The pandemic has been a period of change, adjustment and flexibility. From having a work desk at home to everything being available at the touch of a button, not only has the social system and structure changed, but we too as people seem to have changed.
Comfort and ease have now become top priorities pushing digital platforms to grow exponentially, catering to needs we did not even know we had. The pandemic moved everything online and even the most traditional and domestic businesses were not spared. Some even had to close down their retail outlets. These changes paved the way for a new supply chain management system that was expected to be quicker, efficient and money saving.
As time passed innovations and resource saving and managing skills only got better. We saw and infact continue to see waves of recyclable packing, last mile technological advancements and intensive tracking systems take over. There also can be a time when just selling was not enough. The company was required to have a purpose if it were to survive.
Let’s look at five of the most impactful and important evolving trends ruling e-commerce logistics and supply chain management systems today.
Using reusable packaging material
When the pandemic forced minimal movement outdoors, the planet had time to heal and blossom into being clean, delivering pollution free air. At the same time everyone along with the planet’s health was also looking at their own health and purpose driven brands offering green, organic and reusable products started to emerge. This new emerging market shot to success at such a rapid speed that today using reusable packaging material is not only a bonus but often also expected. If you are a logistics and supply chain management company using eco-friendly and sustainable packaging material, you automatically become the preferred choice for most.
Recyclable packages
As everyone decided to go sustainable, not only did the products have to be eco-friendly and reusable (where applicable) but also the packaging it arrived in. The ability of a package to be used after for something else held incredible value and still does today. The simplest example of this are boxes in which the black boxes in which food gets delivered today are reused by almost every household to store different products. Cardboard boxes that can be easily recycled is another example of the same.
Innovation in the last mile deliveries (Drones and electric vehicle usage)
This eco and green shift was also seen in on ground logistical systems like the vehicles used for deliveries of products. Drones and electric vehicles are rapidly being employed by last-mile logistics companies to not only do their bit to be sustainable but also because this ensured that the system put in place became efficient and saved resources on a bigger scale.
An Impact of the innovation made in the last mile logistics was that it created a huge opportunity for 3PL companies that offered shared warehousing services. These third party logistics (3PL) services are often outsourced and will only expand and be able to employ a larger task force as e-commerce grows. Micro warehouses that are spread across the city offer the ability to deliver packages faster- a trait big with the consumers.
Selling goods might look easy on the surface, but under it all there are challenges every step of the way. From managing the inventory for finished goods and packaging material, to space constraints for the inventory, supplier coordination, delivery coordination and time management that ensures the end product is delivered in a reasonable amount of time are all daunting tasks that a business owner has to undertake. In a trend that picked up during the pandemic and one that continues till date, several 3PL warehouses started to offer all of these services, allowing for the business owner to actually focus on manufacturing and other aspects of their business aimed at increasing sales.
It is a given that the faster the services the more the sales grow and the more the sales, the ability to employ 3PL’s to fulfill orders is that much more.
Advance package Tracking – Blockchain
With everything being made available at your doorstep there was an influx at the international,national and local level delivery companies. This forced several blockchain systems to be put in place to ensure that as a customer the option to track your product whatever it may be was available every step of the way. Right from the timestamps and warehouse locations, everything was now made available on screens for the ease of the consumer. It’s not that these systems did not exist before, but minute details in terms of exactly which warehouse your package was at, how much time it would get to you in, one-day deliveries even was all made possible. Today the faster you can deliver a product, the more in demand your services are.
Another aspect why this blockchain system was not only necessary but also trived and can truly be counted as a trend in logistics and supply chain management, is because of its ability to hold accountability. Not only are companies easily able to determine where the product was lost in the situation that it does, but the surmounting numbers of online frauds could also be attacked simultaneously.
Use of big data and artificial intelligence
Everyone likes to know what will happen in the future. The ability to use big data and artificial intelligence in logistics and supply chain management hints to the ability of 3PL’s and business having a better idea of what to expect. Estimating the demands, adjusting for accuracy, studying consumer behaviour to understand buying cycles and to basically solve any operational challenges encountered along the way, data and AI are imperative.
Not only does this allow for businesses to grow faster but to ensure that the end consumer is happy too.
The pandemic in a large way turned the traditional logistics and supply chain management structure on its head. In doing this it also paved the way for better and more improved ways of functioning. These trends have survived the course of two years because they work and will only continue to thrive as long as online buying continues.
The authored article is written by Aditya Kale – MD & CEO, Imperial Logistics and shared with Prittle Prattle News exclusively.
