Part 2

 Many businesses in the last mile delivery sector have improved their services by incorporating technology innovations for their transport and delivery systems. These adaptations have allowed firms to improve customer transparency, operate more environmentally friendly, reduce cost and many other benefits.

The supply shortages industries have been facing due the impact of Brexit, the pandemic and the Russian war threat have caused critics to believe the traditional just-in-time (JIT) model is no longer a suitable method for wholesalers to use. In this blog, we’ll also consider how the last mile delivery service may be the answer to the modern criticisms of the JIT model.

 Use of technology to control last mile delivery problem

In the current digital era we are living in, the use of technology to advance business operations is more vital than ever. In the last mile delivery phase, technology is the cornerstone for operating efficiently. Optimising delivery times, ensuring the safety and assurance of deliveries, reducing carbon emissions and many other features, highlight the benefits of incorporating technology into the last mile delivery phase.

Last mile delivery organisation’s are increasingly looking to improve their customer transparency to attain better customer satisfaction. One way this has been improved is through improving the safety and assurance of deliveries through proof of delivery systems that grant customers the ability to track their items and provides them with the necessary delivery details.

At Foodmove, we exclusively use ROUT’D Technology, a proof of delivery system ensuring our deliveries are trackable, auditable and remain consistent for last mile delivery food logistics. The app allows the user to receive a live update on the driver expected time of arrival of the delivery with an image of the items and signature to certify the delivery, the app also allows the drivers to leave comments for failed deliveries to provide clients with further details.

Using technology to optimise routes has a positive domino effect for both clients and last mile delivery companies. A key benefit is based on the increased speed for delivery time. At Foodmove, many of our clients are food businesses such as pubs, restaurants, hotels and more. Customers benefit from this as they are able to receive their goods quicker which may allow them to match their demand leading to greater customer satisfaction.

A CSR and environmental benefit of optimising delivery routes is the reduced volume of carbon emissions produced by the vehicles. In 2020, the office for national statistics stated that businesses accounted for 18% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions. The government has urged businesses to take action with the aim to reduce carbon emissions contributed by UK businesses to zero by 2050. Improving technology systems and optimising routes is a strategy business can take to attain these aims.

As mentioned in part 1 of the blog series, the last mile delivery phase is the most expensive. Optimising routes is important for firms in this market for reducing cost, as using non-optimised routes equates to higher spending on refuelling vehicles. Our Rout’d technology has Application Programming Interface (API) capabilities which provides businesses with optimised routes to use for their food delivery logistics.

 Solutions offered to failing JIT model

Just-in-time refers to the production model where goods are produced to match current demand and ignores the production of surplus goods to match projected demand, with the aim of reducing cost.

The growing supply chain challenges and product shortages many industries such as supermarkets have been facing have led many organisation’s to move away from the JIT model due to viability concerns. Many critics suggest

­Foodmove CEO, Tevin Tobun shared with the caterer, that he believed the solution to this issue is the existence of last mile delivery.

Last mile delivery firms allow businesses to remain nimble due to the flexibility of their services. Foodmove use 3.5t vans with fitted chillers and freezers to deliver goods to clients across the country. The use of smaller vans for deliveries, allows the firm to stay flexible as they are able to cope with making deliveries in densely populated areas such as Central London.

Larger HGV vans are likely to struggle completing multiple deliveries in these urban areas and may not able to deal with the common challenges of changing and rerouting delivery drivers, taking on additional unexpected deliveries and completing deliveries in the fastest times to keep up with demand.

Part 1 – Introduction

Millions of Brits purchase from food from restaurants, pubs, cafés and more across the country every year. But have you ever wondered how the food supplies and ingredients arrive at these places?

Last mile transport and logistic companies like Foodmove act as the critical medium, ensuring goods required for the meals and beverages sold at your favourite retailers safely arrive on time, at the right temperature in line with food safety and hygiene regulations.

Importance of last mile delivery?

Last mile delivery refers to the final stage of the delivery process which involves the transportation of the ordered goods from the wholesaler to the doorstep of the customer. Being a B2B (business to business) service provider, a few customers Foodmove makes deliveries to are V&A museum, BMW, Sony, BBC and more.

The operating costs of this process makes this the most expensive and complex phase in the delivery process. This is due to the various pressures to deliver on time, optimise driver routes, ensure clients receive their goods in perfect condition and many other factors.

The global last mile delivery market is projected to grow to £44b, up from £29b in 2020. It is imperative for last mile delivery services to improve their operations to keep up with the growing demand of clients, considering the global macro supply chain issues we’re currently experiencing.

How are the food items transported?

As you may have figured out already, placing a hot tikka masala alongside some pistachio ice cream would leave customers unhappy with the state of their goods to say the least. A simple solution may be to deliver the frozen, chilled, hot and ambient goods in separate vans to maintain quality.

However, with the high costs incurred with last mile delivery and the expectations of clients to receive their goods swiftly to keep up with their own demand, this would not be ideal.

The simple solution for this lies in the modification of the transport vans. Our vans are fully equipped with refrigerating systems that allow the frozen and chilled goods to be delivered at the suitable temperatures.

Ambient

• Ambient goods are the long-life foods that can be safely stored at room temperature such as pasta, sugar, seasoning and cereal. These goods are arguably the simplest to transport as these remain in suitable conditions at room temperature (20-22 °C). Ambient goods do not require further vehicle modifications to be transported safely.

Chilled

• Chilled food items such as dairy products need to be transported with more care than ambient foods due to significantly shorter shelf lives. The Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations 2013 state that chilled goods must be transported below 8°C to “inhibit or prevent harmful microorganisms from multiplying”. We ensure all of our chilled goods are transported between 2-5°C to maintain optimum conditions for our customers. This is easily achieved by placing the goods in the refrigerated section of our vans, which keeps the goods at optimum temperature.

Frozen

• Frozen goods must be kept between -18 and -22°C. Due to these extremely low temperatures, they must be transported separately from the chilled and ambient items. Our Foodmove vans are installed with freezer compartments which can store up to ­­900 kg of frozen items. These vans are able to store chilled and ambient items simultaneously without their conditions being compromised.

Foodmove CEO speaks with New Thinking magazine on podcast

 Tevin Tobun recently spoke with Paul Blanchard from New Thinking magazine regarding his career journey and his motivations to aid the younger generation in attaining their aspirations. Tobun also gave insight into his thoughts on entrepreneurship, his work culture beliefs, future plans and more.

 How the Journey started

When asked about how the journey began, Tobun brought us back to his origin of residence in Peckham, South London, where he grew up with the likes of individuals such as Rio Ferdinand and Dean Forbes. Tobun stated, “when you’ve come from a place like South London and you’re making strides in life, it’s important to give back and to find ways to help the next generation”. Tobun shared that he attended university to read Biomedical Science, but realised by his final year that he wanted to pursue a career in business. After receiving this inclination, Tobun decided to establish a one-stop shop service for school maintenance after the government had changed regulations and allowed schools to handle their own budgets for their appliances and renovations.

After receiving a £500 overdraft and a credit card soon after graduating, Tobun managed to secure a small makeshift office in a local building next to a boiler room, which he claimed “was so hot, that door had to be left opened to allow cool air in”. This is where he would make phone calls to investors attempting to secure a pitching opportunity for his business proposition.

 First investment opportunity

Tobun finally secured an investment pitch at Walworth Academy, where he was the youngest candidate with a business proposal in competition with many older competitors. Tobun jokingly mentioned that this was probably the first time he wore a suit, highlighting the lack of experience he possessed, however he was determined to secure an investment. Tobun told the investors “I don’t have as much experience as these other pitchers, but I do have the determination to make this contract work”.

Despite his lack of experience, the investors took a chance with Tobun and offered him a £250,000 contract for a school maintenance project. Tobun explained how this was a life changing experience that inspired him to support others and impacted the individual he is today. “I was a young 22-year-old that needed an opportunity and the people gave me that…If you’re not given a chance, how do you give one to someone else”.

 Rejection from Prince’s Trust

Tobun attempted to attain funding from the Prince’s Trust for his business proposition, but was denied the investment due to their lack of belief in his business idea. The rejection made Tobun temporarily reconsider his dreams of becoming an entrepreneur and contemplated if his plan was a good idea, however, he stated that by the time he had got home he had changed his mind and decided to go ahead with his plan. He recalled thinking “if this doesn’t work then I’ll go and get a job”.

 Thoughts and Advice on being an entrepreneur

Blanchard questioned Tobun on his thoughts on whether he believed entrepreneurs are born or if it’s an acquired characteristic. Tobun shared that he believed that the risks and difficult choices included with being an entrepreneur suggests that there are a selected chosen few who can become entrepreneurs. “True Entrepreneurs are born, there is an innate characteristic that people need to find within themselves…there are a chosen few”. Tobun went on to offer advice on being a successful entrepreneur and highlighted the importance of self-belief in your abilities and your aspirations. He made the statement “Entrepreneurship is about believing in yourself”. Another important characteristic that Tobun insisted on was the ability to accept criticism and to learn from mistakes. Tobun also underlined the significance of entrepreneurs constantly remaining innovative to solve issues, “There is always a way to figure things out”. He also advised that they must willing to make mistakes to grow from. “It is important to trust in one’s own mistakes”.

Staying on the subject of entrepreneurship, Blanchard brought forward the idea that despite the fact that many people are inspired by the likes of Elon Musk and Richard Branson, they do not view the idea of becoming a successful entrepreneur as a possibility. Blanchard also suggested that many people on social media have a negative view of entrepreneurs due to the flashy lifestyle and the depiction of some successful businessmen being ‘show off’s’. Tobun offered an alternative view by stating “success isn’t about money; it’s about achieving the personal goals you’ve set out…You have to be relentless in the pursuit of your own happiness”.

 The Tobun Foundation Introduction

Throughout the podcast, Tobun granted Blanchard insight into the reasons for his motivations to offer educational support for the younger generation. He also provided details regarding the introduction of the Foundation in 2020, where they became active during the pandemic to offer online classes and laptops for students who lived in households with limited access to computers.

Tobun mentioned how his subsidiary company Platebox, which specialise in food transportation for schools were now involved in supporting the government in delivering care packages to children who received free school meals during lockdown. This led Tobun to look for new ways to support disadvantaged young people during the pandemic and hence the development in operations of The Tobun Foundation.” The Tobun Foundation is focused on supporting the next generation and providing them with the tools to shape their own futures”.

The educational support offered by The Tobun Foundation exceeds the provision of online classes and equipment for the students. Tobun explained that the GV scholarship programme, in collaboration with The Tobun Foundation was offering support to one of the parents of a student who received a scholarship. Tobun shared that the parents were not native English speakers and struggled with communicating, this consequently affected the social life of the scholarship student as they were often required to act as a translator to help the parents communicate. The Foundation decided to provide English classes for the parents to allow them to improve their communication, in turn this also would improve the well-being and social life of the student. “We had to help the parents improve their English, so they could start to make their own friendships and increase their confidence, on top of the scholarship for the daughter”

He went on to add, “The foundation offers all of the additional support needed to help the members achieve their version of success”. Tobun concluded with sharing the success of the student after the extensive support she received. “I’m proud to say that she graduated with first class honours”.

 Work culture beliefs

The work culture of an organisation is often instrumental to the level of success that the firm will reach. Tobun signified the importance of creating a working environment that prioritises innovation and allows employees to share new ideas to improve the business in every department. “I am obsessed with innovation and making sure that everybody I work with evolves, this isn’t the Tevin show.” Tobun supported his work culture belief, as he shared a short story where one of his senior members suggested a welfare check system, which had the aim of contacting employees to check on their well-being and health during the covid lockdown. Tobun added “We created an environment that allowed someone to come up with the idea (welfare check system) … and I think this might have been one of my greatest achievements”. 

 The Next steps for GV

Tobun enlightened Blanchard with some of the future prospects for GV Group including global expansion and improving technology and innovations to operate more eco-friendly. “Our biggest thing now is globalising our business and increasing our footprint”. Tobun expressed his plans to offer GV’s logistic services in developing countries to aid the development of the infrastructure in those countries, he also stated that the company already had involvements in West Africa, offering infrastructure support for railway and road companies. “A big thing for us is focused on how we can support developing countries in their infrastructure to have successful projects”.

Tobun also hinted at the introduction of an innovative software system that will allow the businesses to reduce their stem miles to decrease their carbon emissions, and also his plans to convert to more eco-friendly vehicles. “Our key focus for the next 3-5 years is going to be around climate change and bringing an interest in innovation for ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance)”. 

 Advice to younger self

When asked about what things he may say, if he had the opportunity to speak to a younger version of himself, Tobun insisted on encouraging himself to persevere and to endure the challenges he faced. “I would tell myself in the moments where I almost lost faith, that these are only teaching moments… and to continue to persevere”. Tobun unselfishly claimed that he would use also use this opportunity to motivate the people around him.” I would remind the people around to keep pushing and not give up”. The GV Group CEO recognised that the rejections and hardships he had faced in his journey had been vital in reaching this pinnacle in his life.

Click the link below to listen to the full podcast

https://www.new-thinking.online/podcast/tevin-tobun