In today's rapidly changing landscape of parcel and post deliveries, businesses like last-mile delivery, warehousing, and logistics providers as well as suppliers in the eMobility and intralogistics industries are facing an array of challenges. DLL provides custom financial solutions to empower these operations to overcome their challenges.
The parcel and post industry is currently undergoing a rapid transformation thanks to advancements in eMobility and intralogistics automation. These advancements are revolutionising the way we move goods and people through the power of electricity and streamlining materials handling within distribution centres.
eMobility and Intralogistics trends and opportunities
Increasing challenges, such as rising customer expectations, environmental regulations, labour shortages, and competition from new entrants mean companies involved in the business of parcel and post delivery need to adopt eMobility and intralogistics automation solutions that offer significant benefits. These include:
- Reduced environmental impact: As sustainability becomes paramount, eMobility offers a clear path to lower carbon footprints, reduce energy consumption, decrease noise pollution, and minimize waste generation. For example, electric vehicles (EVs) can reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional vehicles while automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) can save energy compared to manual systems.
- Efficiency through automation: Intralogistics automation can help companies optimize their processes, reduce costs, increase productivity, and enhance quality. For example, autonomous delivery robots can reduce labour costs and shortages while expanding delivery options for customers. Similarly, drones can overcome traffic congestion, access remote areas, and deliver faster and more efficiently. An example of increasing efficiency is the partnership between UPS and Matternet to deliver medical samples across a hospital campus in North Carolina has received FAA authorization to operate beyond visual line of sight. The service has reduced the delivery time from 30 minutes by courier car to 3 minutes by drone, improving the efficiency and reliability of the hospital operations.
- Efficiency through micro mobility: Assets such as cargo bikes, electric scooters, and similar eco-friendly vehicles are perfect for navigating crowded urban streets, reducing delivery times, and minimizing the environmental impact. A good example of this is Inquieto, a Spanish-based company that provides zero-emission micro mobility delivery vehicles, like cargo bikes, tricycles and scooters. By integrating these micro mobility assets into their delivery fleets, companies can not only reduce operating costs but also enhance the overall efficiency of the service provided to customers.
- Enhanced customer satisfaction: By adopting eMobility and intralogistics solutions, companies can meet customer expectations for speed, convenience, reliability, and personalization. Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning can help to optimize routing, forecasting, demand planning, and customer service. For example, UPS estimates that its AI-powered route optimization system, called ORION (On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation), can reduce its delivery miles by EUR 100 million. This would have a significant impact on the reduction of emissions, delivery times and fleet costs.
While eMobility and intralogistics automation technologies have the power to transform the parcel and post industry, adopting these technologies also requires significant investments in infrastructure, equipment, software, training, and maintenance. This is where DLL can help.
