Self-service in Logistics

A streamlined process from A to Z is the key to success in logistics. Receiving goods and people at companies often leads to delays, errors due to miscommunication, damage, accidents,… and it ultimately results in a significant increase in costs. In addition, reception areas are often not adapted to the COVID-19 social distancing rules.

Goal

In this project VIL has mapped the entire process of reception (access control, follow-up, yard management,…) at the participating companies. The goal of the project was to convert the manual aspect to a semi or fully automatic process. The introduction of self-service in logistics will lead to safer and more efficient yard management.
The focus of this project is on the technological side, and not the process side of the reception of people and goods.

Results

• Within this project, VIL conducted a market study of state-of-the-art technologies that can fully automate the reception of people, goods and parcels.
• The systems can be divided into five types:
  • Time slot booking
  • Yard management system consists of both software and hardware
  • The time slot booking system and the yard management system are complementary in terms of the problems they solve. Thus, a combination of both systems will yield the greatest benefits
  • Visitor management is the only technology category specific to visitor flow
  • For parcel flow, the parcel locker is the only solution
• Successful business cases, coupled with two Proof of Concepts were developed at both Scania Parts Logistics and UNILIN.
• With this project, report and the developed ROI tool, VIL provides the tools to make a thorough reflection on the added value of certain forms of automation. Discover the tool in the VIL Logibox