Revolutionizing Last Mile Logistics Beyond Your Doorstep

Written by: Anazi Zote Piper

Johannesburg – Recently the Transport Forum tackled a trending topic about Last Mile Logistics challenges and opportunities within Africa, highlighting the growth of e-commerce and COVID as an accelerator for this sector. 

Transport Forum, which took place at the University of Johannesburg, hosted a thought-provoking session delving into the landscape of Last Mile Logistics. This brought together industry enthusiast who spoke around the trends, challenges and innovative solutions in this critical segment of supply chain. 

Discussions highlighted the growing significance of last-mile efficiency in today’s e-commerce-driven world. Speakers emphasized the need for cost-effective solutions that address urban congestion, rising consumer expectations for faster deliveries, and the environmental impact of traditional delivery methods. 

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Particular attention was paid to a presentation given by Renko Bergh, Co-Founder: Expansion & Strategy at CtrlFleet who spoke about the pros and cons for the last-mile logistics landscape backed by data. His presentation highlighted how data can assist in making better business decisions.  

“70% of consumers prioritize the last mile experience when considering last mile logistics. 90% of consumers prefer 2-wheelers for last mile delivery due to efficiency and speed of delivery when considering these solutions.” 

Speakers emphasized the need for cost-effective solutions that address urban congestion, rising consumer expectations for faster deliveries, and the environmental impact of traditional delivery methods. Whilst another hard-hitting topic spoke to the safety and security, where Stanely Bezuidenhout, Director, Forensic Specialist, expert Witness and Author at IBF Investigations spoke about the risk of data infringement.  

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This resonated with many of the attendees and sparked a lot of debate because the solution could also present itself as the problem. He further outlined the importance of anticipating risk and doing a risk analysis in preparing for the risk to occur and measures to follow thereafter. 

“You need to design technologies that don’t expose people to more threat. You would rather have a risk plan in place than not have a plan in place at all” as he referred to the risk anticipation part of his presentation. 

Overall, there were many opportunities with the last-mile delivery sector with the promise of the industry growing. The Transport Forum assisted in bringing those conversations to lights whilst providing a valuable platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration.