SingPost launches SmartPost
Singapore Post (SingPost) has announced a new initiative, called SmartPost, which brings together technologies such as near-field communication (NFC), radio frequency identification (RFID), digital imaging and electronic notifications. According to SingPost, SmartPost will raise quality and efficiency “across the entire postal operation: from collection to sorting, last mile delivery and quality assurance”.
Paul Coutts, SingPost’s new Group Chief Executive Officer, commented: “I have joined SingPost for just over a week and from what I have seen in those few days, SingPost is a very innovative company. SmartPost is one of many innovations SingPost is using to exploit and leverage the proliferation of digital technology, this time to address traditional postal challenges and take a disruptive step forward to meet evolving expectations for faster and more flexible deliveries, especially for eCommerce.
“SmartPost has been designed to help our postal team work better and smarter, enhancing their capabilities and efficiency for the digital age. We are starting at the last mile as this is the most vital and demanding part of our business. At the end of the day, we are only as good as our last mile delivery and this will improve our customers’ overall experience.”
The first phase will focus on delivery of registered mail, SmartPac and other trackable postal items. Postmen will be issued smartphones loaded with a customised postal delivery app. Used with NFC and serialised code scanning, the app will help postmen keep track of deliveries made and generate real-time prompts of standard operating procedures.
“Customers can get delivery status updates by SMS or email and receive notifications of where they may collect items whose delivery they have missed,” said SingPost.
“They may also be able to collect the item directly at the post office, using an electronic notice on their mobile device instead of a physical delivery note.”
In addition to equipping postal delivery staff with smartphones, SingPost will be installing NFC tags on more than 50,000 delivery and collection points across the island.
“Data of crucial operational activities ranging from posting box collection to letterbox delivery can be obtained, enabling extensive and dynamic analytics for future customer service enhancements and operational work process improvements,” said SingPost.
“Proof-of-concept and ground testing for SmartPost’s last mile delivery solution were completed earlier this year. Application, system and infrastructure development is underway in preparation for the rollout that will commence later this year and is targeted to be completed by March 2019.”
