An Post adopts Sigfox solution for parcel process and distribution

The Irish mail, parcels and ecommerce logistics company, An Post Mails & Parcels, is rapidly transforming itself from a postal company delivering letters, to an ecommerce parcel logistics vendor and provider of B2B services for Irish and international businesses. As part of this transformation it has contracted VT-IoT, the operator of Ireland’s Sigfox 0G network, to transform its supply chain with IoT tracking devices.
An Post delivers two million items of mail to 2.2 million address points nationwide every working day, as well as evening and weekend parcel deliveries. It runs Ireland’s largest vehicle fleet, including the country’s largest fleet of electric vehicles, and recently opened its new fully-automated Dublin Parcel Hub.
An Post’s operational infrastructure includes a large volume of returnable transport units such as roll cages and parcel containers. These roll cages and containers must be available every day in the required quantities in the Company’s mail hubs across Ireland.
VT and Sigfox are helping An Post optimise its supply chain by using smart tracking devices that enable it to monitor the location of its assets nationwide – even when these are outside its own supply chain. The solution helps An Post overcome the barriers it faces with traditional tracking technology such as price, battery life and coverage, by providing low-cost, low-power connectivity over a single network that is currently available in more than 70 countries.
“VT’s state-of-the-art solution has resulted in significantly increased transparency in our postal distribution network, ensuring world class quality of service for our customers and lower operational costs through improved containerisation efficiency”, explains Mark Devine, National Engineering Maintenance & Performance Manager, An Post.
Postal and logistics companies are a key vertical for Sigfox, which also supports DHL in Germany and Posti in Finland. “Our collaboration with An Post is an exciting step forward into the future of industrial IoT and a key milestone toward connecting billions of IoT devices globally on the Sigfox 0G network. We’re confident our solutions have the power to truly revolutionise the way logistics and supply chain companies do business, resulting in significantly reduced costs and increased efficiencies,” commented Mark Bannon, CEO, VT.