Not too late, not too early, but just right…
On Wednesday, Walmart revealed it is about to focus on delivery scheduling, but all is not as it seems. The company is introducing ‘On-Time, In-Full’, a program which will fine suppliers if goods are not only late but if they are early, or even on time but not packaged properly. Beginning in August, the program aims to add $1 billion to revenue by improving Walmart’s product offering and availability in its 4,700 U.S. stores.
The new program will avoid overstocks through eliminating the possibility of early shipments. It will require full-truckload suppliers of fast-turning items such as groceries and paper towels to deliver 100 percent in full, with the requirement of items arriving on the scheduled date 75 percent of the time. If these items are late or missing within a one-month period, the supplier will incur a 3 percent fine of the item’s value. The program promotes the collaboration between the company and its suppliers, working closely together to achieve on time deliveries, ultimately contributing to a happier consumer experience. This is just the latest addition to Walmart’s operations to promote efficiency and performance throughout its supplier network.
Read more on the program here.
Could this start a revolution in logistics?
This last week saw the public unveiling of the ‘Intelligent Logistics Express,’ a new automatic goods delivery system in the Guangdong Province, China. Being a ‘world first’, it is thought it could soon revolutionize logistics worldwide, according to its inventor. Small robot containers with a potential capacity of 100kg will travel along a 15km network of cables suspended at street lamp height. It is a fully automated system, which uses GPS to track its containers. It allows for low energy consumption and low cost delivery in a swift manner.
The increasingly large e-commerce sector is putting a strain on logistics providers, while creating problems with congestion and pollution, as well as downgrading delivery speeds. iBoost, the company which created the system, believes it can solve these difficulties through its network of cables due to no driver or vehicle being needed. Furthermore, it is weatherproof and operates on a two-way basis, meaning consumers can receive as well as send back items. This is especially beneficial to those in hard to reach rural areas. Talks are already underway to introduce the system in other Chinese provinces.
To find out more on the delivery system click here.
Big test for Amazon
On Tuesday, Amazon’s third annual Prime Day took place, a day filled with discounts and the start of mega deliveries. Over the past couple of years, Amazon has been investing billions of dollars into building its own transportation and logistics network. This year’s event will be the biggest delivery test for its Prime Air fleet to date. The fleet will have the task of delivering Echo devices, flat screen TVs and millions of other reduced goods within a two-day time range. This allows consumers to receive products quicker, potentially cutting off 12 to 15 hours of a cross-country journey for Amazon.
This year, Prime Day was expanded to a 30 hour period, as well as being available in 13 countries; Mexico, China and India being amongst those added for the first time. Amazon stated sales grew 60 percent over the previous Prime Day, amounts to an estimated $1 billion in revenue. Over the next few days, reports on its delivery success or failure are no doubt to be published; we will soon see how the Prime Air Fleet contributed to the day.
More information can be found here.
Have a great weekend!
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