Coreteka Last Mile Connector: A Reinvented 3PL Delivery Service
In this article, we’ve collected a description of the Last Mile Connector solution, the frequently asked questions, its advantages for the e-commerce/logistics domains, and the experience of using the product by the Raben Ukraine company.
- Why is last-mile delivery challenging for companies?
- What is Last Mile Connector?
- How does Last Mile Connector save more than 1 hour of the manager’s time for every 30 parcels?
- What benefits does the tool provide for business?
- The experience of using Last Mile Connector: Interview with Raben
- Conclusion
The ever-changing business environment dictates the new rules of management, affecting all industries, including logistics. Pervading digitalization, altering legal regulations, the aftermath of the lockdown, growing consumer expectations, and other conditions are modifying the supply chains from the ground up.
To remain on the customers’ radar, companies need to adapt to the galloping changes and address the emerging challenges. After having transferred most of their operations online, the large suppliers of goods and products worldwide are forced to seek new solutions for optimizing the processes of storage and supply to a final consumer at a lower cost. What should be done to maintain resilient supplies and sales and attain business growth?
CoreTeka company has been successfully implementing innovations in the logistics field for 4 years. We set the task to launch an actual product, which would help to process orders, and deliver parcels as efficiently as possible, and with minimal delay. Thus, the team of CoreTeka’s developers has implemented a solution – Last Mile Connector, the tool for end-to-end management and optimization of logistics operations with postal and courier services.
While you have more difficult tasks, the platform helps to reduce shipping costs and manage bids. It can be easily integrated with other services.
CoreTeka company collected the answers to the frequently asked questions for a better understanding of the product’s capabilities.
How exactly does the platform help with the realization of logistics operations on various levels? How will the Last Mile make the work with courier services easier from the first day of connection? Now you will know everything. Also, you can read about ERP system software.
Why is last-mile delivery challenging for companies?
To explore Last Mile Connector and its advantages, let’s start by determining the last-mile delivery service and its challenges.
What is last-mile delivery?
Last-mile delivery refers to the final stage of a product’s journey from a distribution center or retail location to the consumer’s door. It’s the last step of the supply chain and often the most critical, as it involves delivering goods to end-users. Last-mile delivery meaning is essential as it can set unique challenges, like route optimization, ensuring timely shipping, meeting consumer expectations, and handling various delivery options, including same-day and on-demand services.
How lost mile delivery affects the customer experience
Here, consumer needs are exceptionally high. For instance, if a client requests a specific delivery time. Last-mile delivery, however, may turn out rather unpredictable. Altering traffic patterns, unreliable shipping addresses, and the need to change routes may lead to delays, extra costs, and ultimately – overall customer dissatisfaction.
Another challenge is the continually expanding number of online shoppers. Just look at the global e-commerce statistics to recognize a confident upward trend. Online purchases put a considerable burden on last-mile delivery, making it one of the most actual aspects of modern supply chains.
Source: forbes.com
How last-mile delivery software can address the actual challenges
Last-mile delivery management software offers extensive opportunities to simplify transportation processes for logistics providers and comply with recipients’ expectations. Numerous last-mile delivery startups keep working on effective solutions. The benefits of such services include:
- Control and visibility. AI-empowered solutions allow for consolidating all processes, regardless of the number of deliveries and drivers.
- Improved efficiency. Real-time tracking, optimized routing, and scheduling features help drivers find the quickest routes, reducing delivery times and saving fuel costs.
- Enhanced customer experience. Real-time notifications keep customers informed about their delivery status, improving overall satisfaction.
- Increased productivity. Automated order assignment and route optimization free up time for drivers and dispatchers. Moreover, automation reduces human error.
- Data-driven insights. Access to data and analytics allows organizations to identify areas for improvement in their delivery operations.
- Scalability and flexibility. A last-mile delivery app can adapt to growing delivery demands, accommodating more drivers and routes. Furthermore, such options as on-demand or same-day delivery can attract more consumers.
What is Last Mile Connector?
Now that we’ve identified the fundamental idea behind the last-mile delivery solutions, it’s time to zoom in on Coreteka’s Last Mile Connector.
This service aims to facilitate claim processing and courier shipments, minimizing costs and human error. The tool was initially developed for Raben, a logistics provider dealing with B2B transportation. Since Raben has been handling big-volume deliveries, it provided only palette transportation to its clients. However, when the company started its partnership with a large client engaged in a B2C segment, it required a tech solution for managing transferring parcels to the courier service. The issue was laid in manual order processing.
This is where Last Mile Connector came into play. The solution has simplified the job done by Raben when cooperating with the courier service provider. Last Mile Connector serves as a bridge between Raben’s WMS and the courier service’s TMS. It automatically transfers all necessary data, allowing to creation of waybills.
Therefore, the Last Mile Connector expedites processing times for logistics providers, streamlines the transfer of goods to a courier service, and minimizes mistakes by automating operations.
Read more about cross-border shipping solutions.
How does Last Mile Connector save more than 1 hour of the manager’s time for every 30 parcels?
We measured the time it takes for an operator to enter the same data about a parcel and receiving prices on the sites of 4 popular services (Nova Poshta, UkrPoshta, Meest Express, Justin):
- We filled in common information: sender, receiver, dimensions, weight, and cost.
- We measured the time for filling in the fields and loading of web-pages.
- The connection speed was 80 Mbit/s (or 10 MB/s). It’s pretty fast.
- We sent 4 requests and recorded 4 prices. Should be noted that it was in ideal conditions: when an operator sent a request and switched to another tab without waiting for the response.
This process took 2 minutes. In real life, it naturally takes much longer. Additionally, your manager is not a robot. He can’t continuously fill in 50 or more orders without declining productivity.
Not to mention the fact that our system imports the receiver’s data reserve transportation, and provides a waybill in 2 clicks.
So, the system saves more than 1 hour of the manager’s time for every 30 orders, 3 hours – on 100 orders, and 30 hours on 1000 orders.
What benefits does the tool provide for business?
Depending on the which side the product is managed Last Mile Connector may serve as:
- Order management tool. Here are available functions for sorting and filtering orders, editing, and creating waybills for courier services. Connector admits to working with the most demanded 3PL operators and courier services, such as Nova Poshta, Meest Express, InTime, UkrPoshta, SAT, and others.
- The shipping cost calculator. As the widget of an online store, it helps customers to determine the cost of courier services. When placing an order, you will clearly understand how much it costs and at what time a parcel will be delivered depending on the destination.
- Warehouse management tool. It consists of functions for creating, editing, deleting, appointing responsible persons, and indicating the location of a warehouse.
Aside from these, the service grants the following features:
- Adding or editing an order manually. If needed, specific orders can be included or revised by managers.
- Creating order templates and order tracking. This feature helps to expedite mundane tasks, thereby streamlining customer servicing and operations.
- Composing, printing, or downloading waybills and documents. Faster documentation raises efficiency.
- Choosing a courier service. Logistics companies can diversify their shipping options to optimize costs and time of deliveries.
- Goods availability checking. Real-time information about goods facilitates efficient planning and enhances supply chain processes.
The user interface is both easy to use and efficient in terms of functionality. It means that the platform has become a widespread tool in the logistics field. It is able to shorten the distance between 3 remote links in the supply chain: customer, warehouse, and courier service.
As the assistant in the interaction between the company and the consumer, Last Mile Connector admits to managing all deliveries in one interface.
When completing an order, Last Mile Connector performs the following functions:
- Receives and enters a customer’s purchase in the admin panel, where operators and administrators of the warehouse interact with an order.
- Helps to find the nearest and most profitable shipping for every order or for all at once.
- Creates a waybill in the necessary courier service and provides it for printing immediately after confirming an order.
The speaker of Kyiv Logistics School, CEO of CoreTeka company, Alex Isachenko, clarifies:
“The process of implementing is safe, simple, and flexible for a client. The implementation of the system takes place on the client’s servers, the selection of which we can assist. Our team members have experience in cybersecurity, as they previously worked in large financial institutions. So, we minimize the chance of data breaches. Data safety of our clients is the main priority”.
The experience of using Last Mile Connector: Interview with Raben
Last Mile Connector is intended to help in the work of such giants of Ukrainian logistics as Raben and Ekol. That’s why we decided to interview companies that already utilize this solution in their routine operations. Below is the transcription of our conversation with Michal Koval, the warehouse logistics department director at Raben.
Which processes of the Raben company did require urgent improvements?
Raben third-party logistics is a world filled with modern innovative solutions. We constantly develop warehouse infrastructure to offer the market the highest logistics and related services. The full integration with the Warehouse Management System – this is what can help to optimize and accelerate logistics operations during times of severe pressure. Software product Last Mile Connector has become an optimal solution.
Tell us more about how exactly Last Mile Connector was integrated into your company’s operations
Last Mile Connector became a part of the project dedicated to the integration of the Warehouse Management System with a similar system from one of the key customers. Till then, the company’s specialists registered manually on web portals all shipments, which were carried out from the Raben Ukraine warehouses through the mediation of courier services. Software implementation helped to automate the processes of information transferring to courier services.
What volumes are we talking about?
We are talking about daily shipping operations in the amount of about 800-1100 units. After the implementation of the Last Mile Connector solution, the information about all of these operations, which are reflected at Raben’s WMS, is automatically registered on the courier services web portals.
Conclusion
Last-mile delivery is a critical yet unpredictable part of modern supply chains. To enhance control over this vital stage and pave the way to higher customer satisfaction, logistics companies can implement last-mile delivery software. These solutions help address the fundamental challenges of the final shipping phase, optimize logistics operations, and minimize expenditures.
Last Mile Connector is an illustrative example of such software that effectively caters to the needs of both businesses and end customers. The product gives a great opportunity to automate data transfer and reduce the number of errors for companies, respectively freeing employees time to perform other important tasks. Also, we have an interesting article about UI design patterns in our blog.
