Advanced Parcel Delivery Messaging System Increases Efficiency, Customer Satisfaction
OTTAWA, June 3, 2009 – Solace Systems, the leader in messaging middleware and content networking hardware, today announced the results of a joint proof of concept test with carrier SOFTBANK TELECOM and the city of Kobe in a project funded by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication. Tests were performed in 2008 with the aim of developing a next generation logistics platform that would increase the efficiency of parcel delivery.
The experimental deployment was conducted in Kobe City as a part of the Regional ICT Application Model Building Project. SOFTBANK TELECOM selected and implemented Solace’s messaging appliance as the foundation of the system. In this test, identical codes were assigned to each element of a particular delivery: the sender, the package, and the recipient. Solace’s content routers enabled real-time communications between senders, delivery agents and recipients by converting each message into the necessary format, routing it based on its content, and ensuring delivery to the appropriate recipient.
The experimental system made it possible for senders and/or recipients to designate and update the desired place and time of delivery, which was not necessarily a street address but could be a desk, an office or a public location. Testing revealed a remarkably efficient system due to the low number of return trips for undeliverable packages, and yielded very high customer satisfaction because of the ability to alter when and where they received packages.
“Everyone who has received a ‘sorry we missed you’ notice when awaiting a delivery knows the value of these kinds of efficiency innovations, ” said Crispin Clarke, Solace’s Senior Vice President, Asia and Latin America. “However, the Kobe City deployment also showed the power that next-generation messaging technologies can bring in terms of time and fuel savings which could lead to significant reductions in cost for logistics providers.”
Based on this successful experiment, SOFTBANK TELECOM is continuing to explore the potential of message-aware networking, and seeks to support the building of ubiquitous platforms to enable new business models and innovative services.