In the world of modern logistics, digital transformation is revolutionizing many of the processes that were previously manual and cumbersome. One of the most important advances in this regard is the appearance of the digital packing slip, a tool that simplifies and optimizes the merchandise delivery process. But what exactly is a digital packing slip and why is it so relevant to logistics companies? In this article, we'll explore in detail what a digital packing slip is, its advantages, and how it integrates with advanced features such as route tracking and proof of delivery offered by Routal.

What is a digital packing slip?

Un digital packing slip It is the electronic version of the traditional paper delivery note, which acts as a delivery document for merchandise. Like its physical counterpart, the digital packing slip contains details about the shipment, such as the description of the products delivered, the quantities, the recipient and the date of delivery. However, unlike the paper bill, the digital one is managed and stored electronically, making it easier to access and manage.

The digital packing slip may include delivery tests such as the recipient's signature directly on the delivery person's device, photos that confirm receipt of the package, or even QR codes that instantly validate the transaction. All this makes the process more transparent and efficient, both for the logistics company and for customers.

Advantages of the digital packing slip for the logistics company

The implementation of a digital packing slip provides numerous advantages for logistics companies, especially when integrated with systems of route tracking and proof of delivery. Here are some of the key benefits:

1. Reduction of administrative errors

One of the most common problems with paper packing slips is the risk of making errors during manual data entry. Whether it's the difficulty of reading handwriting or the loss of documents, human error can lead to confusion, delays, and additional costs. With the digital packing slip, data is recorded electronically, minimizing errors and ensuring that the information is clear and accurate.

2. Operational Efficiency

The use of digital packing slips up the delivery process. Drivers no longer have to carry around paper documents or take the time to file them manually. Instead, all the information needed for delivery is found on their mobile devices, such as tablets or smartphones, connected to the company's system. Not only does this streamline deliveries, but it also facilitates instant access to information, improving operational efficiency at every step.

3. Real-time tracking

One of the great benefits of digital systems is the ability to perform Real-time tracking of routes and deliveries. When a digital packing slip is used, the information is updated instantly, allowing both the company and the customer to know precisely where the order is located at all times. This type of monitoring is essential in the current context, where transparency and customer satisfaction are key differentiating factors.

Routal, for example, offers a solution for route tracking and proof of delivery which allows logistics operators to monitor each delivery in real time, ensuring that shipments are made as scheduled and allowing a quick response to any unforeseen event. In addition, customers can also access this information, significantly improving the user experience.

4. Improved delivery test

An essential aspect of the digital packing slip is the ability to obtain proof of delivery quickly and accurately. Traditional proof of delivery, such as paper signatures, can be ineffective or even falsifiable. However, with the digital packing slip, proof of delivery can be completed more reliably. Some of the forms of testing include:

• Digital signature: The recipient can sign directly on the delivery person's device.
• Geolocated photos: The delivery person can take photos of the package at the time of delivery, ensuring that it arrived at the right place.
• Geolocation: The exact location of the deliverer during delivery is recorded, providing an additional layer of security and precision.

With Routal, this proof of delivery is managed in a fully integrated manner. The signatures, photos and the geolocation of the delivery are stored on the platform, allowing for a detailed history of each operation. Not only does this protect the company in the event of disputes, but it also provides a safer and more transparent customer experience.

5. Reduction of paper use and associated costs

The use of paper packing slips involves additional costs, such as the purchase of material, printing, storage and management of physical documents. In addition, storing large quantities of paper can be inefficient and prone to loss or deterioration. By digitizing these documents, companies not only save money, but they also contribute to reducing environmental impact, moving towards more sustainable operations.

6. Integration with logistics management systems

The digital packing slip does not work in isolation, but it can be perfectly integrated with other logistics management systems. This allows for full automation of processes, from route planning to delivery confirmation. For example, solutions such as those offered by Routal allow logistics companies to plan delivery routes optimally, monitor drivers' progress and automatically receive proof of delivery in real time.

In addition, the data collected from digital packing slips can be analyzed to identify trends, bottlenecks or areas for improvement in company operations, which can lead to continuous optimization of the logistics process.

7. Improved customer satisfaction

Finally, one of the biggest advantages of implementing digital packing slips is the improvement in customer satisfaction. Thanks to real-time tracking, transparency in the delivery process and reliable proof of delivery, customers have a much more positive experience. They know exactly when their order will arrive, they can follow it in real time and they are sure that they will receive clear proof that their merchandise has been delivered correctly.

Success Story: Quaker State

A prominent example of how the digital packing slip can completely transform logistics operations is the success story of Quaker State, one of the leading brands in the automotive lubricant industry. Quaker State adopted a system of digital packing slips and the complete digitalization of their delivery process, which allowed them not only to improve the efficiency of their logistics chain, but also to significantly reduce the time between the delivery of the material and the collection of the material.

Before implementing the digital packing slip, Quaker State's delivery process relied heavily on paper documents and manual systems, leading to delays, loss of documents, and billing errors. After digitizing the process with tools such as route tracking and proof of delivery, Quaker State was able to drastically reduce these problems.

The most shocking result was the savings of more than 2 million dollars in operating costs. The speed with which deliveries were processed and proof of delivery validated allowed the time between receipt of products and payment to be reduced from weeks to just a few days. This improvement not only optimized the company's cash flow, but it also improved relationships with its customers, who valued transparency and speed in the delivery process.

Conclusion

The digital packing slip is an essential tool for logistics companies looking to improve their efficiency, reduce costs and offer a better experience to their customers. By combining this technology with advanced systems of route tracking and proof of delivery, such as those offered by Routal, companies can optimize their operations, minimize errors and ensure customer satisfaction.

The success story of Quaker State is tangible proof of the benefits of digitizing delivery processes. The implementation of digital packing slips can not only lead to great savings in operating costs, but it can also accelerate the revenue cycle, improving the competitiveness and efficiency of any logistics company.

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Last-mile logistics is a business of cents and seconds, every cent counts, every second matters. Making your deliveryman's life more agile, simple and efficient will have a bigger impact than you may be aware of.

Surely you are looking for an app, and just thinking that you will have to explain to all the delivery people how to install it, if it will work on their phones, especially that of external distributors that change every day, among many other problems... you will think that paper is not such a bad solution.

Perhaps there are alternatives other than an app that requires installation, which will be even faster and more convenient than handing over a paper. We are going to see the big differences between a native app, a webapp and finally paper.

In any change, it is important to identify the main aspects that will mark the success of the change. When adopting a digital solution for delivery people, it is important to reflect on 3 aspects:

• Installing the tool
• The training of the tool
• The adoption of the tool.

Installing the tool

Before deciding on a tool, it is important to thoroughly study the installation process of the chosen tool. A native app will require knowledge on the part of the user when installing apps. Browse the different app stores, until you find the right one. Finally, share with the user their credentials (username and password) in order to access their account. This process must be repeated with all the delivery people, and you will probably have a high turnover, so it will be a process that must be done on a regular basis.

The Routal webapp allows you to speed up this entire process with simple access to a link sent by email, WhatsApp or any other means. It is a very simple and convenient system, especially in companies that work with outsourced services for their operations and these can change daily.

In addition, one of the risks of native apps is support for different models. There are more than 24,000 different models on the market and it's virtually impossible to support all of them. On the contrary, a webapp like Routal's is based on standard HTML code supported by all devices in their native browser. There's nothing worse than hearing a delivery guy say, it doesn't work on my cell phone.

Formation

Training is a key step in using any tool. In general, all mobility tools are usually easy to use by field workers, delivery people, or any employee.

In this video you can see how simple the Routal application is. It doesn't take our customers more than 3 minutes to teach their delivery people how it works.

Adoption

Adopting tools is the most difficult task in any company. Changing the status quo (the company's usual way of working) can be a big challenge. To be successful in this type of project, there is a secret: Generate more convenience to users with the new process.

The application must save time, be simpler than the current solution and, above all, it must make life easier for the worker.

For example, in the Routal webapp, you have a button for direct access to Google Maps or Waze that will fill in the address and guide the delivery person to the delivery point in a single click. Saving a few seconds of copying the address, with the possible errors you may make.

One of the tasks that delivery people do the most is answering the phone. Making calls to customers, receiving calls from their manager to know the status of deliveries, and a long time. Saving 30 seconds by copying a customer's phone number may seem insignificant, but if that task is repeated dozens of times throughout the day, we may be talking about savings of more than 20-30 minutes. Time that can be spent making more deliveries, or avoiding an accident.

Another advantage of digitalization is the ability to share information in real time asynchronously. For example, the status of the deliveries, or the photographs themselves, allow customers and managers to be aware of the status of their delivery and everything that happened at the time they need it. Without bothering, or having to wait. Real-time information, better decisions and more convenient service.

In conclusion, a simple tool that improves the performance of delivery people and is more convenient than the current solution are the keys to achieving the success of a delivery monitoring project.

I encourage you to try our solution Routal Planner route optimization, delivery monitoring through a webapp and real-time communication with your customer.

Move smarter. Something so simple to understand, but at the same time very complex to do. We are driven to increase efficiency to the maximum and reduce complexity to a minimum. It's time to start a new phase and change for the better. And we started by changing something that identified us from the beginning, our name.

Our story was born in the logistics sector. It is an exciting sector that leaves no one indifferent. Either you love it, or you hate it. There are no middle ground. We were hooked.

Logistics is a struggle every day, every day is different, every day there are new challenges. But for many companies, there comes a time when that complexity normalizes, it's part of everyday life and monotony comes.

Working in a controlled environment, without major shocks, doing your job, is for many people the best castle to safeguard. We see every day how companies don't want to change their processes or way of working. ”We've been like this for years and it's not going that badly”, dThey say a lot. Surely they can last a few more years in the market, the question is how many more.

When we started out, we were fighting against impregnable castles. We believed, as good engineers, that technology could gain a thousand years of experience. We were young and idealistic. And we were very wrong...

Humility, work and experience. We had to learn that companies can't afford not to deliver. Your business depends on it, your plate on the table depends on the success of each delivery. This is how our story began: in a hostile environment, without experience, but with the conviction that there were many things to do and great opportunities.

It's been 8 years, more than 20,000 hours of hard work from a whole team and the trust of many people. Above all, clients who were convinced that things could be done differently, and that those young people had something that could help them to improve their daily lives.

We have ceased to be those idealistic young people who focused only on technology. Now, we use technology for the benefit of people. We work to make the daily lives of logistics managers, route planners, delivery people and customers faster, more efficient and convenient.

We have grown older and our product is ready for a big leap. Our mentality as a company is guided by a new compass: Reduce complexity to a minimum, increase efficiency to the maximum and provide constant support.

This is our North Star, our North Star, which guides all our steps on this path.

Today, we work to reduce complexity to a minimum. Today, our customers move more efficiently. Today, we accompany thousands of customers at all times. Today, we grow as a team and as a company.

We are a platform for local business that will be global.

We are a company that is building a comprehensive, essential and very real solution.Today, we are Routal.

Let's move the world smarter.

Move the World Smarter.

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Temperature-controlled logistics is an added challenge to the already complicated distribution of goods. The great challenge is to maintain a controlled, stable and safe temperature throughout the journey from the factory to the final consumer of that merchandise.

As logisticians, we must ensure the safety that this product has not been damaged due to an inadequate temperature, since surely.

There are many products that need temperature, from perishable foods such as foods (fruit, vegetables, or any type of fresh food), medicines, or even precision parts whose temperature could change their shape, to give common and not so common examples. Likewise, we can find different temperature levels:

• Without temperature: 15º-40º
• Controlled temperature:
  • Refrigerated: 0ºC → 8ºC
  • Frozen: 0ºC → -20ºC
  • Ultra frozen: Below -40ºC

Products that require controlled temperature are transported by vehicles specially designed to maintain the temperature inside. For this purpose, they are equipped with powerful cooling systems. Some in the form of an autonomous system with their own diesel engines, others connected to the vehicle that provides the energy, or even some are powered by passive cold (incorporating ice loads that preserve the cold).

What challenges do controlling cold in the supply chain entail?

Fuel consumption

Refrigerated vehicles consume much higher than conventional vehicles. Refrigeration is a process that consumes a large amount of energy, and that translates into liters of diesel. The greater the temperature difference between the inside of the truck and the outside, the more work the cooling system must do, consuming more in summer.

Therefore, the products must be in the truck for as little time as possible. Efficient logistics management will try to minimize that time in loading.

Another action that has a great impact on consumption is the opening of doors. Every time a refrigerated truck opens its doors, outside heat penetrates the truck, increasing consumption. The solution is to minimize the opening of doors, and above all, to minimize the time they remain open. Good planning that allows the load to be ordered so that the unloading time is the minimum, will reduce opening time, reducing consumption.

Systems of route optimization that allow efficient route planning, reducing travel time and efficiently organizing vehicle loading are key to reducing consumption, costs and improving service.

Cold chain management and safety

Ensuring that the merchandise has not undergone heating and refreezing is critical. Many goods could be damaged, even becoming dangerous for human consumption. Examples such as fruit, which at high temperatures due to its high sugar content can cause the colonization of bacteria that damage the product, or pharmaceutical material such as vaccines or antibiotics whose effectiveness is reduced due to high temperatures.

Active monitoring of products and/or their transport is key to ensuring that products are transported with guarantees. Dataloggers and all kinds of temperature control probes are key tools for this type of logistics.

Conclusions

The cold logistics chain has a large number of challenges to face. We have dealt with some examples with the main challenges such as logistics optimization to reduce consumption or temperature monitoring to ensure the cold chain at all times. These are some of the main challenges in a key sector for many industries.

At Routal, we help all types of refrigerated transport companies to optimize their distribution, save time and fuel in just 24 hours. Try it here.

The market is demanding more every day sustainability. It is one of the great mega-tractors of the economy, as well as the conscious consumer. This fact is making big brands move towards that position. Out of belief, or out of necessity, the entire market is being forced to Transition towards production processes with lower environmental impact.

Unquestionably, logistics is a very important part of all companies' emissions and the market is beginning to transition to more sustainable and efficient methods. From the relocation of factories to points closer to their customers, to limiting air transport as much as possible or transitioning their own fleets to electric vehicles.

At the last ICIL Debates convention in Barcelona, two important retailers in our country such as Mango or Unequal showed the difficulty in finding carriers capable of offering sustainable delivery. They get together three important challenges when it comes to achieving the transition to electric vehicles: The large investment in electric vehicles (3x a diesel) Charging management of the vehicle (charging point, charging times, civil works, etc.) Operational Management of an electric fleet (range management, type of driving, etc.) If, in addition, we add that most of the fleets belong to small entrepreneurs or the self-employed, it makes that transition really difficult.

Investment in electric vehicles

Nowadays we find a multitude of brands with electric vehicle solutions on the market. Especially in light vehicles, we find the largest catalog of brands such as Citroën, Fiat, Nissan or Ford, among others. Brands with extensive experience in this type of traditional industrial vehicles that have focused on offering electrical solutions so that their customers can face the restrictions of cities such as Low Emission Zones. The problem appears when the operation requires larger tonnage trucks. Brands such as Jac Motors they already offer solutions that allow them to beat their diesel counterparts in a few years.

Charging management

The installation of a charging point itself can be an expensive installation and its optimization depends to a large extent on the needs of the operation. Points such as the number of vehicles to be recharged, charging times and other variables will determine the power needed, which may make the final cost of the installation more expensive or considerably lower. Specialist companies such as Circontrol and Bia Power make it possible to achieve a balance between installation and efficient loading of any fleet.

Operational Management

Many companies are not aware that the transition is not just about buying an EV and setting up a charging point. One of the advantages of an EV is that it requires much less maintenance, but new restrictions such as range management are key to getting the most out of this type of vehicle. Nowadays, fleet managers do not have the knowledge to plan routes with the precision required by this type of vehicle. To this end, companies such as Aigües de Barcelona, with one of the largest electric fleets, use route optimization technology such as Routal Capable of plan routes taking into account the range of your electric vehicles to maximize its use, even if it does not have 100% of the available load.

Conclusion

The electric vehicle transition It's not just a replacement for automotive technologies, if it does not involve other essential parts such as recharging or operational management itself. The challenge for companies, administrations and clients is to facilitate, promote and finance this change. The market is pushing hard towards more sustainable logistics. We already have the technology to address each and every one of the challenges, all we need is training and institutional support to finish facing this national challenge.

Excerpt from the article published in the Supply.net magazine in May 2023

We can summarize 2022 in three words, a great year. In a sector where every second and every cent counts, and where if you don't measure it you can't improve, numbers come first: We have doubled our turnover again, we are now close to half a million euros. Thanks to our more than 250 customers who trust their processes every day to our route optimization tool. Without your trust and without your demand to make a better product, we wouldn't be here. But we still have a long way to go together. And to add to many more.

Our mission:

“Provide affordable tools that improve the experience and efficiency of logistics processes for any company.”

It's always good to check if we're on the right track and I think that our mission is more current than ever. As a good logistician named Bezos said, “Work based on something that won't change in the next 10 years.”

The experience of most companies that operate in the last mile can be improved. From the internal decision-making processes, to the planning itself, management with the distribution or the end customer experience can be improved. Highly upgradable. That's why we're here and our customers share the same mission. Improve every day, be more efficient and provide a more convenient service.

The economy is at a time of maximum uncertainty, and that causes logistics to suffer. We live in an interconnected chain where if someone in China sneezes, we feel it in Barcelona, Lima and Reykjavik. Last-mile logistics, as the last link in the chain, also notices this. What to do? Adapt, be more efficient and flexible. There's no other one left.

Logisticians know a lot about adapting to unexpected changes, it's in our DNA. To adapt, you need to evolve, improve your processes and that's where companies find us. We are with them to make this transition as fast as possible (Congratulations Prio Energy for deploying in 24 hours 👏🏻) and simple (Cabify Logistics has assured us that they have tried all the platforms and none as easy to use as Routal).

Our present is to continue the great work we have been doing for the last 3 years. Better products, easier to use and more powerful. This is why we have released a new version. More intuitive, faster and more collaborative. With one goal: To make your life easier, more flexible and efficient.

We believe in our way of working, we know what is different from the rest, and we understand that if we want to be the reference we cannot set our sights on today or tomorrow, but rather think about the coming years and working from now on. For this reason, we invest a lot of efforts in improving product, value and customer communication processes. We still have a lot to do.

The future will bring us better products, solutions that improve the experience and efficiency of logistics processes. That is our mission and we work every day to get closer. All our work is based on some principles (and our clients share them):

• Continuous improvement: Nothing is perfect, everything can be improved and anyone (including customers) can propose improvements
• Transparency: We are transparent (we publish any incident with the service openly), we all make mistakes, but we assume our responsibility.
• Listen to customers: Understand the needs of each customer, improve the product for everyone and have the courage to say no, for now.
• Persistence: It's hard for things to work out the first time, we can't give up, so we have to keep fighting

2023 will be an even bigger year.

All that's left is Christmas. Breathe, there's less left. We all have the same feeling, a terrible storm has taken hold of our email, TV and shop windows. With a single motto: Black Friday.

The feeling that everyone has of is one of exhaustion, tiredness and deception. Everything related to Black Friday is predictable, irrational and in some cases generates unethical behavior. From the famous pushes in American department stores, to raising prices the days before.

This negative perception is taking hold of all consumers. I'm not saying that, but different studies that try to analyze the perception of this day and arrive at the same coincidence, people are tired. Consumer Emotions on Black Friday: Antecedents and Consequence, Are Black Friday deals worth it? Mining Twitter Users' Sentiment and Behavior Response.

We all know that to sell in the B2C world, the best strategy is to attack the reptilian brain. Moving the customer to make irrational decisions, the urgency, a reduced time and a price that will never be repeated, will make you lose THE opportunity to buy what you wanted so much. With all this push, it's obvious that people can't do anything other than go crazy with their credit card.

A second after the purchase is the moment when you realize that you probably didn't need it (nor could you afford it). The offer wasn't as good as you thought and on top of that you'll have to suppress your desire to party due to lack of funds. You feel used by marketing departments and you start to distrust.

The following year, you look months in advance at the price of what you really wanted to buy (waiting for the big day) to make sure you're not being fooled, and you end up delaying the purchase you would have made months before. When the big day comes and after 3 failed delivery attempts by the courier, you end up thinking about the environmental impact of your purchase. You are not alone. Brands are also evolving.

One of the demonstrations that Black Friday is at a time of exhaustion is Google Trends. We can see a clear setback in the Number of Google searches of the term Black Friday.

We have overcome the peak, and we are going down in what can be sensed as a tendency to flatten the curve. It probably won't go away, but it shows clear signs of exhaustion. Like any acquisition channel, the beginnings tend to be explosive, at a point where it becomes mainstream, and from there performance declines rapidly to a point of exhaustion. Tap Find New Things. Innovate in new strategies.

How are brands attacking this Black Friday exhaustion problem? Green Friday

With new proposals such as Green Friday. Turn around an exhausted concept and associate positive values with the brand. A clear trend in all ecommerce is sustainability. At the last ICIL Debates event in Barcelona, important brands such as Mango or Desigual publicly demonstrated their commitment to sustainability throughout the chain. From sustainable manufacturing to transport with the lowest possible CO2 footprint. Eliminating the plane as much as possible from its logistics, as a practical example of its actions.

A pending issue is the sustainable last mile delivery. Companies such as Beeasy or Geever they deliver the last mile by scooter or on foot with a delivery network that allows last-yard capillary delivery with 0 emissions. These are alternatives that will grow more and more strongly in cities.

For heavier products, or greater geographical dispersion (less dense areas), it will be essential to use electric vehicles. One of the biggest brakes is the operational management of this type of vehicle. They don't behave the same way and the fear of”Stay strung out” is a brake on their transition. Technology such as Routal allows plan routes and make sure you don't run out of battery increasing vehicle productivity by more than 30% and facilitating the management of this new way of distributing.

Without a doubt, this transition will not be easy. But if we can turn a date as relevant to commerce as Black Friday into Green Friday, we will help generate that momentum that the sector needs to make the transition to last-mile logistics more sustainable. It's for the good of all.

Los KPIs (KKey Performance Indicators) as their name says, are numerical performance indicators that allow us to identify possible positive or negative developments in our operations in order to measure and compare them. It also allows us to act accordingly to improve performance, creating planning and process optimization strategies.

In the case of the logistics sector, these indicators help to have knowledge of the company's processes and operations in order to work on the continuous improvement of the entire logistics chain, from warehousing to distribution.

These indicators help to make decisions about processes and to be clear about how the company's operations are working. That's why they are very relevant to the sector. They also allow us to make comparisons with certain historical moments or with reference metrics (for example from other companies) when carrying out a Benchmarking. Also they make it possible to reduce errors, reduce costs, optimize processes, enhance profitability and improve productivity.

There are different classes or categories of indicators:

Performance: they provide information on whether the execution of the scheduled activities is being carried out

Productivity: they allow us to compare real values with the objectives that were expected to be achieved, in a certain period of time.

Utilization: they allow us to measure how we use our resources. For example: number of used vehicles

To establish the KPIs we want to measure, we must take into account what the company's objectives and these indicators are. The process that is used for the operation must also be taken into account. On the other hand, reasonable and attainable objectives must be established, in order to then be able to make comparisons that work for the company. For this purpose, the SMART theory (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Based) is used, meaning that objective KPIs must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant or realistic, and timely. As an example, we could say that “making more shipments” is not as SMART a goal as “increasing shipments by 5% in 6 months”. Objectives should be part of a planned strategy to achieve larger goals.

What are the KPIs that we should consider in last-mile logistics?

For the last mile sector, there are many indicators to consider. We'll tell you which are the most relevant to us:

Number of deliveries/stops made and canceled: can be measured per day (total), by zone or per driver.

Reasons for cancellation: establish the most common ones and measure the quantity of each one. Then you can analyze how to avoid these cancellations.

Delivery attempts: How many times was the visit carried out until it was completed

Used vehicles: quantity per day

Kilometers traveled: amount per day or per vehicle

Road time (hours): amount per day or per vehicle

Customer Satisfaction: it is measured through evaluation surveys sent to the customer

Staff/driver satisfaction: is measured through assessment surveys through the system used by drivers

Cost per km or delivery: can take into account different factors such as the price of fuel, the price of outsourcing the service, etc.

All of these KPIs can be analyzed day by day to improve operations and correct errors that may be happening in deliveries. In addition, many of them can be improved by optimizing routes such as the kilometers traveled and the number of vehicles used per day. This makes it possible to considerably reduce costs and also CO2 emissions.

With Routal Planner not only can you plan and optimize your routes in minutes, you can also view them in the Analytical all the KPIs relevant to your business, to be able to work on the continuous improvement of your processes and reduce your operating costs.

Try Planner free for 10 days doing click here.

The logistics industry is constantly changing, both in processes and in the way of proceeding. These changes are due, to a large extent, to technological advances in the sector, which evoke different modalities in logistics processes, such as reverse logistics.

What is Reverse Logistics?

Reverse logistics is the set of practices and processes responsible for managing the returns and returns of those products purchased by users.

These returns or returns are managed from the points of sale of the products to the manufacturer itself (to carry out the repair, recycling or disposal of the product at the lowest possible cost).

In addition, reverse logistics is already another process and of vital importance when planning the supply chain for the satisfaction of the end customer.

Reverse logistics is one of the main challenges faced by the industry and the main objective is to avoid high costs and manage returns in the shortest possible time.

8 tips to improve your reverse logistics

Customer Centric: It responds to the customer-oriented strategy through which an organization places the customer at the center of the company with the objective of focusing all processes and operations on users.

The implementation of the Customer Centric strategy increases the satisfaction of our users, since we focus all our efforts on knowing their needs and concerns regarding our activity. Knowing the desired delivery and return times or a maximum price per service will help increase your satisfaction and, therefore, carry out a satisfactory reverse logistics process.

Strategic Planning: Perform measured and analytical planning to ensure the correct management of operations taking into account parameters such as mileage or travel time. With the right software, this will be an autonomous task, in which a large amount of time is not required and with an optimal result, since it will always offer the most efficient route.

Optimization of resources: The optimization of resources when it comes to transportation is essential for the success of your company's reverse logistics process; it will help control the traceability, trajectory and tracking of shipments. In addition, planning delivery routes efficiently and optimally will result in significant economic and time savings. Therefore, the use of specialized software for route planning will be a key element in increasing the efficiency of your company's reverse logistics process.

Use of metrics and KPIs: To evaluate the productivity and performance of the reverse logistics process, the use of KPIs is essential (Key Performance Indicator). These indicators will help measure and quantify your company's performance and compliance with established objectives. It is recommended that when defining the logistics KPIs, they are developed based on the S.M.A.R.T. (Smart, Mmeasurable, Achivable, Realistic and Time-Bound) model.

Shorter return times: As mentioned before in relation to the Customer Centric strategy, it is essential to know not only the limits of our company in terms of acceptable delivery or return times, but also the “deadlines” or desired deadlines of our customers. For this reason, and in general terms, it should be prioritized that collection and return times are as short as possible and without the need to increase the amount of resources associated with reverse logistics. Thus, specific efforts should be made to improve this particular process.

Proactive monitoring: Proactive monitoring is the live monitoring of the daily planning of services and deliveries that warns of possible failures and errors while allowing us to react and adapt operations in a satisfactory manner.

Good proactive monitoring must have the possibility of monitoring the operation in real time and thus be able to view the progress of the operation live at all times. In addition, and in relation to the real-time monitoring of operations, it is essential that it incorporates sufficient functions that allow a timely reaction to possible failures or errors.

Smart Warehouses or Smart Storage: Smart warehouses are specialized logistics centers that make use of technology to increase efficiency in all their processes, such as the reception, preparation or storage of goods.

An example of the use and benefit of implementing intelligent warehouses in the reverse logistics process is the case of Amazon, a company that has included artificial intelligence in its warehouses in order to quickly determine, based on the costs of each product and its associated return costs, if it accepts to pick up the product in question by activating the reverse logistics process or, on the contrary, makes the refund without the collection of said merchandise.

Logistic software: Investing in technology and digitalization can help you improve your reverse logistics efficiently. Choose specific software that includes route optimization, real-time operational monitoring and analysis of important metrics for your continuous improvement.

If you want to guarantee the success of your company's reverse logistics process, you can do so now with specialized software. Routal Planner. Try it now for free by 10 days.