Delivering the AI revolution

The pandemic highlighted the paramount importance of resilience in effective supply chains. We explore how artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies can offer support, while also examining couriers and the world of “snail mail”.

In March this year, one country’s state-run postal service announced it would cease all letter deliveries by the end of 2025, after letter volumes plummeted by 90% since the turn of the century. Another reported that volumes halved from 14 billion to just seven billion between 2011/12 and 2022/23. Elsewhere, post offices are closing, stamp prices are soaring, and the frequency of mail delivery is steadily being reduced.

It’s a scenario that hits close to home. South Africa’s own state-owned post office is on the verge of collapse; a victim of mismanagement, digital disruption, and evolving consumer behaviour. Andre Luecht, global strategy director of transport and logistics at US-based Zebra Technologies, says that email, text, messaging apps, and digital letters, bills, and invoices have naturally led to what some call the “structural decline” in physical paper letters being sent and delivered.

“This is a region-wide decline but is contrasted with the rise in parcel deliveries domestically and internationally, which accelerated with the pandemic and the growth in e-commerce. We now have more and more parcel delivery companies competing in the market, offering delivery to homes, shops, and lockers – all possible with a range of delivery speeds,” notes Luecht.

“These parcel and courier services need a regular flow of new logistics workers – from warehouse operatives to drivers – to handle this rise in new and expanding routes, drop-off points and customer expectations for speed,” he continues. “With more organisations moving into the parcel sector, the competition for frontline workers is becoming more intense. Good-quality, fast, worker-friendly training is needed in order to get new hires to the levels of productivity needed.”

Future proofing with AI

The supply chain industry as a whole is also experiencing labour shortages across the globe, and it’s here that AI can help. “By acting as an assistant embedded into the day-to-day work of logistics and postal workers, AI can swiftly provide the information a new hire needs – such as standard operating procedures and HR policies – provide a timely best route recommendation or drop-off update, and help the frontline worker keep track of the next thing that needs to be done,” says Luecht.

“Embedding AI into frontline parcel delivery tasks could form part of a growth strategy that drives a reduction in the time and money needed to train staff, adds value by getting new hires into the field faster, and makes them more productive. That results in cost savings, more customer-focused hours in the workforce, and more tasks completed,” he continues. “It may also have a positive impact on the frontline worker’s experience, as manual tasks are made easier. This could contribute to better labour retention and provide a cost saving around repeat advertising, hiring, and training of new staff.”

Luecht raises two questions: Where would this AI live, and where can it be placed so that it’s easy to access without getting in the way of day-to-day work? “One answer is found in the tools that warehouse and logistics workers already have – their handheld devices and wearables. Specifically, AI (enabled) models, so no data needs to go to the cloud, giving organisations an additional layer of security and cutting latency as all the processing can be done on the device itself,” he explains.

“However, these devices need to be AI-capable with the right chipset, meaning a rethink is needed when it comes to buying cheap options and ‘bring your own device’ policies, particularly for contractor and seasonal workers,” he adds. “AI-ready devices need to be equipped with the latest chipset and the right software architecture. We’re talking about devices designed for parcel processing and delivery environments rather than consumer mobile phones; devices that can be managed, secured, serviced, and updated as a fleet by an IT or operational technology team, and provide the computer vision, voice AI and agentic AI support frontline workers can use.”

Costs and security care

Luecht emphasises that a simple calculation of cost per device or fleet isn’t sufficient. “A strategic, long-term approach requires organisations to resist the temptation to buy the cheapest or ask workers to use their own phones,” he elaborates.

“IT and operations leaders should be concentrating on long-term value. The cost of lost hours, slower onboarding and training, slower routes, poor routing choices, and data and security risks should be seen as drivers to invest in proper tooling.”

He stresses that data protection and privacy are end-to-end priorities for logistics and postal organisations: “That means security measures and policies need to protect data stored on central enterprise resources, planning and customer relationship management systems, at local branches, and with frontline delivery workers out on the road delivering to homes, businesses, or lockers.”

Luecht explains that companies that ask their workers to use their mobile phones are putting themselves at risk, as devices should receive regular and robust software updates, as well as have approved applications, Wi-Fi security, and IT fleet management. “Protecting customer data is paramount. Hacking, ransomware, and data leaks on the dark web could damage consumer confidence and business revenue,” he says. “Trying to save money by purchasing the cheapest devices on the market could end up costing more in terms of hardware and reputation, if and when cheap devices are found to carry security weaknesses, and they don’t have the chipsets for AI capabilities available.”

“Bring your own device” policies also pose significant challenges for seasonal hires and contractors. “Once they leave a company, they take their personal mobile phones with them – and potentially huge volumes of customer data, which poses more risks,” Luecht points out.

“Logistics and parcel companies want better-connected frontline workers, which includes more asset and inventory visibility into operations, parcels, routes, and drop-offs. But this needs to be done securely, as they are on the frontline creating, reading, and capturing personal and company data, and they serve as the face of the company,” he reiterates. “Investments that make organisations future-ready for AI with the security features needed must be the choice for IT and operational technology teams going forward.”

This certainly rings true for many facets of the supply chain industry and will be an important factor to consider as we move into the second half of the decade.