First, Mid, Last Mile Delivery in Supply Chain

The supply chain industry has assumed a whole new dimension with the outbreak of the pandemic. Consumers have become greatly reliant on e-commerce platforms that have helped in the further burgeoning of the supply chain verticals. Moreover, by offering consumers various benefits such as same-day or next-day delivery, cashless and contactless delivery, these e-commerce giants have empowered the customers. This has not only raised the expectations of the end-consumers but also has had a greater ramification in plummeting the complexities of the supply chain. The pertinent question is, ‘How?’

Any person who is attached to the supply chain industry is keenly aware of the terms, first-mile and last-mile delivery. These two seemingly simple terms hold within them the entire corpus of the supply chain industry, which is, bringing untainted products from the manufacturer or supplier to the doorsteps of the end consumers. With the heightened expectations of the same-day/next-day delivery on the surge, the e-retailers, as well as the localized sellers, are under the tremendous pressure of meeting the customer demands. And this is where the importance of both the first-mile delivery and the last-mile delivery comes into play. The complications having been multiplied, unless the entire gamut of delivery chain is optimized, the consumer gratification would remain a far-fetched idea.

Before we move further, let us delve into the definitions of the first and the last-mile delivery.

First-Mile Delivery

The first-mile delivery refers to the first leg of the arduous journey that a product makes. It is an oft-neglected part of the supply chain as it does not face the end consumer. Because of this, the challenges that embed into it are grossly overlooked. First-mile delivery holds different meanings for different sectors. For manufacturers, first-mile refers to the delivery of the produces from the factory or farm to the origin warehouse. For retailers, it refers to the delivery of goods from the supplier’s warehouse to the retailer’s distribution center. For the e-commerce companies, first-mile means delivery of the ordered products from the supplier’s facility center to the third-party logistics providers.

Mid-Mile Delivery

In certain cases, between the first and the last mile delivery systems, we get to see the mid-mile delivery. Mid-mile delivery exists only in the wholesale and the bigger retail verticals. In the case of the wholesalers, they act as the mid-mile delivery agents as they form the link between the suppliers and the retailers. However, it is the retail vertical where the mid-mile delivery is conspicuously seen. While smaller retailers who serve only a particular area through a singular DC do not need to avail this facility, bigger companies and e-commerce platforms that have a far more complex logistics chain indeed have a mid-mile delivery layer added into their systems. Concomitantly,  goods are brought from the origin warehouses to the individual store locations or smaller facility centers, using the mid-mile delivery strategies so that the goods can be meted out to the end-user through last-mile delivery systems.

Last-Mile Delivery

The last-mile delivery is the most complex, user-facing, and much-talked-about leg of the entire stretch of the delivery chain.  The most critical part of a product’s journey, last-mile delivery refers to bringing the products to the homes of the end-consumer or the final fulfillment centers. This is the most expensive and challenging part of the delivery process and since this part deals directly with the end-consumers, it is demanded to be agile and responsive. Hence, most companies focus on optimizing this segment to ramp up efficiency.

Conclusion

The face of the logistics domain having undergone a sea-change, all the legs of the delivery process need to be optimized and digitized in order to render the end-to-end visibility. Today’s empowered consumers demand the status of their consignments at their fingertips apart from expecting promptness in delivery. There are several hurdles that need to be triumphed over. While the logistics managers must find a way out in reducing the cost of transportation, inadequate and inefficient tracking, packaging, labeling, manual dependence on route planning also pose some serious threats. On top of it, lack of human resources who are skilled enough to handle the entire process without hitting the bumpy road is still a reality. Companies are working hard to meet the expectations by doing away with the shortcomings. However, it is still a long road ahead before all these issues are relevantly addressed, zero to no error in delivery is achieved and supply chain optimization truly lives up to its name.