First Mile Delivery:
Empowering Indonesian Partners for Seamless Operations
In the dynamic landscape of Southeast Asia’s
e-commerce, first-mile delivery is pivotal to ensuring smooth logistics.
At Ninja Van, I played a crucial role in optimizing this phase, particularly focusing on our partnerships with small businesses.
These businesses, equipped with invaluable geographical knowledge, were essential to our
regional success.
Challenge:
Our local partners (MITRAS) and their drivers faced significant challenges due to a misalignment in resource planning and scheduling.
Shippers, fearing order cancellations, prematurely marked parcels as "Ready to Ship," placing unnecessary strain on resources. This was further complicated by a disconnect in resource allocation—shippers planned based on marketplace volume, while partners focused on location and size.
This misalignment led to inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the first-mile process.
Compounding the issue, partners have been adapting their workflows to fit the schedules of our internal fleet. For example, if drivers arrived at 4 PM, partners would halt parcel processing for the day, causing further delays and inefficiencies. This practice hindered overall first-mile efficiency, leading to increased operational costs and dissatisfied shippers.
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Lastly, the post-pickup process was riddled with inefficiencies. Orders not lodged or canceled required unnecessary returns, while uncollected parcels led to redundant trips the next day.
The situation underscored the urgent need for a more synchronized and efficient approach to first-mile logistics.
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Approach:
To address this, we introduced a three-part approach:
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Incentives & Penalties: Collaborating with the local team, we developed a system of incentives and penalties that encouraged partners to align their operations with our shippers’ goals—specifically, to pick up and ship parcels as quickly as possible. The incentives were carefully adjusted to promote timely and efficient processing.
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Dashboard Design: The dashboard provided partners with real-time performance tracking, offering visibility into which retailers were struggling with first-in-first-out order preparation. This tool empowered partners to improve their operations, ensuring a smoother handover to our fleet.
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Partner Driver App: We redesigned the Partner Driver App to be a lighter, more efficient version of the existing app. The focus was on streamlining essential workflows, integrating real-time updates from the dashboard, and optimizing performance to reduce errors and ensure smoother operations with fewer resource demands.
Outcome:
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14% increase within 3 weeks of the launch of driver app
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20% increase within 4 months of feature builds
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Secured new major online retailers
Primary research methodologies: onsite driver shadowing, user interviews, concept testing
Key Principles When Designing:
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Driver-Centric Focus:
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Prioritize tasks that directly impact drivers' core responsibilities, such as maximizing parcel collection during each shift. Avoid introducing secondary tasks, like communication with retailers, that could lead to screen fatigue and potential safety risks.
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Efficiency in Operations:
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Design the application to optimize vehicle capacity and minimize repeated trips. Ensure that drivers can access real-time parcel status updates and receive clear, actionable instructions after each scan, reducing unnecessary travel and enhancing overall efficiency.
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Safety-First Approach:
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Minimize distractions by keeping the user interface simple and focused. Avoid overwhelming drivers with non-essential information to maintain their focus on the road and their primary tasks, thereby reducing the risk of accidents.
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Clear and Immediate Feedback:
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Provide drivers with immediate and unambiguous instructions based on the latest parcel status. This enables them to make quick decisions, such as whether to return a parcel to the retailer immediately, preventing additional trips and optimizing their time on the road.
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Scalability:
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Designing solutions that could grow with the business and be easily adapted across different regions.
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Interested in learning more or discussing how I can bring these insights to your team?
Let’s connect!