While the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) holds two student job fairs per year, the supply chain program has so much interest, it holds its own fairs. Around 160-180 Fortune 500 companies come each fall and spring to recruit the 1,000 supply chain students for internships, co-op programs and full-time jobs.

Consumers are becoming ever more demanding when it comes to getting their purchases delivered, with growing numbers demanding a service that is both free and fast. 

According to a AlixPartners survey, the maximum delivery time the average shopper will accept has fallen to 4.5 days, down from 5.5 in 2012.

The finding underscores how strongly market leaders such as Amazon and Walmart influence shopper expectations, said the company. 

If there ever was a scrum in the supply chain, it’s last-mile delivery. And it’s a worldwide scrum, no less.

From China to Europe to the U.S., companies as divergent as Amazon, SF Express, Shipt, Instacart and XPO Logistics are pushing and shoving their way through the last-mile delivery maze.

Dive Brief:

• Retailers are more interested in full supply chain visibility and precision rather than same-day delivery operations, according to a report released by last mile solutions provider Localz and eft Supply Chain and Logistics Business Intelligence, a networking agency for supply chain business leaders.
• The report highlights the development of what Localz calls the individual economy, or "Iconomy," denoting the trend that consumers want what they want, when they want it.
• According to Localz CEO Tim Andrew, retailers and consumers are more interested in full control of their orders and shipments than they are in immediate delivery, which accounts for the rise in direct-to-consumer delivery methods.

Established in France for more than 25 years, Domino’s Pizza operates a network of franchised pizza delivery and takeaway sales outlets. The brand is the only network in the French market to use fresh dough for its pizzas that is guaranteed never to have been frozen, and offers pizzas topped and made to order, currently positioning itself as the leader in the delivered and takeaway pizza market.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the distribution industry today is the rise of the impatient customer. According to a recent report, 50% of customers would abandon a purchase if delivery choices were unsatisfactory. Customers want the goods they have ordered not only as quickly as possible, but also within a specified delivery time. Gone are the days of “your parcel will be delivered between 8am and 8pm within the next five to seven working days.”

JD.com, one of China’s largest e-commerce companies, has launched a new accelerator program called AI Catapult that focuses on blockchain and artificial intelligence startups.

Tremendous strides by innovators have resulted in some fascinating and intriguing enhancements to the transportation industry. In fact, in many ways, it feels like the future of the transportation industry is already here. These developments will cause transportation companies to rethink job descriptions and figure out when humans should be at the helm or when they should defer to smart machines for safety, cost savings and capabilities.

Amazon could move the needle for delivery solutions, but will others follow suit, or even be able to keep up?

The logistics market has been rocked by reports that Amazon is preparing to launch a delivery service for businesses, positioning it to compete directly with the likes of UPS and FedEx.