Gut feeling to generate delivery routes. A dispatcher would then study a map, move stops around and hope that the traffic would be cooperative. Sometimes it did. Often it didn’t. That is the guesswork which is being quickly substituted by data analytics which operate logistics delivery automation software with more accurate data.

Information is generated with every delivery. Time stamps. GPS coordinates. Fuel usage. Failed attempts. Customer feedback. On their own, the data points seem to be innocuous. They all tell the stories of agencies that are visible but inefficient.

Once I was given a heat map of the delay in delivery in a city by a fleet manager. Flares were some of the places of intersection. Drivers always wasted time during late afternoons. Without analytics it was like it happened by chance. The information could be forecasted. Routes shifted. Delays shrank.

Data analytics helps companies to move towards proactive planning as opposed to reactive planning. The operators are able to monitor the trends that result in lost deliveries rather than responding to this condition once it has happened. There is perhaps a more no-answer rate in one specific neighborhood during working hours. The buildings may need to be provided with more unloading time perhaps. Providing such insights to planning instruments refine schedules and get rid of friction.

Fuels are another type of silent consumption. Telematics measures idling, hard braking and ineffective driving behaviors. Such information affects training courses and diversion of routes in the long run. Subtle modifications to behavior do not decrease the costs but lead to a decrease in the quality of services.

The customer expectations also to the benefit of smarter analysis. The previous performance is a better ground on which predictions of the delivery time can be made than the optimistic estimates. Good promise of 10 minutes will just grow disappointing when statistics show that in rush hours on an average an 17 minutes stopover occurs between the routes. Accuracy builds trust.

Inventory places are also enhanced by analytics. Companies are stocking closer to demand hotspots using order patterns. The faster deliveries and low cost of transportation are related to the reduction of the travel distance. The impact takes the form of thousands of orders.

Other operators are hesitant and fear that analytics will replace the human judgments. In reality, it amplifies it. Due to the decisions that the drivers and the dispatchers make have become clearer though. Experience does not lose to information, it becomes enriched.

There’s also a cultural shift. By meeting on a weekly basis, the performance review teams are able to spot inefficiencies at an early stage. Failure to achieve the goals leads to questioning and not excuses. Constant improvements but not crisis improvement is a habit.

Ralph Lauren last-mile cannot solely operate on shiny dashboards. They are dependent on the activity of what the figures say. Patterns matter. Trends matter. Tiny inefficiencies matter.

Data analytics inject some sense of direction in the information that is appearing randomly. Such transparency is all that matters in part of the supply chain that cannot be predicted.