News and Updates

From the starting order to the last mile, parcel logistics is a team sport. Whether your business operates in fulfillment, parcel processing, or last mile delivery (or all three)—each area relies on the others for successful customer experiences. It’s important to understand the challenges, changing trends, and costs in all three areas to develop the best game plan for your team. 

Fulfillment: Setting Yourself Up for Success at the Starting Line 

Since 2020, eCommerce has seen a massive expansion worldwide with leading eCommerce companies like Amazon growing by nearly 10% every year. Adjacent industries, like fulfillment, have worked to match the rising customer and business partner demands that have arisen with the explosive growth of eCommerce. 

We’ve seen this effort reflected in various trends such as the growing development and implementation of AI in warehouses and fulfillment centers. During 2024 alone, over 72% of fulfillment operators chose to implement an AI product into their business. Many businesses are using AI to predict and anticipate shifts in consumer demands, seasonal trends, and gain clearer insights into their supply chain. By gaining access to this type of information now, businesses can better plan longer-term investments like equipment and warehouse optimization but also focus on more current issues like workflow optimization and employee processing goals. 

This trend in AI comes alongside rising trends in automation, specifically in machines, software, and robotics that drive the actual process of package fulfillment. This leads to a lower downtime which means more items moved, and more items moved means more customer orders fulfilled. 

However, you can’t just jump into a solution for your business overnight. It’s important to evaluate the current issues and bottlenecks your organization faces and why these problems are occurring in the first place. A 2025 LinkedIn article by IDS Fulfillment, list some signs managers may want to look for when trying to understand where issues in their operation are occurring: 

• Missed shipping windows or frequent delays 

• Teams stretched thin trying to maintain customer experience 

• Reduced trust with customers and wholesale partners 

Identifying these issues can help establish a strong starting line for the logistics journey your customers’ orders go through. 

If you’re tripping on the start line, how will you win the race? By implementing strong workflows—and maybe even upgrading to an easy to implement solution—you can save time and ultimately money. Our LightSort® Light-Directed Technology is designed to adapt to customer needs through scalability and customization. Our technology helps streamline workflows and can be retrofitted to existing systems and building layouts. 

 Processing: Maintaining Your Pace & Tackling Obstacles as They Come 

It’s important to remember that the journey your customers’ order takes aren’t done once it leaves your facility. After a customer’s order has been picked and packed, the order enters the next step in logistics: shipping. If picking and packing are delayed in their shipment of orders, that time needs to be able to be made up by shipping, however that can be difficult at times due to two major challenges: 

• The increased volume of parcels being processed 

• An increase in costs across the board for consumers, processors, and carriers 

Over the course of a year the number of packages being shipped can fluctuate greatly at any given time. In 2024 alone U.S. shoppers generated over 280 billion dollars with online orders during the holiday season. Especially during peak season, these fluctuations can impact the number of parcels being processed, the quality of your workflows, and lead to manual labor challenges with seasonal staffing. These factors (and more) combined can make it difficult for processors to predict trends and peaks for the work to come. What comes alongside these stressors are the ever-increasing costs for using carriers, running daily facility operations, and manual labor. 

Processors are working to meet these challenges head on by:  

• Understanding how to best process each package type 

• Focusing on more proactive forms of package tracking 

• Adopting adaptable and scalable processing solutions 

 Adopting scalable and adaptable solutions is especially critical for service providers. It’s important to focus on investing in equipment, warehouse organization, and processes that can grow (and shrink) with your business. It is crucial to maintain pace with your processing volume and costs throughout the year. The Chameleon® Parcel Sorting System is designed to accommodate your facilities and your needs with its modular design. 

Last Mile Delivery: Delivering the Finish Line 

One of the final steps of the logistics process: Last Mile Delivery. The last step of the logistics process is just as important as fulfillment and processing and faces many of the same challenges (scalability, operation costs, and meeting customer demand). 

So, let’s look at what factors can make for a successful last-mile delivery process: 

1. A good carrier relationship: Having a strong relationship with your Last Mile Carrier is key to having a tight and efficient workflow. Check out this article to learn what questions to ask your Last Mile Carrier before handoff.  

You might ask: What happens if I fail the handoff or my carrier fails in the last mile? 

Evaluate what led to the issue and how the issue can be resolved. Can the carrier try delivering again? Do you notify the customer of a failed delivery? How? Will the item be returned? You will need to work with your team to develop clear protocols and processes for these situations in the event they might happen.  

2. Proactive communication and tracking: Proactive communication and parcel tracking can help keep you in the know and on time. The last thing you want is to have a breakdown in communication at the last possible moment. More companies have begun to integrate real-time tracking into their services with some even including IoT-enabled sensors on perishable products like produce and pharmaceuticals. Additionally, some companies like FedEx are developing their own parcel/shipping tracking information with programs like SenseAware. 

3. Efficient processes all the way through your business: Developing efficient and clearly outlined processes can help to streamline your workflow. Reviewing current issues and processes in your business can identify where bottlenecks and problems occur, allowing you to take meaningful steps to resolve issues now and in the future.

Remember: the best tools cannot compensate for upstream inefficiencies. 

A Team Sport 

Whether a product picker at a fulfillment center, a manager overseeing a processing facility, or a delivery driver completing the last stop of the day; each step-in parcel logistics plays an important part on the team. Being proactive in communication between business partners, managing internal workflows, and observing industry trends is important to developing a winning team for your business. 

Less than ready for the holiday surge? Contact us to connect with one of our warehouse operations experts.