More than three quarters of transport and logistics companies in six countries say customers now demand same-day delivery a new study finds
June 14, 2013
More than three quarters of transport and logistics businesses in six countries say customers now demand same-day delivery according to new research.
The study, undertaken by mobile technology specialist Intermec, reveals 92 percent of organisations are finding these expectations a significant challenge for their business.
A survey of 375 transport and logistics managers across the UK, US, Germany, France, Australia and New Zealand, the
results
also show companies are receiving an average of 6,677 calls per day from customers asking for order status updates.
According to Intermec, the companies questioned
believe customer demand can best be met through automating key processes in the pick-up and delivery areas, and adopting new technology for drivers such as GPS, mobile and broadband communications.
Survey respondents
report broadband mobile communications (60 percent), integrated vehicle telematics (44 percent) and RFID (38 percent) offer the most promising return on investment to their organisation.
Intermec says the same companies
say arming their mobile workforce with new technology could cut both their pick-up times by 30 percent and delivery times by 29 percent.
“By providing proactive shipment updates, a process enabled by location-based and mobile technologies for example, companies believe they could immediately eliminate 24 percent of the calls they receive to update the status of orders,” says Intermec Industry Marketing Director for Transport and Logistics Jeff Sibio.
“This equates to 1,602 calls per working day, a time saving that could then be used to better serve a wider range of customers.”
Meanwhile, in the US, 38 percent of organisations view operational efficiency as the area of most strategic importance for their business with other regions reflecting this view.
While 44 percent of companies feel that process re-engineering is the most effective means of improving operational efficiency levels, just over a third (39 percent) have failed to complete a process re-engineering effort in the last year.
Of these, nearly three quarters (72 percent ) have not evaluated their existing processes for at least two years.
“Our survey shows that the use of technology not only reduces call and pick up times for workers, it also offers customers the chance to make fewer calls,” Sibio says.
“Investing the time to review current processes may seem to be a daunting task, but the benefits show this is more than worthwhile.”