Royal Mail announces major change to how you track your packages

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 37801.html

Royal Mail is changing the way you track your packages.

The company will launch smart stickers to digitally track its containers as part of a scheme to improve efficiency and give insights into how to cut carbon by optimising vehicle use.

It will see Royal Mail attach digital tags from tech firm Wiliot – small sticker-like tags which house tiny computers and are automatically detected by nearby Bluetooth devices as they travel through the mail network – to its 850,000 containers which are used to transport parcels and letters around the country.


Royal Mail said the digital system will remove the need for the manual scanning of containers, and will provide real-time feedback on location, environmental factors such as temperature and humidity, and also help it improve efficiency by using the data it gathers to optimise its vehicle and fuel use as it looks to reach a target of being net zero by 2040.

It said in future it also plans to attach the tags to individual parcels to further enhance the precision of tracking.

Royal Mail's South Midlands Mail Centre, Northampton
Royal Mail's South Midlands Mail Centre, Northampton (Chris Radburn/PA Wire)
Nathan Preston, tech director for strategy, innovation and data at Royal Mail, said: “Data-led modernisation is an important part of our strategy to improve the effectiveness of our operation and make it as efficient and customer-focused as possible.

“We are excited to be the first postal company in the world to be using Wiliot’s innovative technology.

“It has huge potential, from increasing reliability by allowing us to quickly spot and address any issues in the network, to reducing our carbon footprint by helping us to better fill our vehicles to avoid wasted journeys.

“Combining Wiliot data with other sources, we can more efficiently monitor the items in our network, without the need for any additional manual scanning.”

The firm said the system will give it unparalleled insight into its network as parcels travel between its 37 mail centres, two automated parcel hubs and 1,200 delivery offices via a large network of vehicles.

Tal Tamir, Wiliot’s chief executive, said: “Royal Mail’s heritage is well established and very rich.

“The significance of being central to its digital transformation mission is not lost on us.

“Through our platform, we’re able to provide complete visibility across the supply chain, giving organisations young and old the tools they need to deliver faster, safer and more environmentally sustainable services and solutions.”

[TopperGas]

The headline seems misleading as it sounds unlikely a customer will be given any further information but management will now be able to track when a parcel arrives at a DO, so there's now no chance of parcels just being left in DO's until the following day if there's ever a shortage of staff.

[SpacePhoenix]

The headline seems misleading as it sounds unlikely a customer will be given any further information but management will now be able to track when a parcel arrives at a DO, so there's now no chance of parcels just being left in DO's until the following day if there's ever a shortage of staff.

Up until when this goes live it's normally the MCs that get the blame if something is late as it's generally been assumed that whatever it is hasn't arrived at the DO. Now it'll be classed as a failure by the DOs not the MCs. I don't know if it'll be expanded in some way to cover manual letters, mech letters and flats. If they did then shift managers at the inward MCs could potentially see when the MC is going to get hammered with a big arrival of a given mail stream. They could then flood the relevant work area with staff and get whatever is on hand cleared in advance.

[ted_e_bear]

Is it just me or is anyone else thinking they could 'accidentally' end up stuck to a random York

[Basildon Bond]

or can the simply DO empty a particular york and return it but kick the parcels into a corner?

[SpacePhoenix]

or can the simply DO empty a particular york and return it but kick the parcels into a corner?

The parcels would still show as being at the DO. AFAIK once the york passes the receiver in the DO all parcels on that york will show as having arrived at the DO

[PDAHappy]

Its just tracking the York, not the contents.So it’s as already mentioned there’s no benefit for the customer.

[heraldmoth]

Exactly this, and as the new white Yorks like to hide tracked items in under the plastic and behind the folding doors what could go wrong? I’m also assuming RFD will become obsolete

[Mr Rush]

It will see Royal Mail attach digital tags from tech firm Wiliot – small sticker-like tags which house tiny computers and are automatically detected by nearby Bluetooth devices as they travel through the mail network – to its 850,000 containers which are used to transport parcels and letters around the country.

Is this just RFID? This sounds like marketing hype BS for RFID. I thought we already did this.

[SpacePhoenix]

Its just tracking the York, not the contents.So it’s as already mentioned there’s no benefit for the customer.

The customers won't see the extra details but this ties contents to yorks/sleeves. Once it goes live in a couple of weeks, we won't be allowed to condense any yorks or sleeves of packets