Industry-First Google Home and Amazon Echo Capabilities Advance XPO’s Supply Chain Consumerization
XPO Logistics, one of the largest provider of last-mile logistics for heavy goods in North America, has announced the May launch of Google Home and Amazon Echo capabilities integrated with the company’s last mile network.
From the point of sale through fulfillment and home delivery, consumers will be able to manage their experience by using smart speakers to connect with two leading intelligent personal assistant technologies: Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa.
Troy Cooper, chief operating officer of XPO Logistics, said, “Today’s consumers expect access to, and control over, their personal experience within the supply chain. We’re adding simple yet powerful tools that use connectivity to strengthen these relationships.”
The industry-first innovation was announced yesterday by Mario Harik, XPO’s chief information officer, during a live demonstration at the Home Delivery World 2018 conference in Atlanta, Ga.
Speaking on supply chain consumerization, Harik said, “Tech-enabled consumer services are critically important in an increasingly competitive marketplace. We’re helping our customers build loyalty and protect their brands, many of which are household names in e-commerce and retail.”
In September 2017, XPO announced the start of a major expansion of its last mile network in the U.S., with 85 last mile hubs expected to be positioned within approximately 90% of the population this year. In February 2018, the company announced new last mile operations in five European countries.
As reported by Reuters, the voice-enabled technology, available next month, is part of a digital renaissance underway in the old-school trucking industry.
For example, last week, XPO unveiled software that allows merchants to track truck and rail cargo in real-time nationwide.
“We are responding to where consumers want to go (to manage their deliveries),” Harik told Reuters, describing the proliferation of smartphones and speakers, and the desire for greater visibility and control over deliveries.
XPO makes or manages roughly 35,000 deliveries to homes daily, delivering heavy or unwieldy goods like Home Depot Inc barbecue grills, Crate and Barrel furniture, and Best Buy Co Inc televisions from warehouses direct to homes.
It is also the second-largest less-than-truckload operator - truckers that consolidate multiple loads on a single truck.
When accessing Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant, a person’s voice command to reschedule his or her delivery would trigger changes in XPO’s internal logistics tracking and dispatching software, Harik said. The new delivery time would be reflected in the truck driver’s mobile app, he said.
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