Solving for the Last Mile

Tullio Siragusa (00:10):

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Tech Leaders Unplug. This is Tullio Siragusa, your host. Today I am speaking with Cami Zimmer at Glympse. We're talking about solving for the last mile. The specific topic of conversation is Last Mile Logistics, the gateway to the customer. Welcome to the show, Cami. Good to have you. Thanks.

Cami Zimmer (00:33):

Thank you so much for having me today.

Tullio Siragusa (00:36):

So, before we dig into the topic and clarify what the Last Mile means, because some people may not know what that means we want to make sure we're very inclusive with the audience. Let's get to know you a little bit. How did you end up here? Tell us a little bit about your story.

Cami Zimmer (00:52):

Sure. Well, I ended, I've been at Glympse for six years now, and before that before coming to Glympse, I had my own business where I worked with technology, and software companies in the connected car space, telecom, iOT space for the last probably 15 years. Just helping companies with various different marketing and business development types of projects and goals that they have. So came to Glympse six years ago with the overall goal to increase the sales and increase the visibility of Glympse from a global standpoint.

Tullio Siragusa (01:32):

All right, so from a head of sales to another head of sales, how's that been right now? It's a tough market right now.

Cami Zimmer (01:39):

It's a tough market.

Tullio Siragusa (01:41):

A whole other conversation, right?

Cami Zimmer (01:42):

Oh, yeah. That's another, that's another podcast here that we got going on here. No. So actually what's been interesting, yes, obviously the last three and a half years have been just one interesting struggle after another as we, we rolled from, you know, nobody responding to anything to a couple of inquiries on some of the stuff that we offer to last year, whatever last year was interesting enough, I am noticing that as of probably the end of first quarter 2023, I've noticed quite a bit of more companies reaching out to us, more companies coming to us with various different location-based visibility needs. So, I'm feeling really good. We're entering the second half here, 2023. I'm feeling pretty good about the pace of things. Of course, we're entering summer, but I think that things are starting to loosen up a little bit more so now this year.

Tullio Siragusa (02:36):

So, good. There's been a lot of companies that have just kind of been in the holding pattern bracing and maybe realizing, okay, maybe we should move forward and continue to grow here. Exactly. So tell us a little bit about, let's talk a little bit about the, the last mile. What, what does that mean for those folks who may not be aware of that? And I'd be curious to see how Glympse what kind of tools and solutions that Glympse provides around this.

Cami Zimmer (03:00):

Yeah, that sounds good. Well, really quickly, just a real quick one-minute overview on Glympse. We're a 15-year-old company, so we've been around since 2008. Another interesting time for many technology companies. But our consumer app, many people will know our consumer app. It's used globally by people for sharing their location with friends and family. What's interesting about that is that is kind of the core of who Glympse was, and it was established that was before the iPhone even came out. So, sharing friends, sharing your location today with friends and family may not seem like such a great big, you know there are so many different ways you can do that, right? But in 2008, even before the mobile phone, the iPhone came out there weren't as many and apps were just you know, not quite as, as crazy as they are for today. We've built upon that location sharing with friends and family, and we now are focused on the enterprise side. So, we work with very large companies globally for sharing the location of some type of asset going from point A to point B. Maybe that's a technician that's going to the end customer and sharing the location a lot like Uber. We're older than Uber as well too. And so, you can kind of see where we kind of get our pioneer ness here at Glympse for sharing visibility and, and location with, with various different assets. The last mile is where we tend to focus because that's where the end customer is waiting for that asset. Maybe it's a pizza that they're waiting for. They're seeing the visibility to know exactly when they should go out, put their dog away, and go grab the pizza. Maybe it's the very last mile is where the technician is coming to your house to put in a new modem for you, for your house. You actually have to be there to let that person into your house. Maybe that last mile is more so about someone coming to deliver or install solar panels. You can kind of see where that very last piece of the puzzle, you go from the ordering process all the way through the very end where we contact the customer, we let them know when that person's going to be there. And that's where we focus on that last mile of the last mile.

Tullio Siragusa (05:23):

All right. Great. Let's talk a little bit about on, on a commercial aspect from a B2B perspective. We, we've heard quite often about the use of location and visibility tools to optimize delivery in very complex last-mile environments. Like, for example, these safety-prioritized spaces like warehouses and distribution yards. How does this come into play? I mean, because I would assume in those environments sometimes there are delays that happen, there are mission-critical things where those delays shouldn't happen. So how does this solve some of those mission-critical challenges?

Cami Zimmer (05:58):

Yeah great. That's a really good question. So we've been brought into this logistics and supply chain world, not by anything that we probably thought about in 2020 1, 22 23 wasn't really part of our sales plan, but we were organically brought into it. And I think the reason to answer your question is a little bit more. So you're waiting for various different things. If you think about the Amazon Uber effects that, you know, you hear about those all the time it's just magnified when you're waiting for very large, large things to show up. Whether it's like a bed or maybe it's a rail car, maybe it's a truck that's going to show up for various different pickups or what have you. Letting that end person know when that asset will show up when it's such a large type of. It's not just regular pizza, right? It's something very large. That visibility and that location and the expectations around that are super key because not only are you waiting for something, but there's probably something that has to happen when that actually arrives. Whether it's maybe a crane that has to put something on top of a truck or a rail car or something like that, you're waiting and it's that waiting time that people just don't want to date. And they don't, they, they don't, they don't want that, if that makes sense. And that's where Glympse comes in. We get that visibility into it. So there is no more waiting time, you know exactly when that person will arrive.

Tullio Siragusa (07:31):

All right. Let's dig into that a little bit. Curious to see, you know, what kind of challenges has Glenn seen customers addressing with this kind of capability? Sure. Specific cases I'd love to learn, you know, people watching, I'd say, how do I use that? Let's dig in a little bit.

Cami Zimmer (07:47):

Yeah, we'll dig in a little bit. So for the most part, when you come, when you think of a field service, we think of the field service industry. I'll start there and then I'll go more. So maybe more so into the logistics and supply chain. If you think about a field service delivery, that's the, maybe the delivery of some type of a technician or a person that's going from point A to point B, maybe they're going to drop off a printer and then somebody's got to come and see that visibility and put the printer together. You have to have those two people talking and have that visibility into things. When it gets, as I said, a little bit bigger, where we're seeing is in, so the manufacturing space, maybe it's a metals mill or a steel mill or scrap mill. You have various different drivers that are coming to pick up a product. You have possibly like I mentioned before, a crane operator that's waiting for that driver to show up to put the products on top of the actual truck or truck carrier. That visibility and that awareness of when that person will arrive so that the other person can be ready to do his or her job and have it be a seamless experience. Not only is that a great customer experience, but it also saves on the operation of the bottom line. And what's interesting is, before covid came, we saw customer experience and customer service to be kind people's key reason for contacting a company like Glympse. But as we're looking and looking at the last couple of years, operational savings are huge for companies. Anywhere they can save operationally, whether it's time, money, or truck rolls, those are kind of what people are looking at today.

Tullio Siragusa (09:40):

So I, I can't help but think of the experience with Amazon when they're about to deliver a package. I can see, you know, your package is eight stops away, six stops away, five stops away. And then it helps tremendously if it's something that was important, I don't want it to be left out. I can plan to be back home or someone picking it up, bringing it inside, the same principle I guess for businesses is this really just making that kind of technology, which is often a closed garden for big companies like Amazon or Walmart, in democratizing it for every business and every logistic company to, to use it. You know, what's, what's the next step for companies to adopt this kind of thing?

Cami Zimmer (10:28):

Sure. I think sometimes what we see, the next step would be to think about, would you like to do it internally? Would you like to use an expert company, like a vendor to work with a company, you know, like, like Libs or something like that? And I think those are the questions that people have to ask. What we find is that when it comes to various different companies FedEx, UPS, and DHL, like those types of companies, right? They have to really think about it when they look at the next steps. Is it just a parcel package? Does the, does the end customer really need to know or can, or can they just set it on their step? What happens is, is that the next steps are to really think about what that experience is for some of the, the companies that are out there, any of the companies whether it's in manufacturing or, or delivery or any, any of those. It's basically the next step is to think about what it is that you're actually delivering. If it's maybe just, a small parcel that you can just leave on the step, that's one thing. But if the person has to be home to accept that package or accept that large item, that's when you really have to think, I should probably, from an operational standpoint and a customer standpoint, I should really look at whom I should work with. And we hear a lot of companies say, oh, we can do that internally, we can do that internally. But where, where they, they, they often forget is that it actually takes a lot more than just sending text notifications out to people, if that makes sense. It's a lot more complicated than that.

Tullio Siragusa (12:05):

Can you give us some examples of where, what, what it was like before and after? What is perhaps a logistics or delivery company that has implemented this? Be curious to see the business impact or the customer service impact that that has.

Cami Zimmer (12:19):

Sure, sure. So, we work with a roadside assistance company. And this is a thing about you being stranded on the road and tow trucks coming to you, right? You're a little anxious. You're, you're on the side of the road. You're wondering when that person's going to show up. Before working with us, they actually required their tow truck drivers or their drivers to go ahead and call the person that's stranded on the road. Like, I'll be there. Where are you? If you think about it, not only is that unsafe because it's distracted driving, but it’s also putting a lot of extra time and effort on their drivers who should actually be focusing on the road, if that makes sense, right? not fumbling through to find the information. And also they're using their, their personal phones. So that's kind of creepy also because nobody wants to be stranded on the side of the road and get some random text or call from somebody they don't know. They might not even pick up the phone. So, with utilizing a company like Glympse, it just happens behind the scenes. So, the driver is coming out in this case the tow truck driver's coming out, and things are just happening behind the scenes. We are sending the notifications right to the stranded driver on the side of the road. Your tow truck driver will be there, push this button here to see, you know, it's just like an Uber-like experience to see the driver coming to you. Everything is happening behind the scenes. The person waiting for the customer waiting on the side of the road is getting notifications and feeling very confident that someone actually is coming, and they can see exactly in real-time when they'll be there. Your driver doesn't have to do anything, just has to go to the appointment.

Tullio Siragusa (14:02):

Yeah. I have actually experienced that use case when I was waiting for a tow truck and the company I was working for had this capability so I could track how far they were, and where they were. And it definitely provided some comfort in knowing, okay, I got another 20 minutes to wait here in the middle of nowhere. So okay. So improves customer service for organizations that are providing those kinds of services and makes it easier for the customer to have visibility on what's going on so they can plan accordingly. What advice would you give to companies today to ensure that their supply chain visibility and efforts around this are a resounding success? Like, it seems as though there are a lot of companies that still lack this kind of capability, what should they do?

Cami Zimmer (14:53):

Yeah, I think what they should really do is, is, think about working with a company that is an expert in this. Sometimes we hear this all the time, oh, I can do that, we can do that internally. But I think really when it comes down to it it's just looking at a partner as a partner versus as a vendor. So reach out and talk to people. That's why many of us do this for a living. So, we've seen the struggles. We've actually probably felt the struggles inside our own company, right? We've been doing this a long time and there are a lot of experts in this industry and reach out to them and consider them more as a partner versus a vendor, if that makes sense.

Tullio Siragusa (15:35):

So I'm curious what's the tech that's being used? Is it using just GPS positioning LTE?

Cami Zimmer (15:45):

We have a location platform that we actually have a full platform that we use. The platform, as I said, we were 15 years, year old company. We have various different APIs and SDKs that companies can utilize. But yes, when it comes down to what we need to be successful to use our platform for various different companies in all the different industries, we need to figure out where the GPS where that driver or where that asset is. So we need that. And then we need to know who and where to send the notifications. And whether it's text notifications or emails or in-app notifications, we need to know who to send those to. And that platform, like I said here at Glympse has been built out for 15 years. It's got battery optimization abilities to it, geofencing capabilities, and all of that. But those are the main things that we need.

Tullio Siragusa (16:40):

So is there equipment that's required at the truck level? Does it work off of the mobile phones? How, how is it, and how does it come together?

Cami Zimmer (16:50):

The way we work is we work uniquely with each customer. We work with, typically we work with very enterprise companies, very large companies, right? And so we just pay, basically take their unique use case and we work with them to make it work. So here's a good example. Whether it's telematics from the truck, we can utilize mobile phones, rugged hard devices. We've even been known to place GPS Pucks inside various different food toppers for various different companies. Sandwich, subway shops, pizza companies, that type of thing. Place a GPS puck. So it's really looking at it from a unique use case and then solving with that company as a partner.

Tullio Siragusa (17:33):

Yeah, that's interesting. Cause I, I know from a logistics and supply chain perspective, quite often there are companies that have been providing this sort of tracking capability, but it's a fixed solution. You have to adopt our tools and our piece of equipment, and it's somewhat disruptive because it requires significant changes. But what I'm hearing from you is you've built enough interfaces where you can leverage the investments they've already met had in their own telematics or GPS systems, what have you, and where necessary you can provide those, those pieces of hardware to enable this to work. How's that coming along in terms of traction? Do you guys get any pushback on this sort of scenario? Or is, is that proven to be a good adoption strategy?

Cami Zimmer (18:24):

Yeah, it's been proven, you know this was before my time here at Glympse. They had done various different inter they would work with companies like Microsoft Field Service and Salesforce Field Service Oracle and integrations with those companies. So a lot of times you know, it is an integration process with many times with whomever it is that we need to do the integration with. To answer your question, we've been doing this part of the business for probably nine years. So we don't get any pushback. Usually, when we are talking to companies, they're, they're faced with a problem and we're just there to help solve it. Many times we're, we're being brought into various different industries now that we haven't in the past that are in that logistics industry. And again, they're scratching their head like, we need to get this solved for, how is it that we can do this? So a lot of times we're being brought in when there's a problem versus us, you know, trying to sell stuff or being brought into, like, can you help us with this? You, you know, you obviously have a platform play. How can you help us with this? So, it's not really, it's more of we're here to help you kind of a situation.

Tullio Siragusa (19:35):

So curious Cami, what's next? You know with generative ai, there's a lot of movement towards predictive solutions. Are there talks internally about how to adopt that in such a way that it could be even more predictive based on pattern? So, I can track it, but it can also, you know, before I even have the last smile happening, I can get a predictive input on this is when it's likely going to happen. Is that something you guys are also considering? How, how is that going to change things?

Cami Zimmer (20:08):

Yeah, so, so we jump in on the AI band bandwagon. Is that what you…? It seems like if you're not an AI today and you're a technology company, you know something's wrong with you. So Yes definitely is. We're finally at a point now like I said, for the last three and a half years of whatever that was, we are finally at that point now where we are looking and you know, because we are in that data analytics, we, you know, ingest and analyze and all that data. So now we're at the point where we're starting to exactly like you said, look at it and say, what should we do with this data? And I think that's what every company is looking at. What do we do with that data? How can we better help our customers with that? And we're finally at a point, actually, the second half, of 2023, where those conversations finally are starting to happen here at Glympse, and it's an exciting time to do that.

Tullio Siragusa (20:59):

Yeah, I couldn't help but think, gosh, they must have so much data that's coming in on, on how long the last mile takes and what happens along the way. You know, if a truck breaks down or whatever. I mean, you've had years of years of insights that could be leveraged somehow. I don't know what they, how they could be leveraged, but I'm sure it has got to be some value from those Yeah. That could provide predictive, whether it's you know, predicting when the last mile flat's going to happen, or traffic or issues of that sort, that could, that could be helpful. So I'd be curious to see how that plays along plays comes into play over time. So we're coming up at the, the end wrapping up here, and I'd be curious what's the tech been like to build this? Is it pretty complex or are you guys using open-source kind of technology or is it more proprietary?

Cami Zimmer (22:00):

Yeah, definitely more.

Tullio Siragusa (22:01):

Giving away the secret sauce. I'm curious how you guys have, have built, and managed this.

Cami Zimmer (22:06):

Yeah, it's definitely proprietary. So and it's like I said, 15 years’ worth, right? So, billing upon the platform and what can we take and what can we learn from and what can we actually go in which direction as well too. So as of right now, everything is proprietary and you know, who knows what the future looks like, right? Sometimes it's hard to do even one year out in advance. But the one thing that we are, we're going to be building upon now is going and focusing back upon our con our Glympse consumer app. We kind of took a pause from that, and as I said, it's used, this, this consumer app, it's free to use. But we are going to go back and build upon that a little bit and add some monetization around it from some of the use cases. We know people are using it for, that we can build upon it and make it better. So that's kind of one of the next steps that we're looking at, is going back to our basic roots from 15 years ago and trying to build upon that for various different things. I think we spoke about like Harley Davidson drivers that are, you know, driving, you know, cruising around and, and you know, making stops and, and all that kind of stuff. And, and helping them with various use cases that might make their experience better. And I'm really, really looking forward to that. That's the heart of what …Glympse was built upon or the pioneers of location sharing right. so, we're going to be able to start doing that this quarter, or this…

Tullio Siragusa (23:33):

I'm flooded with ideas for this. This sounds great, I mean you could end up somewhere if you're a rider or whatever, and get suggestions of what to do where you are, or, or you can put some, some do not go to areas for your teenage kids, and if they get close to those areas, get an alert, hey, they're about to go somewhere, they don't belong. So, there are a lot of applications in that. So, I'm going to have to check it out for myself.

Cami Zimmer (24:03):

Give me all your ideas. We'll take 'em. Like I said you asked where we're going and I think that helps.

Tullio Siragusa (24:07):

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, congratulations. It sounds like you guys have a really great way for the commercial supply chain to improve their last mile service and, and quality of service and customer service and, you know, putting the peace of mind that people want to know what's happening in the very last, last mile, as you mentioned. And you have a consumer application that you're going to be building upon. So congratulations we'll have to have you guys back to hear how you make progress and all these things in the future. But thanks for being with me this morning. Cami just stay with me as we go off the air in just a second as I announce what we've got coming up. Tomorrow we have another guest. His name is Dmitry Shapiro. He is the CEO of YouAi. And we're going to talk about the democratization of AI. So it's an interesting conversation. We definitely talk a lot about AI because it's disrupting the tech industry. So, you know if you think of everything else that's been disrupted by the tech industry for the first time, AI is disrupting our own industry. So there's a lot to talk about. So come and join us again tomorrow, 9:30 AM Pacific. And until then, have a great day, everyone.