Last-mile availability depends on the population density

Population density dictates the service availability in the Last-mile delivery. Last-mile services can be very different in a metropolitan area compared to a small city or rural area. The perspective needs to be considered when teaching the availability of last-mile services to students with Wide variety of backgrounds.

Author: Kati Jaakkola

One morning a colleague needed eye drops before breakfast. He had some irritation in his eye, so he contacted the pharmacy through a mobile application, and the eye drops were delivered after breakfast, 30 minutes from the first contact to the pharmacy.

Metropolitan areas have greater availability of services. Cities with high-density populations create the need for services, the need for services creates the need for service providers. In the streetscape of Beijing, many mopeds and bicycles are seen. These small vehicles are handy on busy streets and carry small packages typically delivered through mobile application deliveries.

The availability of last-mile deliveries is high in Beijing. The situation is very different in smaller cities, and even weaker in rural areas. At LAB University of Applied Sciences, the last mile is taught in many logistics and supply chain courses. The perspective of teaching last-mile delivery availability is highly different for a person from a Metropolitan area or a Finnish city. The density of service providers becomes greater when the population density rises.

The solutions for last-mile services vary from delivery parcel lockers to less than 30-minute personal delivery services. Parcel lockers are typically placed in supermarkets and malls where people pass by taking care of the other chores in everyday life. Parcel lockers are typically accessible during the opening hours of the hosting supermarket or a mall. This gives a lot of freedom for a person to pick up the parcel whenever suitable for someone’s schedule. This solution works best in low-population-density areas like Finnish cities or rural areas.

A Finnish postal service provider Posti delivered about 50 million packages in 2021 (Yle 2021) while the total amount of packages delivered in Finland was about 110 million (Traficom 2023). With a population of 5,6 million in Finland (Tilastokeskus 2024) it is fair to say that the availability of delivery service providers is different than in Beijing China. The population of Beijing city and suburban area is estimated to be above 22 million people in 2024.

Exchanging knowledge and experiences in supply chain teaching

The CILT International Convention 2024 was organized in Langfang near Beijing in June 2024. The convention gathers international transportation and supply chain experts and industries to exchange information and cooperate. (The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) 2024)

The opening ceremony was messaging the cooperation of a major national modern trade and logistics base in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area as a new chapter of coordinated development. The Hebei province supports the area’s logistics and supply chain development. This is a strong message that logistics and supply chains will provide possibilities to businesses in the area.

The Hebei University of Technology invited a delegation from the LAB University of Applied Sciences and the City of Lappeenranta Finland to participate in the CILT International convention. The president of LAB University of Applied Sciences, Turo Kilpeläinen, was invited to launch the School of International Modern Trade and Logistics of Hebei University of Technology in the opening ceremony of CILT International Convention.

Image 1. Launching of the School of International Modern Trade and Logistics, Hebei University of Technology in the CILT International Convention 2024 Langfang China. Turo Kilpeläinen, the president of LAB University of Applied Sciences second from left.

The writer of the article was privileged to give a speech about logistics education in Finland emphasizing the international students and the requirements needed to integrate international students into a new culture and country. The platform was the education for talents in international supply chains and logistics. I provided an example of education that will diminish the gap between the need for a workforce and the lack of professionals in healthcare.

Healthcare benefits from logistic professionals

HELP Healthcare Logistics Education and Learning Pathway – a project that developed the healthcare logistician education pathway from vocational education to doctoral studies. The aim was to start the development of networks of healthcare logisticians as the long-term objective to create national and international networks of healthcare logisticians and healthcare logistics education institutions (HELP).

In the past and present, healthcare professionals consume a lot of time to do logistics operations. The education’s target is to provide healthcare logisticians, with a new profession, to help the talent gap, by taking over the logistics operations in healthcare. This is one way of building a path for talented students to support the gap between the need for professionals and the education of professionals.

LAB University of Applied Sciences provides 5 ECTS courses in English for all students regardless of their faculty. The course has encouraged students from business, information technology, nursing, and paramedics to study the importance of logistics operations in healthcare to better serve the need for logistics professionals on the side of the healthcare professionals to solve the lack of staff in healthcare.

The journey to Langfang China was long but it was worth traveling. Exchanging experiences, talking to other educators, and getting to know new things about a different culture is invaluable and create a better understanding of diversity.

References

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). 2024. CILT International Convention 2024. Cited 20.6.2024. Available at https://ciltinternational.org/events/cilt-2024-convention-in-china/

HELP. About the project. Cited 25.6.2024. Available at https://help-project.eu/

Posti. 2024. Item storage time. Cited 25.6.2024 Available at https://www.posti.fi/en/customer-support/receiving/retention-periods

Tilastokeskus. 2024. Suomen ennakkoväkiluku oli 5 608 218 helmikuun 2024 lopussa. Cited 25.6.2024. Available at https://stat.fi/julkaisu/clmj0tpyw5zwb0bw6j2adrg4f

Traficom. 2023. Traficom postimarkkinaselvitys 2022. Cited 25.6.2024 Available at https://www.traficom.fi/sites/default/files/media/file/Traficom%20postimarkkinaselvitys%202022.pdf

World population review. 2024. Beijing, China Population 2024. Cited 25.6.2024. Available at https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/beijing-population

Yle. 2021 Tunnekuohuja automaatilla. Cited 25.6.2024. Available at https://yle.fi/a/3-11973038

Author

Kati Jaakkola is working as a senior lecturer At LAB University of Applied Sciences, has 2 decades of experience in managing Supply Chains, also in healthcare, and is eager to investigate Sustainability in Supply Chains.

Illustration: The platform for the education cooperation conference at CILT International Convention 2024 Langfang China. (Image: Kati Jaakkola)