Gaining Visibility Across the First, Middle, and Last Miles

There’s no getting around the fact that the first mile is changing rapidly. At Amazon, they’ve just opened a robotic first mile fulfillment center where about 1,000 human employees are working alongside robots—and they claim that this has helped them improve performance during peak times by up to 25%. Knowing the world of logistics, they’re probably not going to be the only ones to try something like this, and this initial experiment is probably not the last we’ve heard on the matter.

The quest for greater first mile efficiency through technology isn’t new, and it’s not going anywhere any time soon—but what the discussion here often misses is the crucial matter of how first mile efficiency ultimately contributes to a larger increase in overall logistics efficiency. The first mile is just one segment of a larger process that gets the product to the customer’s door, and when we fail to examine it as a single holistic process it can be hard to get the full picture. 

That’s why gaining true visibility across the first, middle, and last mile segments of the supply chain is more important now than ever. Too often, they’re treated as separated functions and stuck in their own silos—with the result being that there’s little communication or coordination between them. By turning that on its head and connecting these interrelated processes into a cohesive whole, delivery organizations can improve performance and ultimately boost profits. 

Logistics Is a Connected Process—Why Don’t We Treat It That Way?

The first mile, middle mile, and last mile all come with different needs and requirements, and most businesses use different software solutions, teams, and processes to manage them. 

On one level, this makes perfect sense—each area is legitimately specialized and you want the right tools for the job. On the other hand, this can obscure the fact that we’re ultimately talking about different parts of one continuous journey from the manufacturer to the customer. 

Modern customers are savvy enough to know what the last mile is and to understand that the fulfillment journey is made of different segments, but ultimately only care about the whole journey. In other words, how quickly and seamlessly can you get them what they ordered, no matter where in the world it happens to be starting from? 

Making each leg of the journey more efficient helps get the customer what they want more quickly (and generally at a lower cost), but making the handoffs between the legs more seamless is just as impactful in that department. But when we put each leg in its own silo, we constantly run the risk that efficiency gains in the first mile will be lost because the middle mile can’t capitalize on them (and the same for the transfer from the middle mile to the final mile). 

The upshot here is this: when you improve visibility between the first mile, middle mile, and last mile, you can optimize each individual segment while still treating them as parts of a larger whole. This is a recipe for lower costs and happier customers. 

How to Create Visibility Across the First Mile, Middle Mile, and Last Mile

You might be thinking that that’s all well and good in theory—but visibility is a slippery concept, and it can be hard to achieve in a meaningful way even with the best of intentions. 

That’s absolutely true, but there are tried and true techniques you can use to create visibility between the different segments of your delivery and logistics process:

• Empower drivers to document transfers: This is the simplest and most crucial part of the equation. If every delivery run, regardless of where it is in the process, is documented in real time with the data automatically sent back to the systems that need it, you can establish a baseline level of visibility and transparency into the process. 
• Track first mile and middle mile delivery runs in real time: Real-time delivery tracking is becoming standard operating procedure for most last mile logistics organizations, but it’s usually not part of the equation for the other legs of the journey. But tracking the first mile and middle mile can actually be a powerful tool for increased transparency and visibility. If nothing else, it enables you to spot delays much farther upstream than you otherwise could. 
• Get the right data into the right platforms: Your teams will still use specialized technology for each part of the journey, so the data on the other segments needs to be reflected where users are actually planning and executing deliveries. Figure out what data your last mile logistics processes require to run more smoothly, and make sure your teams can access that data without having to hunt for it. Often, this is a matter of smarter integration between systems, but it can also require you to make sure the most relevant data is actually captured at the right time.
• Gain a holistic view of the entire journey: With all of this in place, the next item on the agenda is to take a step back and gain a holistic view of the whole process from end to end. When you have the right data and the right analytics, you can gain insights in the process as a whole in exactly the way we’re talking about. From there, you can transform viability into direct actions that lead to cost savings. 

How Logistics Visibility Impacts Delivery Management Success

Once you’ve created the level of visibility we’re talking about across your entire logistics process—including the first mile, middle mile, and last mile—you can start to treat it like a cohesive process in earnest. 

How exactly does that translate into impact? Let’s look at last mile logistics processes as an example:

In a typical, siloed environment, the last mile planning and execution process can’t get started seriously until the relevant items for a customer order make their way to the last mile fulfillment center. Once that happens, there’s a flurry of activity to get everything out the door and to the right place at the right time. It’s the way things have always been done, but it can feel like a scramble, and things can get lost in the shuffle. 

By contrast, if your last mile planners are actively tracking the middle mile transfer that has the items for a particular set of orders, they can schedule orders with confidence and gain a much longer view of their supply chain activities. Potential delays are visible to them much earlier, so they’re not blindsided in their planning efforts—and, crucially, customers aren’t blindsided either. 

This is just one example of the ways that improved connectivity and visibility here can have an impact. It also enables you to optimize your larger transportation network to make sure the right distribution centers are fulfilling the right orders to fulfillment centers, for instance. Or to standardize your processes and documentation across the logistics chain more easily—all of which adds up to smarter logistics across the board. 

Conclusion: Making Connected Logistics a Reality

As pressure mounts on supply chain and logistics businesses across the board, optimizing the entire logistics process from the first mile to the last mile will become more and more critical. Keeping the first, middle, and last miles in their own silos has been common practice for long enough—it’s time to pivot towards a more connected way of doing things. 

Luckily, technology has evolved at the same time that the need for visibility has grown. Modern delivery management technology can give you the capabilities to track deliveries and transfers across the first and middle miles and incorporate that into your last mile planning and execution. 

At DispatchTrack, we promote visibility across the first mile, middle mile, and last mile by ensuring seamless data and technology integration across your logistics stack. We give businesses the visibility they need to create plans with confidence and execute them flawlessly. 

If you’d like to learn more, reach out to our team today and we’ll walk you through exactly what that looks like.