stoop to ensure parcels are left in the right spot. The system can intake operational changes and apply them to tasks moving forward. For example, Jitsu’s app was able to automatically reroute around the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. Once the system understood the route was no longer there across the body of water, it automatically recon gured and repriced all the routes offered to drivers. “This tech allows human-like reasoning at a distance and at a level of scale that previously wasn’t possible,” Ramanan says. Improving ef ciency by one tenth of one percent adds up over millions of stops. AI tools can help answer common questions from eld personnel: Is this the correct address? What’s the gate code? AI can respond faster than a call center, especially when a driver is behind the wheel. “That may seem trivial,” Ramanan says, “but every fraction adds up to be more competitive in the market.” n
When something goes wrong, it’s not the regional parcel carrier who takes the blame. Consumers are quick to call out the brand’s CEO on social media to x the problems. “Consumers don’t contact the call center or claims department; they go out on social media and tell the world about a delivery issue, so it’s important we get it right,” Robider says. Reshaping the Landscape Advances in machine learning and arti cial intelligence are reshaping the last-mile landscape. Jitsu is experimenting with multimodal AI that can incorporate photos and video as well as text information to analyze each delivery. The models are trained on thousands of successful and unsuccessful deliveries to spot problem areas. The system can create an ever- tightening geofence around an address that gets repeated deliveries. It pinpoints the location of the porch or back
after he found the back alley spot to drop the box, and was taking a proof-of- delivery photo, the homeowner came out and picked up the package. The rules say no people are allowed in the proof photos, and the technology agged the image. He immediately got a call from the service center notifying him of the error. “The technology ensures there is professional-level delivery supervision at every doorstep,” Ramanan says. Nearly 32% of shoppers took to social media to complain about the quality or speed of a last-mile delivery after shopping online, finds nShift research.
Few products are as perishable as a steaming burger and fries or a piping hot burrito. The delivery experience for a quick-service restaurant (QSR) can make or break their bottom line. Botched deliveries not only irritate customers, but they also result in food waste; up to 15% of prepared food is tossed out due to delays and lack of temperature control. With so many variables complicating on-the-fly adjustments, AI-enabled tech can help QSRs make better decisions. One such technology has helped QSRs cut delivery times by 35%. Logistics management company LogiNext provides a solution that uses AI to automate QSR delivery operations. The technology leverages logistics techniques such as automated order assignment and allocation integrated with First-in-First-Out (FIFO) order assignment. The AI intelligently assigns tasks to delivery agents based on availability, proximity, and capacity. The system takes the guesswork out of which driver can best handle an order. The FIFO program assigns the oldest orders to be Fast Food, AI-Style
delivered first, ensuring customers receive hot and fresh food and reducing the risk of food loss. The AI-driven decision-making incorporates real-time data such as trac and weather, along with order volumes, to support dynamic route planning for fast deliveries. Over time, QSRs can leverage predictive analytics to anticipate peak busy periods and adjust stang and deliveries accordingly. The LogiNext system allows QSRs to mix internal and external delivery carriers, enabling chains to adapt to varying demand levels and dynamically allocate resources, optimize their operations, and minimize delivery times, says Dhaval Thanki, executive vice president of LogiNext.
142 Inbound Logistics • July 2024
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