When customers expect packages overnight, it’s crucial to have the right logistical systems in place. Micro logistics has become a viable solution that enables you to fill customer orders through smaller, localized operations.
Using technology, including the Internet of Things for real-time visibility, makes small-scale logistics more efficient. You can fulfill multiple orders from a smaller, centralized location to cut down drive times and reduce operational costs while serving more customers. If you’re still operating from one remote warehouse, consider micro logistics to enhance your service delivery.
What is Micro Logistics, and Why Does it Matter Today?
Micro logistics refers to a fulfillment strategy that uses small warehouses in urban or suburban locations for faster, cost-effective delivery. Instead of housing your products in a large distribution center and using large trucks for delivery, you store items in smaller centers with less complex operations.
How Micro Fulfillment Centers Benefit Your Company
Many of these micro fulfillment centers are highly automated and rely on technology for inventory management and faster picking. Storing products locally in densely populated areas lowers your operational costs, particularly during last-mile delivery. For example, delivering products to customers from a distribution center in their area cuts your transportation costs.
Today, overnight and even same-day delivery isn’t the premium. It’s the standard. In manufacturing, your customers don’t expect a product overnight, but their customers might, particularly in consumer-driven industries such as automobiles. When you can deliver components faster, your customers can put the finished product on sale.
Perfecting the micro dimensions of logistics enables you to offer speedy delivery without inflating your operational costs. Real-time visibility into your supply chain operations lets you optimize inventory levels, plan efficient routes, and lower last-mile delivery costs.
Micro vs. Macro Logistics: Understanding the Difference
For the logistics sector, macro logistics refers to how goods and information move between countries or different regions. Micro logistics focuses on one company or one specific part of the supply chain.
For your organization, macro logistics would be a high-level view of your whole supply chain from production to the customer. Most companies work with a network of vendors and suppliers around the world. Macro logistics involves assessing the global market to determine how economic conditions, trade routes, natural disasters, and other factors might impact your supply chain.
Micro logistics covers your piece of the supply chain from when you receive product to when you deliver it to the customer. Optimizing micro hubs logistics involves route planning, inventory management for small businesses, fleet management, warehouse organization, and other factors that make your team more efficient.
How Supply Chain Visibility Benefits Micro and Macro Logistics
Technology that improves supply chain visibility is important in micro and macro logistics. Supply chain visibility platforms, IoT sensors, and RFID tags let you track products and materials through every step of the supply chain. In the macro environment, these and other supply chain collaboration tools show you which suppliers are taking longer to deliver.
You can also feed your data into an AI-powered platform to identify patterns and predict potential disruptions. These insights help you anticipate risks and plan for them.
In micro logistics, visibility improves your team’s performance and enables you to communicate with your customers. Detailed and accurate tracking information helps your customers plan their workflows. It also helps you identify disruptions and delays in real time to proactively manage the delivery before it upsets your customer.
How IoT Technology Powers Micro Logistics Efficiency
Micro logistics works best when you can manage operations effectively. IoT technology collects valuable data that helps you structure each step of the process.
Real-Time Asset Tracking for Smaller Hubs
Space is a prized resource in a smaller hub. Asset tracking systems help you organize your warehouse based on your schedule. Your team can operate with an asset localization strategy to deploy fleets faster.
Asset tracking and yard management are essential components in route optimization. Adding sensors to your fleet shows you when drivers are needlessly driving back and forth across town. Poor yard management can delay last-mile deliveries as drivers wait for their loads.
Automated Workflows and Data Accuracy
Warehouse management technology collects important information for each member of your team. Your inventory and production managers can plan schedules based on accurate supply levels, and your customer service team won’t accidentally sell something that’s on back order.
These systems also automate workflows, such as ordering more inventory when stock hits a critical level. Instead of manually counting and entering data, your warehouse team can focus on strategies, such as indoor localization, along with customer service and fulfillment.
Predictive Insights for Faster Decisions
IoT sensors don’t just monitor your inventory. They also collect data from machines and signal potential breakdowns. If the sensor thinks your machine is malfunctioning, you get an alert. You can call in a tech to inspect and fix it to reduce downtime.
Overcoming the Key Challenges in Mirco Logistics
Micro logistics isn’t a perfect solution. It will still come with challenges, but knowing common pain points lets you fix them. Since you’re working in densely populated areas, your warehouses are smaller. Warehouse slotting and other strategies help you plan your distribution center for optimal storage.
A supply chain management solution will analyze data to predict inventory levels based on customer demand, so you’re not using limited space to store what you don’t need.
Micro logistics makes routes more complex. Densely populated areas have more traffic congestion and other factors that slow deliveries and make it tricky to find the best route. Asset management makes last-mile logistics for micro-mobility easier. This means using smaller, eco-friendly vehicles for the last part of the delivery. If your parts and products can fit on an e-bike or a scooter, you have more delivery options in urban areas.
Fragmented systems complicate micro logistics, particularly if you operate multiple small centers. It’s important to choose interconnected technology so everyone in your organization has access to real-time data.
Scaling IoT Visibility for Micro Logistics Networks
Surgere’s supply chain visibility platform offers asset tracking through different IoT technologies from RFID to BLE. We can work with you to find the best solution for your company, even when you operate multiple small hubs. Our engineers will work with you to customize a solution that gives you accurate data to make micro logistics beneficial to your company. Schedule a demo today to learn more.
