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Increasing profitability in real life

2023-07-14

This approach originated in the Netherlands, where roads are very narrow and the green movement is very influential. [Dutch grocery company Picnic is already profiting from the system," Niklas points out. [They make up customer orders in a central warehouse, segregating ambient and cold products, and ship them to the appropriate last-mile center for delivery to individual homes."

The last-mile center enables Picnic to offer the rapid service that is so important for fresh food. Picnic`s service is now expanding rapidly across Europe, and their appealing little EVs are becoming a familiar and welcome sight among customers.

Never forget safety

[It would be easy to overlook one final challenge," observes Niklas. [Speed and efficiency are what drive the model. But what about safety? Maintaining safety while accelerating a process has always been a problem."

Niklas points out that the critical moment is the transfer from the big truck to the smaller EV. [The truck will have an offloader, but the EV is too small to have a loader of its own. The key is to use an intermediate lift table. The operative rolls the load from the truck onto the lift table. Then the lift table positions the load at the right height for it to be rolled onto the EV. This enables operatives to work safely and ergonomically, because they never have to lift or bend."

The lift table is an excellent match for the last-mile center. It requires no pit or other works, simply a suitable floor. Delivered and installed in just hours, the lift table can be moved just as quickly to another center if its current location goes out of use.

Word is spreading-

[At present, the last-mile center is a mainly European phenomenon. But there are densely populated conurbations across Asia and the USA, too, all facing the same pressures – consumer, cost, and environmental – as their European counterparts. I think the last-mile center is such a good solution that it will soon be found worldwide," concludes Niklas.

Orders are made up individually in logistics centers and transferred in bulk

Last-mile distribution centers are simple and economical where real estate is costly

Orders are transferred from truck to EV

The lift table positions the goods precisely for safe and ergonomic transfer to the EV in the correct delivery order

EVs are ideal for deliveries

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