Uber’s self-driving trucks making deliveries
Automation is currently having a huge impact on the trucking industry and Uber is another company racing to dominate in this area. On Tuesday, the ridesharing, food delivery and transportation network company revealed it has been using its self-driving trucks for shipment deliveries in Arizona for the last couple of months. However, Uber’s autonomous trucks aren’t advanced enough to conduct dock-to-dock operations. For that reason, the company is using a transfer hub model instead, which can create more jobs.
This system consists of a standard long-haul truck starting the shipment journey to a transfer hub where the shipment is then transferred to an autonomous Uber truck. The autonomous truck transports the shipment along the highway for the long-haul part of the journey with a safety driver at the wheel. Upon close arrival to the destination, the load is passed back to a different conventional truck at the second transfer hub to complete the rest of the journey. Furthermore, all of these shipments are arranged by Uber Freight, which is an app the company released last year to connect shippers and truck drivers.
More information can be found here.
Zara is implementing robots in stores
Robotic technology in supply chains is on the rise, with more and more complex global supply chains relying on robots and automation to improve their operations. And on Monday, the fast fashion retailer Zara announced it will be using robots as a solution for the long queues of customers waiting to use the click-and-collect services. This has become a significant problem as a third of Zara’s global sales orders are picked up at the store.
The robots will be operating behind the scenes. Therefore, consumers, who are visiting the store to collect an order, will scan or enter a code at collection points. This prompts the robots to search out in the back for the corresponding order and take the order to a drop box where the customer can collect it. This new experiment with robots will speed up the in-store pick-up process and improve the overall customer experience. Moreover, this year Zara has been developing their omnichannel presence by opening a pop-up store in London, which was mainly designed for ordering and collecting online purchases.
To read more about this experiment, click here.
Carrefour develops Blockchain for Supply Chain
Supply Chain Transparency is a growing trend in the food industry with an increasing amount of big brands jumping on the bandwagon. This week, French multinational retailer Carrefour revealed it will soon be extending its blockchain-based supply chain system to trace the supply chains of even more food products. As part of its 2020 transformation plan, Carrefour has already launched, what it’s calling, Europe’s first food blockchain after the system successfully traced its free-range chicken. The supermarket chain now wants to introduce the blockchain system to trace eight more animal and vegetable product lines, including eggs, cheese, milk and salmon.
Customers can use their smartphones to scan QR codes located on the packaging of products to trace the product back to its origins and its whole journey before reaching the supermarket shelf, for example the name of the farmer and treatments used. As a result, the food safety for customers can be guaranteed. Furthermore, this blockchain system can benefit various stakeholders, from consumers who need transparency to producers who have the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise, and for companies themselves who are more informed on the sourcing of their products.
To read more about this, click here.
Have a great weekend!
