dubai World Trade Center.
The participation closely followed RouteQ’s February announcement of the opening of its Dubai operations in preparation for expansion across the Middle East, a move taken to plug the critical gaps in the region’s delivery-fleet operations.
“At a time when many supply chains have been broken or modified, the pressure is on retailers, e-grocers, and logistics companies to improve metrics around last mile delivery — the most expensive part of the delivery process. Last-mile delivery can account for as much as 25% of an order’s total cost. But unlike the first mile, it can be significantly optimized with help from technology,” affirmed Vladimir Nesterov, General Manager, RouteQ, Middle East.
Last-mile deliveries
Last-mile delivery logistics can be very fragile when not organized thoroughly. Factors like wrong addresses, traffic congestion, lack of parking, and poor communication with the courier can easily have a negative effect on the delivery process.
RouteQ manages more than 300 such parameters with special tags describing the conditions for vehicle routing, such as the presence of equipment in the vehicle for a particular parcel, as well as complex work and rest schedules for couriers. These special tags also overlay with the most precise traffic forecast to further increase efficiency.
On Day One of Seamless Middle East 2022, RouteQ hosted a discussion on the rise of hybrid-delivery models, used by companies to combine outsourced and in-house delivery capacity to effectively meet transportation and human resource demands.
The session — which featured Dharmin Ved, CEO of 6th Street and Vladimir Nesterov, GM for Middle East at RouteQ — covered issues such as how to choose between in-house, outsourced, and hybrid models and the quandary of in-house versus outsourced fleets with regard to maintaining a balance with deliverymanagement technologies. Discussing the role of hybrid delivery models for companies of various sizes, Dharmin commented, “Hybrid solutions will not go away and are clearly here to stay. As
business volumes grow, the in-sourced transportation model may not be able to cope up with increased demand. Also, for seasonal demand it is best to rely on external transporters. The hybrid model can be adapted to take care of both the peaks and troughs demand situations.” In explaining the various parameters that organizations should consider when deciding if hybrid delivery models are suited for their business, Vladimir said, “Cost per order (CPO) is one of the most important factors to be considered when determining which delivery model is best suited for your business. If you look at businesses like e-grocery for example, it could account for almost 40% of P&L with last mile accounting for almost 25% of that. Other key considerations include customer satisfaction index, the size and scale of the business, route planning, the nature and product lines of the business, the clientele, and the geographical spread.” In addition to discussing hybrid delivery models, both executives stressed the value of automation in streamlining and optimizing logistics operations with Vladimir pointing out that automation can cut logistics costs by 20% and ensure up to 98% of deliveries are accurately delivered.
Profile
RouteQ is a plug-and-play AI-powered software solution that makes it possible to easily level-up delivery operations. It lets you sustainably manage your fleet while increasing customer satisfaction and making more money at the same time.
RouteQ’s major value lies in traffic data, which is harnessed to precisely estimate delivery arrivals while making 99% of deliveries on time (and delivering 30% more orders with the same-sized fleet). The software offers a level of transparency into the delivery process that hasn’t been seen before — everyone from customer service to the delivery person to the customers themselves has a clear window into the entire delivery process and can easily communicate with each other there.
RouteQ offers two major services: automatic route planning and improved courier monitoring and communication.
The automatic route planning system quickly finds the best routes for companies with lots of orders across a variety of logistics scenarios. It uses historical traffic data and precise arrival time predictions to optimize these routes. It can formulate routes while accounting for various conditions like freight dimensions, transport capacity, acceptable delivery time margins, the throughput of warehouses, and beyond.
The platform also supports more than 300 specific restrictions, like the presence of equipment in the vehicle for a particular parcel, as well as complex work and rest regimes for drivers who spend multiple days on the road at a time.
Dharmin Ved, CEO, 6TH Street
Dharmin Ved has made his mark in the fashion retail industry as the CEO of 6TH STREET, the latest Apparel Group venture in the digital space. Being qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the UK, Ved’s first job was at Ernst & Young, London.
Soon after, he was appointed as CEO of LM Exchange, one of the largest money exchange businesses in the UAE and Oman. Ved made his debut in the fashion retail industry by taking on the role of Managing Director of Apparel Group in Russia. 6TH STREET was launched in November 2016 as a start-up of only five team members and has since, rapidly grown to become one of the top e-commerce destinations in the region.
Getting same-day delivery right… on time, every time
AMastercard survey from late 2020 showed that 73% of UAE consumers were doing more online shopping than they had before the pandemic, and groceries topped the list of those purchases. Online grocery shopping is a prime example of the same-day delivery (SDD) culture that has become a part of consumer expectations in recent years, and these expectations extend to a range of other goods. If any business is prepared to offer SDD, then all its competitors must follow suit. And they must do so with excellent precision because the modern shopper will not stand for poor experiences.
But SDD is a tricky proposition involving a range of factors that have to be managed in concert. Here are four tips that businesses can use to get SDD right every time.
1. Managing resources and capacity
Deliverers must begin by understanding what vehicles, drivers, and warehouse personnel are available to them. Also
important is being mindful of demand surges, using historical data. Some, such as holiday seasons, are easier to predict than others. But even with COVID, once lockdowns were announced, many businesses were able to foresee the increases in demand.
Given the resources on hand and the expected demand, organizations can appropriately cap same-day orders to coincide with their capabilities, bringing in other factors such as product availability. A customer will be more forgiving of being told up front that SDD is not available than of being promised it and subsequently let down.
2. Location, location, location
Across the UAE, the speed of construction has led to a profusion of imprecise addresses. Geolocation challenges can be overcome by modern logtech solutions that offer customers widgets that can send SMS or WhatsApp messages to their contact numbers. The customer can then collaborate with drivers in real time to pinpoint their location using a rich map interface. Customer interactions are translated into accurate GPS coordinates for delivery drivers.
3. Smart route planning
While many companies still manually plan routes, digital solutions are far more efficient at covering all the factors involved. Companies must fulfil the maximum number of deliveries with the minimum number of vehicles. Or, if the level of service time is the priority, they may want to dedicate the maximum amount of time to customers at their location, letting them check the produce, for example. Either way, optimizing the number of vehicles in service on a given day requires factoring in physical size of goods, the type of goods (perishable or non-perishable), fleet size, vehicle capacity, the need for special equipment (such as freezers or cold boxes), and the geographical distribution of locations for deliveries and returns.
After inputting all the operational parameters and restrictions, route
planning solutions overlay the data with a traffic forecast — based on historical data — giving organizations the ability to predict traffic conditions at any time of the day or on any part of the route. This will enable the diversion of drivers from congested roads, for example. Some modern routing platforms can plan thousands of deliveries within an hour, while reducing costs by 20% and achieving accuracy rates of 98%.
Another important part of route planning in SDD is additional allowance for enhanced services around cut-off times. Often, a company will receive 90% of its daily orders before the cut-off time and the remaining 10% within the following two hours. While previous practice may have made the 10% wait for the following day, customer loyalty can be greatly increased by making another iteration of deliveries and distributing the remaining 10% to on-route delivery vehicles for delivery on the same day too. Good route planning platforms will optimally build in these additional iterations and allow for ad hoc pick-up points, such as mobile warehouses and dark-stores, to be integrated into the journey of an in-the-field vehicle.
4. Optimizing service times at drop-off points
Knowing how long the delivery person needs at an address is crucial as time spent at each location can have a significant impact on efficiency and costs — not to mention customer satisfaction and loyalty —if not properly managed.
Drivers might struggle to find the exact address, or parking, or may arrive at a delivery location only to find the customer is not at home. And cash on delivery (COD) shipments can be slowed down if the customer does not have the cash to hand. Stretched service time can have a knock-on effect, as a late arrival for the next address may directly lead to the same factors — the customer being absent or not having cash ready for a COD delivery.
Again, digital platforms can alleviate these issues by providing two-way monitoring capabilities to drivers and customers, as happens with food-delivery companies like Deliveroo. This is by far the best way to ensure customers are home and ready to accept their packages.
Logtech systems provide a range of tools for keeping both drivers and customers informed of progress. Routes, and ETAs are updated in real time for customers, and couriers in the field have access to an order execution list and interactive map of the delivery area. Any action by the driver to adjust the route is recorded by the platform and relayed to managers and customers. And couriers can also communicate with managers and customers directly from their mobile field app.
On time, every time
Expectations can only be managed by transparent information, and workflows that never fail. Once businesses commit to a workflow, customers expect it to complete at the date and time promised. Logtech platforms have advanced to the level where they are capable of managing hundreds of data points to optimize all kinds of deliveries. Same-day demands are the most difficult to fulfil, but through investment in the right methodologies and technologies, regional businesses will soon see that same-day deliveries can be on time, every time.
