Innovation in the Independent Sector

June 2012

Our Background

Some of the things we do…

Freight Exchange

Accreditation & Compliance management

Transaction management inc ePODs and eBilling

Subscriber management inc feedback, technology, community & peer group advice.

Independent Sector in UK

Approx. 3,000 companies plus owner-drivers offering:

sameday, overnight parcels & pallets, international special services ie., refrigerated, chilled,

'white glove', technical courier,hand carry (still!), cross dock.

What’s driving innovation?

Increasing input costs & price sensitivity Need to differentiate in a mature, commoditised market Regulation Sustainability and CSR initiatives from clients Sheer availability of new innovative technologies, at an

affordable price Response to new market opportunities

e.g., sameday e-commerce

Two key areas for innovation: new or improved service offerings operational excellence

Case Studies in Innovation

New service offering - myparcelcentre.com

Operational enhancement - Delivery Direct

Regulation drives change - Mission Despatch

Plus - the coming wave of the mobile apps!

Business: myparcelcentre.com

Grant aided project – Technology Strategy Board ‘Intelligent Logistics’ competition

Innovation: pilot project for ‘micro consolidation centre’, with home delivery by electric vehicle (or customer collects).

Micro Consolidation Centres

Background

Essex County Council was charged with CO2 reduction – workshops identified consolidation centres for parcels & constructionBasildon: 2,000 B2C parcels / day, 15 – 30% first time fail rateAbby Couriers – est 1993, £3.5m turnover. Work for all major parcel companies as well as own clients (sameday, time definite, light haulage)

Delivered to home or work Delivered to consolidation centre

Deliveries – Consumer Preferences

A substantial percentage is interested in consolidation centre pick up399 interviewed people

Actions

Portal built – residents signing up, can use any carrier, nominate the delivery point.

➪First 3 electric vehicles purchased - 500kg payload

➪Aimed at all categories – shippers, carriers, consumer

➪Discussions with carriers – ‘co-opetition’ so micro consolidation centre can work with all carriers

➪Micro area – hoping to roll out more centres

➪Charges: £1 to consumer to collect up to 5 parcels or £2.95 to deliver up to 5 parcels

➪Customer can select timed delivery

DELIVERED TO HOME or WORK £2.95 COLLECTION £1.00

7 Days A Week7am till Late

Consumers register for FREE and get a Personal Membership

ID

Consumers order online And provide the

Retailer / Etailer

With the local My Parcel Centre

address for delivery

My Parcel Centre

Informs the ConsumersWhen their goods have arrived by SMS & Email

Consumers then login to

My Parcel Centre

and picks a delivery date and time to suit their lifestyle

Abby Couriers are one of the first independent courier services to operate Eco Friendly ELECTRIC POWERED delivery vehicles

How it works?

Business: Delivery Direct Logistics

Innovation: 4th generation dual compartment temperature-controlled vehicle

Delivery Direct: Based Taunton, Somerset.

Provide temp controlled & ambient dedicated vehicles

Specialise in food sample and pharmaceuticals

Built in close collaboration with the manufacturer

Operational Enhancement Dual Purpose Vehicle

A truly flexible solution

Carries combinations of temperature-controlled freight from -25ºC to +29ºC in either front or rear compartments at the same time. Movable bulkheads to accommodate different freight sizes

Huge flexibility to combine jobs without compromising critical temperatures

Reduction in carbon footprint and increase in productivity by doing work of two vehicles with one

The future

3 more new vans being built, with further improvements

➪ 3 temperature probes in load area and 1 probe mounted externally to show ambient temp

➪ Connected to live tracking system for live and historical data including temp data – proves the cool chain

Significant investment in innovation has involved some pain as the ‘guinea pig’

Forthcoming tightening of the temperature chain in the medical and pharmaceutical sector puts the company in excellent position for the future

Congestion ChargeDrives Innovation

Business: Mission Despatch

Innovation: Regulation drives

change in fleet choice

Est 2005, £1.5m turnover, based Brentford, West London

Vans go into London Congestion Charge zone every day - £45 a week each!

Cars emitting <100g/km of CO2 go FREE

Began evaluation of low carbon vehicles – Citroen v Ford Fiesta

Re-balancing Economics

Reviewed need for small ply-lined vans – found central London work could be done in low CO2 car – chose Ford Fiesta <99 g/km

Saving £450/week with fleet of 10 Fiestas

Plus – 7.5Tonne fleet – chose Mitsubishi Canter – weight saving aluminum chassis – carry load of 3.5T v 2.7T for traditional steel chassis

Conclusion: government regulation drove change in company behaviour byre-balancing economics, plus switchover to more innovative vehicle manufacturers which offer higher payload capacity and fuel economy.

http://www.couriers-london.com/

Mobile Apps – poised to change the sector

Innovation: smart devices, low cost, high levels of take-up and acceptance means an app for everyone in the extended supply chain! Background: recent survey of UK transportersfound that:75% purchased their current phone within the last two years46% have downloaded an “app” on their smartphone23% use their mobile phone for social media, such as Twitter or FacebookSo – irrespective of enterprise solutions, drivers have ready-made, always on device!

The Impact of the Smartphone Revolution

Growing number of apps for Android and iPhone, some examples:

Document scanning and send back to web

Barcode scanning

Driver hours and vehicle compliance

Pick up requests and pricing tools - Courier Exchange mobile app - Always on, real time availability status, loads sent to drivers based on geo-fenced location.

In Conclusion

Innovation is alive and kicking in the independent sector

Lyall CresswellTransport Exchange GroupBV2 The Perfume Factory140 Wales Farm RoadLondon, W3 6UG

www.transportexchangegroup.com0844 225 3500