The technological revolution that artificial intelligence is developing can already be observed in many of the day-to-day acts. From the disappearance of the purchase ticket because it is sent to the email to organizing our next trip with ChatGPT. Now it is also changing one of the most notable sectors of recent times, logistics. Especially the final phases of the same, which require the transport of goods to urban centers or directly to the consumer, and which were difficult to compare with the new environmental or acoustic requirements of large cities.
One of the major players in the sector, the transport company XPO Logistics, has spent years developing its own technology with the support of AI to try to adapt to the challenges required by legislation and its own clients, who are increasingly demanding in aspects like the environmental. Although the bulk of the firm’s business is in the transport of pallets —they claim to move one every two seconds—, the digital transformation of commerce has forced the players in the logistics sector to reconvert and experiment with new formulas.
The one that has gained the most weight in recent years, especially during the pandemic, is the so-called last-mile transport, which involves sending all kinds of packages in cities to the end customer. It accommodates everything from small products —usually delivered by postmen on foot or bike delivery men— to very bulky packages that require another operation. A few years ago, XPO also invested its efforts in this new branch of business, taking advantage of the ‘know-how’ accumulated in intercity and long-distance transport and supported by several of its clients.
Leroy Merlin and IKEA are two of the large companies that have trusted their formula for urban transport. “When we started in 2018, we made about 1,400 daily deliveries of bulky products from e-commerce in the so-called last mile. Now we are reaching 5,000 throughout Spain,” explains Massimo Marsili, general director of XPO for southern Europe and Morocco, in conversation with this medium.
Technology adapted to the last mile
The company, one of the major global players in the transport and logistics sector, has launched its own technological ecosystem dedicated to transport, XPO Connect, with which they trace goods in real time. “It allows us to analyze the movement of the cargo, geolocate it, adapt to weather conditions, traffic conditions and other relevant factors that help us reduce the empty kilometer. This is a fundamental indicator, and thus we are able to optimize the service and reduce the cost of the operation”, he says.
Although this ecosystem emerged five years ago, it is constantly being updated with new systems focused on improving the experience of carriers and shippers, who can thus access the full range of company services. “It uses machine learning (machine learning) to analyze all historical data and market conditions in seconds. It combines multi-modal architecture with machine learning and predictive analytics, allowing it to analyze future activity trends. Es c ada smarter.”
XPO has extended this formula to last mile deliveries with a view to improving the end consumer experience. One of the novelties is that its system calculates the estimated time of arrival of the driver at the customer’s home, based on the route and the GPS position of the vehicle. Immediately, it generates an automatic call and tells you when it will arrive. “It is important that the client is at home, that he knows that this merchandise is arriving, and thus he does not have to wait long,” he explained to La Información.
The great novelty: that the client changes his delivery
The incorporation of artificial intelligence to this development has allowed them to offer a new alternative: that the client chooses where he wants to receive this merchandise. They have done it through a chatbot that, through WhatsApp, allows the customer to decide the time and place where they want it to be delivered. “For example, for a small TV, you can decide to have it delivered at work or leave it with the neighbor. We offer additional flexibility that not only helps us, but also the customer, who really appreciates it.”
From XPO they assure that their annual investment in technology increases to more than 300 million dollars, executed by the hand of 900 professionals dedicated to optimizing collection and delivery routes. “We are fully aware that technology can greatly contribute to productivity, efficiency and daily operations,” he explains.
The next challenge is to make their activity compatible with the requirements in terms of sustainability. For a few years now, a pilot project with Inditex has been active to deliver its pallets of clothing with electric trucks, an operation that, for example, it carries out at its facilities in the center of Madrid at night. “It allows us to test the capabilities of the electric truck,” he says. The positive experiment turned out, because they have just purchased 100 trucks powered by electricity for their clients in France. The logistics of the future is already here.
