Global parcel industry in “space race” to price parcels by volume
The rise of the lightweight e-commerce parcel is fueling a global “space race” within the parcel industry, according to US-based technology firm Postea. The company says growing pressure on parcel, freight and e-commerce firms to improve the efficiency of delivery services has led to a surge in demand for dimensioning equipment.
In the US, both FedEx and UPS have announced the introduction of new volumetric pricing systems for consumer parcels from the end of the year.
The delivery giants having been finding their revenue-per-package yields falling because of the greater number of lightweight e-commerce parcels in their mix, compared to traditionally heavier business-to-business parcels.
Postea, the firm co-founded by postal industry veteran Elmar Toime, says it is seeing interest in its dimensioning technology, QubeVu, extending beyond those carriers already announcing the introduction of volumetric pricing.
Michael J Murphy, the Postea chief executive and co-founder, said there has been a “flood of enquiries” from delivery companies wanting to bring in new pricing approaches, along with retailers looking to improve warehouse management.
He said in part, companies may be responding to the strategies of their competitors.
He said: “We have been dealing with businesses both big and small. They’re engaged in what might be regarded as something of a new kind of space race in which the use of the right dimensioning technology can potentially deliver substantial rewards.”
Interest
Postea has been working with a number of major post and parcel firms in the United States and Europe, including the US Postal Service and TNT Post. Irish parcel carrier Nightline has introduced the system for its network of parcel locker terminals, Parcel Motel.
Murphy said “dozens” of clients have signed up to use the QubeVu system since its launch less than a year ago.
The technology can rapidly calculate the dimensions of items ranging from the size of an A4 sheet of paper to a pallet, wither operating as a static “workstation” or together with conveyor belt systems in an industrial setting.
The Postea CEO said a particular appeal of the QubeVu technology was that it can be applied to existing sorting set-ups, without the need for reconfiguring operations. Maintenance is also minimized because the system has no moving parts and its head unit can be replaced in less than 10 minutes, reducing any potential down time.
“For some of the companies contacting us, that is a huge improvement over kit that might be down for days and needs time-consuming calibration to get it back online,” Murphy said.
