The three-day 2019 Parcel+Post Expo Conference will feature over 150 speakers across 12 dedicated sessions and six highly focused workshops. Expert speakers hail from postal operators, courier, express, e-commerce and logistics companies, as well as those involved in developing and implementing the latest technological solutions in automation and delivery. Leading organizations speaking at the event include bpost, Deutsche Post DHL, PostNL, La Poste, Huawei, Microsoft, UPS and Transport for London.
In the build up to the conference, Parcel+Postal Technology International has interviewed a number of the speakers set to take to the stage. Here’s our pick of who to see:
Sandra Roling, head of EV100, The Climate Group, will present, ‘Electrifying delivery: how posts can lead the electric transport revolution’. “As companies providing services to millions of people in cities every day, postal companies have a huge role to play in driving a shift to clean transportation,” notes Rolling. “Switching to electric deliveries enables them to help address air pollution and cut transport emissions, showcasing to their customers and staff that they are ready for the future. Our EV100 members in the postal sector are already benefitting from the financial savings of high-usage vehicles, as higher up-front costs of vehicles are outweighed by much lower operational costs. Our member Deutsche Post DHL, for example, is already seeing its StreetScooter electric postal vans generating 60-80% savings on fuel, maintenance and repair costs.” See Sandra Roling at Parcel+Post Expo Conference on Tuesday, October 1 at 2:40pm in Room 3.
To help post and parcel delivery companies to switch to more environmentally friendy vehicles is Natalia Tomiyama, co-founder, Nüwiel, whose company has created electrical cargo trailers for city logistics. “Nüwiel’s vision is to free cities from unnecessary car use, minimize traffic, and reduce air and noise pollution by offering alternative transportation solutions specifically designed for urban areas,” Tomiyama explains. “Our first product is an electric cargo trailer for bikes, with patented technology that enables fully synchronized movement between the trailer and the bike. That means the trailer accelerates and brakes automatically with the bicycle so the cyclist doesn’t make any additional effort when cycling with the trailer.” Natalia Tomiyama will give her presentation at 9:40am on Wednesday, October 2 in room 3. Nüwiel has also been nominated for a PIP Start-up Award; read more about it here.
Clearly the last mile is changing. Michael Richmond, chief commercial officer, Doddle, says the days of all online orders being automatically routed to a customer’s home are long gone. “In response to customers’ demands for greater control over the fulfillment experience, combined with the prioritization of sustainability as a key purchasing decision, we predict a continual shift of technology away from home-centric delivery solutions toward other locations – not all necessarily retail-related. We also anticipate that technology will continue to employ data in more intelligent ways to create more transparency in the fulfillment journey for both customers and retailers. This will drive efficiencies for retailers and control and choice for customers,” says Richmond. See Mike Richmond’s presentation on the changes coming to the last mile on Wednesday, October 2 at 2:20pm in room 1.
Does this mean lockers will be used more often for deliveries? Ousmane Fouty Diop, business development representative Europe, Parcel.e, will talk about how to create an efficient network of postal lockers. “The new business model consists of implementing parcel locker networks that are open to all carriers – Amazon, DHL, FedEx, the national post and any local carrier may deliver its parcels to customers using the same parcel locker stations,” he explains. “The proximity to the final customers, as well as simplicity of use, attract more users. This model has been implemented in South Korea, where the majority of lockers are units installed by residents or real-estate companies in residential buildings or in the city, financed by City Hall or other public institutions. These lockers are neutral to carriers, are at the disposal of any customer and, best of all, are implemented in a very vast and dense network, allowing customers to have any product delivered wherever they need.” Ousmane Fouty Diop will give his presentation at 4:10pm on Tuesday, October 1 in room 1. Interested in learning even more about lockers? Join us at our Workshop: PUDOs & Lockers: the New Power in the Last Mile, on Tuesday, October 1 at 9:00am.
Bart Sebregts, co-founder of Last Mile Logistics/Parcel4me agrees: “I am not saying that in five years’ time deliveries will only be made to parcel machines, but we are saying that a substantial percentage of all parcels in a region will be delivered in a parcel machine, regardless of whether it is a high- or low-density region… if postal companies don’t implement the parcel machines themselves, newcomers will do so, meaning the postal companies lose business and money. So NOT doing it will decrease their business. There are all sorts of interesting extra services that can be provided when working with parcel machines compared with trying to deliver to a house.” See Bart Sebregts’ presentation at 2:40pm on Tuesday, October 1 in room 1.
Whether delivered to a home, business or to parcel lockers, being able to track packages is a huge necessity, as it improves customer satisfaction and reduces lost parcels. “Global supply chains are facing large inefficiencies due to a lack of valuable information about their goods on the move,” says Bertrand Späth, co-founder and head of sales and business development, Kizy Tracking SA. “Real-time tracking solutions close this information gap by gathering position data based on globally available mobile networks and local wi-fi data. They provide end-to-end supply chain visibility in real time worldwide, thus enabling significant cost reductions and massive customer service improvements.” Hear Bertrand Späth at 10am on Tuesday, October 1 in Room 3. Kizy Tracking has also been nominated for a PIP Startup award; read more about it here.
Packadoo has also been nominated for a PIP Startup Award for its technology which enables employees to receive private parcels directly at work. “Even in the digital age, the process of receiving and distributing business parcels in a company can be time-consuming and non-transparent. The current processes do not reflect the new requirements caused, for example, by shared-desk concepts,” says Michael Strohäcker, founder and managing director, Pakadoo. “We see that through our software, the time needed for handling business parcels is now about one-third of what it used to be. This helps mailrooms to cope with the increasing flood of business parcels and to reach their KPIs.” Michael Strohäcker will talk more about how to simplify the handling of business parcels on Tuesday, October 1 at 9:00am in room 3.
Innovation is key, and PostNL has an entire team dedicated to developing new ideas. Joshua Geerlings, product owner Innovation Studio, PostNL, will present a talk titled Innovation at PostNL: from new, digital e-commerce to last-yard solutions. “The Innovation Studio is a team of ambitious and dedicated innovators who help develop the business of PostNL by creating, building and validating new products and services,” Geerlings explains. “The projects we take on range from digital innovation to new e-commerce propositions, and also include last-yard delivery solutions such as personal parcel lockers. At the moment, we are working on multiple digital projects that seek to find a better relationship with the consumer, but we’re also working on finding methods to transport less air and optimize the checkout of our e-commerce partners.” Listen to Joshua Geerling’s presentation and learn more about his team’s successes on Wednesday October 2 at 3:00pm in room 3.
Virtual reality is one of the newest technologies to shape the postal and parcel sectors. “Virtual and augmented reality technologies can help postal and logistics providers in a variety of applications, from training on the job to maintenance of infrastructure, to customer service,” says Mattia Crespi, research affiliate, Institute for the Future. “At Parcel+Post Expo this year, the Institute for the Future [IFTF] will showcase some of these applications and teach the audience the main concepts behind AR and VR and how they can be applied to the postal sector.” All participants will be invited to a live demo to experience first hand the possibilities of AR. See Mattia Crespi give the keynote speech for the PIP Innovation & Startup Day at 9:10am on Tuesday, October 1 in room 2.
Blockchain is also a technology that could disrupt the industry. Alain Roset, director of France’s La Poste, will give a presentation titled An update on blockchain developments, focused on logistics and new postal activities at this year’s Parcel+Post Expo Conference. “Postal operators are built on transaction processes, and a post’s developments in new digital services may suffer from blockchain startups – or this technology may improve the post’s efficiency,” argues Roset. “Blockchain may be useful in complex logistics chains with multiple stakeholders slightly paired without a recognized leader, such as cross-border flows and last-mile delivery with city-level optimization of different logistics networks to deal with environmental constraints. Blockchain may also serve as proof of process for specific flows, such as delivery of food or pharmaceuticals, allowing, in case of incidents, clear identification of the responsibilities of the links involved.” Alain Roset will give his presentation at 9:00am on Thursday, October 3 in room 3. Interested in blockchain technology? Join us at our Workshop: Postal Blockchain Exploration on Tuesday, October 1 at 4:10pm in room 3.
Parcel+Post Expo Conference 2019 will take place at RAI Amsterdam Convention Center, from Tuesday, October 1 to Thursday, October 3. Visit www.parcelandpostexpo.com for more information. The full conference program can be found here. Register for your conference pass here.