The Friday Report: November 8th, 2019

Will Google Invade the Logistics and Fulfillment Sector?

Along with all things Google, comes some news.  Did you know that Google is also focused on e-commerce logistics?

Recently Google held a meeting with some heavy hitters, including its parent company Alphabet as well as FedEx, Deliv, a same-day delivery service solution; JD.com, China’s largest online retailer and its overall largest retailer, Flexe, an on-demand warehousing, fulfillment and logistics services provider.  The meeting was held to discuss potential strategies and investments in the logistics and fulfillment sector. 

The group discussion covered use of Bluetooth, drone delivery, predictive analytics and order fulfillment package tracking.  Google is currently evaluating business opportunities related to automated and advanced warehousing as well as the means to accelerate fulfillment and delivery.  Last mile delivery and logistics were a major topic at the meeting.  CNBC subsequently reported that the group forecasts the introduction of a marketplace to big last mile delivery across a myriad of options.

Zebra Technologies Acquires Cortexica Vision Systems Ltd.

With its acquisition of Cortexica Vision Systems Ltd., Zebra adds next-generation functionality to its suite of technologies, enabling increased operational efficiencies and new user experiences. The Cortexica computer vision AI portfolio enables object recognition, image and video analysis and visual search.

Zebra plans to use the acquisition of Cortexica to advance its Enterprise Asset Intelligence vision.  The new computer vision expertise will provide customers with vision-based sensing and advanced analytics capabilities.

Roadie Leverages Excess Capacity on the Road to Expand Last Mile Delivery Network

Did you know that every day, 250 million passenger vehicles are in transit?  This equates to 4 billion cubic feet of excess capacity that can be used for logistics.  But how can a last mile delivery network be developed to take advantage of this fact?

Roadie created a crowdsourcing model, connecting drivers with people who need items delivered.  At this point, Roadie has over 150,000 drivers who are screened and certified.  The drivers are not employed by Roadie and have already delivered goods to over 11,000 cities and towns, covering 89% of American households.  Roadie’s capacity for coverage is known to be the largest same day footprint in the U.S., larger than that of Amazon Prime Now.

One company taking advantage of Roadie’s service is Delta Airlines, for same day delivery of luggage that is missed due to weather emergency delays.  Other Roadie clients include Walmart, Home Depot, UPS and Nissan.