MHD SUPPLY CHAIN
IoT MEETS PARCEL DELIVERY EXCELLENCE Nation-wide small parcel delivery specialist, CouriersPlease, recently solved the problem of lost and underutilised delivery cages during a crucial period of rapid growth. MHD speaks to Phil Reid, Chief Operating Officer at CouriersPlease, and Zorawar Singh, Head of Core Product at Optus Enterprise, to discover why Thinxtra’s Internet of Things offering was not only the best – but the only – solution on offer capable of achieving this result.
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ouriersPlease (CP), founded nearly four decades ago, is in the midst of an exciting new period of growth in Australia. The metropolitan small parcel delivery specialist has continually grown and thrived over the decades since its inception – today boasting a network that provides nationwide coverage. The company services Australians through its independently owned franchisee fleet of couriers, with more than 750 franchisees and 300 delivery partners across Australia. “I think a major reason we’ve been so fortunate in the success we’ve enjoyed is our franchisees,” says Phil Reid, Chief Operating Officer, Couriers Please. “Our franchisees own their businesses, bring on local customers, and know the people, geographies, and cultures in which they operate.” Recently, CP was awarded the number one ranking in the prestigious Canstar Blue 2021 Most Satisfied Customers rankings in the small business courier services category.
WHAT WAS CP’S NEW CHALLENGE? The company utilises parcel cages to hold freight – and has roughly 3500 of them in constant movement across the country. Rapidly growing demand for its service meant it also had to rapidly acquire more cages. The problem that accompanied this development was that CP was simply losing too many of these cage assets. While losing cages was not a new phenomenon, the costs of solving this problem had previously outweighed the 24 | MHD FEBRUARY 2022
(L–R) Nick Lambrou, CEO, Thinxtra; Phil Reid, Chief Operating Officer, CouriersPlease; and Taba Managheb, Optus Enterprise.
costs of such asset losses. But with each cage costing $1000, such losses would become increasingly unsustainable. This is why fixing the lost-cages problem was imperative. Lost cages not only drain financial resources but create inefficiencies and knock-on effects that could negatively impact customers in future. “We’ve lost literally hundreds of these cages over the years,” says Phil Reid, Chief Operating Officer at CouriersPlease. “Whether that’s due to theft, or cages left unaccounted for.” To solve this problem, three companies – CouriersPlease, Optus Enterprise, and Thinxtra, Australia’s only Internet of Things (IoT) telco and enabler of Massive IoT– came together and were able to solve CP’s cage-loss problem with a cost-effective and
sustainable long-term IoT solution, utilising fit-for-purpose tracking devices, which are securely attached to the parcel cages and connect to Thinxtra’s pathbreaking 0G network. The result? No more lost cages.
A NEW SOLUTION FOR A NEW SITUATION Zorawar Singh, Head of Core Product at Optus Enterprise, says that CouriersPlease approached Optus for consultation and advice on how CP could put an end to its increasingly detrimental asset losses. “Optus Enterprise and CouriersPlease already had a well-established relationship,” says Zorawar. “But we pride ourselves on our flexibility in helping clients solve new problems. We don’t take them for granted. At a high
