Zebra Technologies helps Hermes achieve greater visibility

Hermes Germany has equipped all its logistics centres, depots and delivery bases with new hand-held scanners from American manufacturer Zebra Technologies. A total of 18,000 devices will be put into operation from the beginning of 2019.

The TC75x handhelds are based on an Android operating system and possess Bluetooth capabilities and a 4G/LTE connection, hi-res touchscreen and long-lasting battery. The built-in camera and integrated scanner enable fast data acquisition and the exchange of data with in-house IT systems, such as the transmission of shipment and address data. The device can be operated either by PDA pen or finger.

Roland Lazina, head of process and system management at Hermes Germany, said, “In order to keep up with the growing challenges in trade and logistics, the last mile has to become even more flexible and, above all, more digital. Our new hand-held scanners are the perfect basis for this: they are fast, easy to use and new features can be added with little effort at any time.”

The delivery app used with the scanners was conceived and programmed by the in-house team at Hermes. The centrepiece is a simply designed, multilingual interface that increases the ease-of-use compared to old devices.

Hermes will gradually add new features to the software, such as enabling the delivery driver to send electronic notification cards to replace the current paper cards.

“It’s important for new colleagues to learn quickly and use our delivery software,” said Björn Cordes, head of parcel solutions, Hermes. “That’s exactly what we guarantee with the new scanners, also because the operation is very similar to a smartphone.”