UK APC rolls out on line shipping service from NetDespatch

Express delivery company APC has become the first carrier to roll out a fully web-based shipping system throughout an entire national network.

(7/6/2004)

APC has selected NetDespatch to supply their 120-strong UK depot network with a service that allows all of their customers to book and track their shipments online. APC’s local agents will be able to incorporate the fully managed NetDespatch service in their websites to provide their customers with a broad range of advanced e-business facilities.

The APC network is the first to adopt NetDespatch’s ‘Velocity’ multi-service booking system, which includes address management, bar code label and manifest printing and XML integration. It opens up electronic services to any APC customer, whether booking one or one thousand jobs a day.

Velocity will be part of an integrated solution linking hub information, depot systems and customers through centrally hosted web servers. APC has also implemented a live POD exchange system to give network-wide and customer-wide visibility as soon as a delivery has been completed and this job tracking information is automatically added to the web pages.

Apart from higher levels of customer service, a big advantage of web bookings is that the collection and delivery details are available immediately so that both depot and hub can pre-plan evening operations more effectively. In the past jobs input by customer implants were only processed at the end of the day so operations could not plan in advance.

“This network model offers real challenges for implementing consistent IT solutions as we are dealing with over 100 independent businesses,” said Nick Taylor, IT director of APC. “NetDespatch has proven to be the ideal solution. It allows us to adopt a uniform approach to increasingly crucial web services across the entire network.”