DC Velocity - October 2013

inbound

As they move into same-day delivery of consumer goods, retailers are trying creative approaches to delivering small orders swiftly but without blowing the budget. One of the more unusual tactics is the use of “lifestyle couriers”— pre-screened individuals who transport packages in their own cars—to deliver same-day orders to customers’ doorsteps.

In the United Kingdom, this model is becoming increasingly common. The Leeds-based delivery company Hermes, for instance, reportedly has some 7,500 lifestyle couriers on call. DHL recently launched a service called MyWays in Sweden that matches “citizen couriers” who want to make a little extra money with e-commerce deliveries. In the U.S., retailers might use a service like TaskRabbit, which lets pre-approved “runners” bid on deliveries. Some retailers use such citizen couriers regularly, while others use them to augment their usual providers during peak demand periods, such as around the holidays.

Using citizen couriers to make deliveries poses some challenges, says Mike Lee, CEO of Airclic, a provider of cloud-based software that helps companies automate their “last mile” operations and manage each step of the transaction with real-time data, dynamic updates, and alerts.

“Without the right technology, it would be very difficult to pull this off cost-effectively,” Lee said in an interview. Without automation, for instance, it would be hard to match a time-sensitive shipment with a lifestyle courier—who typically is available just a few hours a week—at the right time and in the right geography. “There has to be a very strong link between your order management system, your inventory management systems, and the courier scheduling and delivery system,” Lee said.

With a system like Airclic’s, there’s no need for specialized hardware—all that’s required on the courier’s part is a smartphone, according to Lee. When an order comes in, Airclic’s software locates the closest available inventory to the consumer. The software pulls that order from inventory and alerts the closest available courier. The couriers use an application on their smartphones to receive alerts as well as pickup and delivery instructions, and to accept the assignments. At pickup, they scan the product and obtain an electronic proof of receipt and time stamp. They then take the order to the specified location and get an electronic signature from the consumer. (There are also provisions for reporting rejected deliveries and other exceptions.) ;

The courier next door

It’s not every day you get a chance to hear about upcoming policy changes from the people who actually make the decisions. But that’s exactly what’s in store for attendees at the 12th Annual Northeast Cargo Symposium, an event organized by the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT).

At the one-day conference, to be held Nov. 7 in Newton, Mass., U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner Tom Winkowski will discuss CBP’s trade facilitation initiatives and the agency’s increasing involvement in exports. On the same panel, former CBP Commissioner George Weise (now with the consulting firm Sandler & Travis Advisory Services Inc.) will provide an insider’s view of changes at CBP and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.

In addition to those headliners and a separate panel on customs operations, the agenda includes transportation analyst Adrian Gonzalez speaking on the impact of the new trucking hours-of-service rule on shippers’ costs; a session on ocean carrier alliances; and a “reality check” on the state of U.S. imports and exports by Washington, D.C., investigative reporter Greg Rushford.

For more information or to register, go to www.conect.org. ;

“CONECT” with top customs
officials at Northeast Cargo
Symposium

People who majored in supply chain management appear to be very happy indeed with their choice of profession. When the salary information and research firm PayScale asked respondents to an annual online survey whether they would recommend their chosen major to others, an incredible 93 percent of supply chain management majors said yes. The remaining 7 percent were neutral. The survey results were based on responses from 1.4 million college graduates without advanced degrees who are working in U.S.-based civilian jobs.

Compensation apparently was not the main motivation for those who opted to work in supply chain management. SCM, with an average starting salary of $52,800, was not among the top 10 best-paying majors. (Seven of the 10 fall under engineering.)