As an entrepreneur, Anar Mammadov has the tendency to see problems as opportunities. When he saw well-established giants in the last-mile logistics space struggling to provide timely, reliable, and affordable deliveries, he seized the opportunity and became the co-founder of Senpex. After assembling a lean team focused on leveraging technology, promoting a healthy work culture, and meeting the needs of the growing e-commerce market, Senpex developed and introduced innovative tools that integrate with the latest technology and solve delivery problems.
Senpex
“Against the odds and against the advice of business consultants, we launched Senpex with a vision to fix the problems that we saw with reliability and pricing in last mile delivery logistics,” Mammadov explains. Five years after launching, Senpex has overcome a host of obstacles, including a global pandemic, to emerge as a leader in last-mile delivery logistics that serves the B2B, e-commerce, and retail industries.
Addressing the many challenges posed by last-mile delivery
Last-mile delivery is the most challenging and expensive component of the supply chain process. Some figures put the cost of last mile delivery as high as 53 percent of the total delivery bill, and Shopify places the average last-mile delivery cost of a package at $10. In addition, the growth of e-commerce has dramatically influenced what customers expect when it comes to last mile delivery, making “one-hour delivery” the standard.
“Meeting expectations in a way that is viable for businesses is a challenge that Senpex has overcome by leveraging technology to continually enhance and improve the speed, reliability, and efficiency of what we do,” Mammadov shares. “We learned quickly that it was not simply a matter of working harder. It takes a lot of logistics know-how and algorithms to make one-hour delivery possible and profitable.”
Leveraging AI to optimize every delivery
Senpex’s proprietary AI-driven route planning platform is one example of the type of technology it has leveraged to achieve success. In order to make the dream of consistent “one-hour delivery” a reality, Senpex developed an AI-based route planner that dramatically increased delivery efficiency. The platform considers a wide variety of factors, including traffic conditions, weather conditions, the nature of the delivery, and the availability of the recipient, to determine the routes that will allow drivers to deliver on time. It also updates routes in real time as conditions change, providing drivers with the information they need to pivot when required.
“By building upon AI and machine learning, we created a system that is constantly upgrading itself,” Mammadov explains. “For example, the system now provides a multi-route, multi-driver clustering option. The system uses AI to consider all of a business’s scheduled deliveries to provide the most efficient driver allocations and the most efficient routes. It pushes route planning technology beyond industry standards to create a system that allows for virtually endless stops, as opposed to the 25-stop maximum that most systems impose on users.”
Senpex recently launched a partnership withRoutesNow to expand the availability of its route-planning technology. The new partnership makes advanced route planning available for integration with popular last-mile logistics companies like DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, PostMates, and more. By leveraging the software solution, companies that rely on reliable and affordable last-mile delivery can streamline deliveries, boost productivity, and enhance their overall customer experience.
Empowering clients with unparalleled scalability
Businesses that provide delivery services know that being able to scale quickly and efficiently is essential to success. Maintaining a team of drivers that can support the busiest delivery seasons is not optimal, but Senpex’s Delivery as a Service (DaaS) solutions provide businesses with the flexibility and scalability they need to thrive.
Senpex’s unparalleled capacity for scaling can be seen in the service it recently provided to recycling companies that needed a quick and reliable solution for getting its business off the ground. Senpex was able to provide all of the logistics needed to pick up recyclable products from homes in the community and deliver them to local recycling centers, and it was able to launch the system within three days.
“Senpex provides comprehensive last mile delivery solutions to companies in any industry, taking the burden and the headaches away from our clients,” Mammadov says. “It was very gratifying to be able to provide the solution needed to launch this new recycling program. Supporting sustainability efforts like recycling is important to us. Being able to put a system in place in two to three days means communities do not need to wait to start growing their sustainability initiatives.”
Providing access to more than 8,000 drivers
Senpex knew providing dedicated, reliable, capable, and motivated drivers would give it an edge in the industry. To be able to achieve that goal, it developed systems that allow its drivers to experience a high level of transparency throughout the delivery process, to be well compensated, and to have access to the type of assignments that make sense for their delivery goals. By leveraging that system, Senpex has been able to recruit and maintain an elite 8,000-driver courier fleet that consistently delivers quality.
Data analytics is one tool that has allowed Senpex to consistently provide its clients with five-star drivers. By continually gathering and analyzing performance metrics on its drivers, Senpex is able to develop better training, assign drivers more effectively, and anticipate the problems that can cause delivery setbacks. Senpex does not just provide drivers; it provides drivers backed by data from more than 800,000 successful deliveries.
Inspiring other businesses to embrace innovation
Succeeding in the last-mile delivery space has required commitment and patience. Senpex has faced a lot of challenges, any of which could have led to its shutting down. However, it persisted, staying focused on growing through difficult times and remaining confident.
Today, Senpex delivers for over 5,000 clients in more than 15 states and the District of Columbia. In the near future, it will be expanding its operations to serve companies in Canada and the European Union.
“Fear can prevent you from responding to opportunities, pursuing innovative solutions, and leading change in an industry,” Mammadov advises. “Senpex did all of those things and discovered how there are always ways to innovate, excel, and succeed, especially with all the potential that technology provides.”
