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.

The global pandemic that raged across the months that have gone by has changed the way we viewed and gauged the world. Certain actions and paradigms made an inroad into the humdrum life of all humans. Fear, disdain, and hopelessness pervaded throughout the world. However, in the all-consuming hollowness of the pandemic, the thing that stayed afloat was the supply chain industry.

Albeit it must be mentioned that the supply chain industry also received a fair share of brickbats in the initial months of the pandemic because of the shutdowns and closures in various parts of the world that came to being with institutional lockdowns being implemented. Owing to this unprecedented situation, shipments did not commute and hence many of the warehouses had to face a conspicuous amount of shortage of goods. On the other end, certain warehouses came to a standstill with good sitting idle.

What added to this woe was the erratic customer behavior. A huge number of consumers worldwide veered towards online buying. And the demand for pharmaceuticals, food products scaled up drastically. With the warehouses getting depleted with lack or excess of inventory due to the breakdown of activities, meeting the consumer demand and keeping life moving became a huge challenge.

Additionally, warehouses being labor-intensive places, posed a huge threat to the resistance of the disease. Managers had to skillfully divide the warehouse into clusters and the working hours into shifts so that one-way traffic in the aisle could have been made possible, without resorting to the harrowing thing called layoff. With a considerable number of workers and their families getting infected, the operations indeed had to be run with less manpower than usual. All this and more became a recipe of a veritable nightmare for the managers. However, as resilient as the sector is, warehouses soon came over the hindrances. With the vaccination drives getting rolled out across the world and the world coming back to wheels gradually, the operations of the distribution centers soon hauled up. However, the pandemic introduced certain norms in the fabric of the warehouses that have stayed back even after the eye of the storm has passed. It is safe to say that all these actions and trends are going to remain a part of the corpus of warehouse operations, just the way wearing masks and maintaining distance would stay back as the inseparable parts of our routine lives for the longest time to come. Let us have a granular view of the means that warehouses have adopted and that are going to control the way warehouses process themselves.

1. Balance between Inventory in Hand and J.I.T: Lean manufacturing was in vogue before the pandemic hit in. Hence, just-in-time delivery of goods gained popularity. Manufacturers received raw materials in the amount that they needed. This efficacious method proved to be ineffective when the business operations slowed down and the manufacturers wallowed due to a shortage of goods. This gave rise to the importance of buffer stock. Warehouses and manufacturers realized how safety stocks are significant in backing up productions in the time of need. Hence, the trend of maintaining inventory in hand shot up. However, the balance between J.I.T and buffer stock should be maintained and the warehouse layout must be adjusted accordingly.
2. Warehouse Automation: Though warehouse automation was slowly making its presence felt throughout, it is the pandemic that has accelerated its growth and has made everyone aware of the effect it can bring to the floor. Several challenges are to be met within the space, namely dealing with the shortage of manpower, increased space for the buffer stock, clustering to ensure little to no human interaction. Automation in the form of automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS), carousels, and other equipment are effective solutions to these problems. These tools can optimize the warehouse space to a great degree and can speed up the work to meet the fluctuating customer demands fruitfully.
3. Decentralization: With the surge of e-commerce, modern consumers have taken to the habit of same-day or next-day delivery. Delay or disruption in the process of delivery can be very detrimental to the supply chain and the bond between the customers and the companies. Hence, warehouses have come up with the plan of satellite warehouses. Instead of a centralized warehouse to meet the demands of consumers in the whole region, various warehouses near the customer-intensive areas can work wonders in speedy delivery and tackling disruptions.
4. Near-shoring of Manufacturing: Manufacturers that had off-shored their operations suffered massively during the COVID surge. Their operations stagnated, warehouses got depleted. In order to avoid getting trapped in this vortex all over again, many manufacturers have decided to bring their operations on-shore or near the shore. This not only brings down the operational cost significantly but also greater control can be exercised over the functions. 
5. Social Distancing within the Floor: As mentioned earlier, warehouses are spaces that are susceptible to the transmission of diseases due to their layout. The pandemic has changed the way operations were carried out in a way so that social distancing norms are complied with. Shifts are divided for different operations, sanitizing stations for workers and tools are installed, more space is required for inventory in-hand and automation tools, one-way traffic in the aisles is ensured. All these measures are instrumental in bringing down the footprints within the floor and also in making sure the jobs and the health of the workers are not at stake.
6. Increased Dependence on 3PL Logistics: Due to all the aforementioned issues and the decentralization of operations, there is a glaring need to increase the warehouse capacity. Because of this and the unpredictable pattern of demands, many companies have leaned towards the 3rd party logistics in warehousing. These logistics companies professionally deal with the disruptions that distribution comes across. Such partnerships to upscale the existing infrastructure can prove to be extremely beneficial in the times to come.
7. The Impetus gained by E-commerce: Though e-commerce is a phenomenon that existed way before the pandemic, the impetus it gained during the pandemic is outstanding. The sector has gone a few years ahead, over the past few months due to the jump it made in terms of expenses made on it. With fear raging big on the human minds about going out, e-commerce platforms brought their facility to the doorsteps of the consumers. Consumers felt empowered, omnichannel platforms gained prominence, and prompt delivery and reverse logistics came into vogue. Therefore, many buyers prefer buying online instead of going to brick-and-mortar stores. With this, the profile of orders has changed from being boxes picked for retail stores to individual orders picked for end-users. The complexity of orders has increased, and thus different picking methods are being leveraged to comply with the changed sales velocity.
8. Inventory Visibility: The knowledge of the status of their orders constitutes an integral part of the repository of power that consumers enjoy due to the rise of e-commerce platforms. Add to it, the decentralization of warehouses. Hence, warehouses now need to be completely in command of the location and the status of their goods. There is an increased demand for the visibility of the products and to attain the same, smooth coordination amongst the distribution centers is extremely important. The transparency in operations has become a sine qua non in striking durable customer bonds.
9. Omnichannel Logistics: Omni-channel logistics have come into being as the by-product of the booming e-commerce platforms. Omni-channel distribution strengthens consumers by allowing them to explore any channel; be it online or offline; to buy products and letting them choose any place to deliver their products to. To meet the heightened expectation and sales dynamics rendered by omnichannel logistics, warehouses must rely upon superior techniques, technological solutions and scale up their business.
10. Cold Logistics Gaining Prominence: It has already been mentioned that buyers these days do not wish to visit brick-and-mortar stores to buy goods as e-commerce has brought facilities to their doorsteps. One of the most imperative things to form a major part of the buyers’ buying list is groceries. Because of the increased demand for groceries and food items, talks related to the cold supply chain have also come to the fore. To store perishable goods like food products, we need cold storages, which are expensive spaces and need to be commissioned on prior notice.
11. Warehouse Management Solutions: The pandemic has blatantly pointed out the pitfalls that existed within the gamut of the entire supply chain. One of the major issues has been the lack of interest in technological solutions out of apprehensions. However, if the unpredictable demand patterns are to be met, then warehouses need solutions that are in sync with technological advancements. This includes a warehouse control system to handle materials, inventory, and warehouse management systems so that various picking strategies can be adapted according to the suitability of the demands. Such solutions offer flexibility in the picking speed and are highly scalable as various adjustments can be done via them.

The accursed days of the pandemic are slowly waning. However, the memories of uncertainty about jobs and lives are still fresh. Thus the supply chain verticals and especially warehouses must be prepared to face any kind of disruption that may unpredictably come across its way. With the flexibility offered by warehouse management systems, 3PL must be used to hilts to optimize warehouse capacity. Use RattusWMS, the highly configurable, multi-warehouse SaaS developed by experienced professionals of supply chain and IT sectors to see how operations become seamless in a cost-effective way.