U.S., Jan. 4 -- Consumer expectations for fast, convenient and inexpensive delivery options are growing.

Value-added services like delivery notifications and package tracking are no longer the reserve of urgent or important deliveries but a minimum requirement in both the consumer and business world. Facing global competition, logistics managers face the double challenge of reducing delivery costs while improving customer service. The increasing commonality of penalties for delays, as used by Walmart in the US, is adding further pressure to smaller providers. This situation is putting the pressure on supply chains to operate at greater and greater scale in order to effect efficiencies.

As it turns out, the solution to leveraging the las...