Media Coverage
December 2010
Logistic considerations in a crowdsourced future
Routing and scheduling is part and parcel (o-ho) of what OPSI Systems does, and much of it involves navigating the complex and intricate network of roads, highways and byways of modern urban areas. So what happens when one of the largest courier and postal delivery companies in the world proposes an idea that could, quite literally, eliminate the need for dedicated vehicles and drivers in every inner city altogether?
At the World Expo held in Shanghai from May to October this year, DHL demonstrated a number of modest solutions to improving transportation of goods and their impact on the environment. One idea, though, stood out in both in its I’ve-been-thinking-that-maybe-we-should-make-these-square-stones-round brilliance and its potential ramifications.
But to understand what DHL is suggesting, you need to know a little about crowd sourcing, a concept made popular by projects like Wikipedia, Google Maps, and other collaborative efforts. Crowdsourcing, from a business perspective, is when a company casts out a particular business problem to the greater public, rather than employ the services of a small group of experts.
At any given time, the city is a thronged mass of people moving from one location to another for various purposes. People who have to traverse city blocks, people who walk and jog and cycle and ride – and people who could, quite easily, be carrying a package at the same time.
The DHL bring.BUDDY pilot programme, created in conjunction with a group of German students and launched at the conference, envisions a system where the weave of social fabric becomes a network on which they can operate. Users download an application to their cellphone which allows them to specify their route for the day. Based on this information, DHL can assign them packages to be picked up from local kiosks and delivered while the user is on their route.
Users of the bring.BUDDY system will be able to verify and provide documentation of delivery via this application, rate specific members using the system – what DHL no doubt hopes to build on – create a group of like-minded individuals intent on contributing to the community. It’s an enticing idea, one which addresses traffic congestion, cost savings and CO2 emissions in a compact, crowdsourced package.
More importantly, users will receive discounts, coupons and rewards of various types for completing said deliveries successfully – incentives are the lubricant of social enterprise, after all.
DHL faces the daunting task of convincing you that your package is just as secure, safe and well-managed if delivered by your neighbourhood power walker, a tramp looking to make some quick bucks for a meal or a varsity student. There is also a safety aspect involved, in that legitimate bring.BUDDY participants could be targeted by opportunistic criminals.
While such a system doesn’t eliminate players such as ourselves from the mix – there is no doubt that you will get enterprising bring.BUDDY participants who want to optimise their routes to deliver the most packages – it does shift the emphasis of software development aimed at business who have the necessary resources to pay for robust applications with hefty licences to a more volume-orientated approach for the general consumer.
DHL has demonstrated that many industry professionals – consultants, optimisers, third-party service providers – who purport to be essential to the success of the supply chain could quite effectively be cut out from the equation unless they radically rethink their role and their target market.
As usual, if you have any comments or questions please contact me at rick.de.klerk@opsi.co.za.
