Freight Systems: DHL Packstations
Posted in Models, RDAG by Kate Archdeacon on November 25th, 2008
This information is part of research into case studies provided by Liz Boulton, Logistick, at the recent Sustainable Freight Seminar.
DHL Packstations are a response to the changing needs of consumers. Recipients nominate where they would like to pick up parcels and over-sized letters, and retrieve the delivery from an automated booth after being notified by sms or email.
The major market for Packstation is the increasing number of single people, especially students and time-poor professionals, who purchase products online but are not normally at home at daytime to accept deliveries, or who do not have the time to deposit parcels at the post office during normal opening hours.
Within the normal delivery service system, 1 in 15 home delivery attempts fails. The DHL Packstations are funded wholly by the savings in delivery attempts and related logistics management. (Source: Logistick)
This model of service provision allows multiple-purpose journeys to be combined in an increasingly efficient manner, saving travel, energy and time for service providers and their customers.
There are currently 800,000 registered Packstation customers in Germany, and according to Deutsche Post their number is growing by 200,000 every year.
Deutsche Post is planning to set up a total of 2,400 Packstations in Germany by 2009. Its aim is that eventually no customer should need to travel more than 10 minutes to reach a Packstation.
Further information on the working system can be found here.
