The dairy industry is all set to witness an 11 percent growth over the next year, thanks to growing consumption of milk, rapid urbanization, and economic revival. While India is the world's largest milk producer, dairy contributes significantly to the national economy.
While the growth potential is immense, the dairy sector is not immune to challenges. The key challenges the industry faces relate to sourcing and logistics. Given the perishability of milk, procuring fresh milk, ensuring appropriate storage, and time-bound delivery are the most crucial aspects of the business.
To overcome challenges and capitalize on the growth opportunities, the dairy industry needs a smart, integrated planner and execution platform.
Here are the factors to consider when selecting logistics software in dairy.
Four factors to keep in mind when choosing the right logistics software in dairy
Time is of the essence
The bacteria in milk (Lactobacillus lacti) that converts milk to curd works best in high-temperature conditions. The typically hot Indian summers mean that the bacteria works vigorously to spoil the milk that can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. Industry benchmarks show that transporting milk beyond a radius of 170 to 200 kilometers is not feasible given the perishability of milk. This leads to the use of multiple sourcing and distribution points in the supply chain, making the logistics more complex.
Apart from ensuring the right temperature in tankers, logistics professionals need to focus on optimal tanker planning to make milk procurement and delivery efficient. This involves scheduling efficient pick-up routes on a daily basis not only to prevent spoilage of milk but also to ensure it reaches the end-user on time.
To ensure the product reaches consumers safely and on time, you need cutting-edge logistics optimization software that helps you:
- Plan your delivery routes in an efficient manner to avoid delays
- Use the right vehicles based on the volume of the consignment
- Automatically plan multiple legs of supply chain deliveries.
- Assign vehicles and trips automatically
- Track all vehicles trips in real-time to ensure timely delivery
- Stay on top of deliveries with a smart ETA engine that calculates delivery times
Accuracy and access to delivery addresses
Delivering perishable products such as milk on time also depends on the accuracy of delivery addresses. Faulty addresses, unnecessary or incomplete information, or descriptive addresses are typically behind returns or failed deliveries. Undeliverable orders not only lead to monetary losses but impact customer satisfaction and brand reputation.
An analysis of consumer goods, manufacturing, logistics, and emergency services industry reveals that poor addresses cost $10 to $14 billion to the Indian economy annually.
When you choose a logistics delivery management software, make sure it has geocoding integration that is capable of transforming raw or incomplete addresses into precise coordinates. This helps delivery planners in the dairy industry get quick and accurate access to consumer addresses, making it easy to deliver the product on time, every day. The platform needs to also help you easily store all pickup and delivery addresses in a central place for easy management of addresses.
Delivery instructions
Delays impact your customer experience as much as lack of adherence to delivery instructions. Consumers may leave specific delivery instructions including:
- don't ring the bell
- beware of dogs
- leave the packet at the gate
- do not call
- ring the bell after delivery
Following these instructions is important to ensure a rich customer experience. The right logistics software will give you a unified dashboard view of all actions the rider has to perform during the trip, including the customer's delivery instructions.
With the Automated Driver Actions feature, the app can determine not only rider locations but prompt the rider when they fail to perform the desired action.
Proof of Delivery
Proof of delivery or POD plays a key role in the logistics delivery system. As an official document, the POD establishes that the rider delivered the product to the B2B and B2C customers. The shipper issues the POD, which needs to be accepted by the consumer to confirm the delivery of products. This document contains specific information, including the date and time of delivery and the location of delivery. Manual PODs can not only carry the risks of errors but can be lost, misplaced, or damaged in transit.
The platform you choose needs to offer digitization of delivery proofs and payment collections that will help you enrich customer satisfaction and streamline your delivery management.
At Mojro, our talented team is skilled in custom logistics software development to solve the unique challenges of the dairy industry. Contact Mojro today to know how our supply chain optimization software can help transform your business.
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