Same-day package delivery is on the minds of transport managers around the world who say their customers are demanding faster pick-ups and drop-offs.
Wireless automation is seen as a key solution to those customer demands, according to a new global survey of 375 transport and logistics managers in the U.S. and five other countries. The phone survey was conducted by research firm Vanson Bourne in April on behalf of Intermec, which makes rugged handhelds and the supporting software.
The use of GPS and faster wireless communications over 3G and 4G for delivery drivers and RFID for tracking packages were the top technologies cited for offering a return on investment in delivery automation.
Overall, managers said those technologies could reduce pick-up times and delivery times by about 30%, based on their tabulating a reduction of more than two minutes in each pick-up or delivery.
Jeff Sibio, director of industry marketing for transportation and logistics at Intermec, said that the survey results included the views of transport managers who had performed delivery process reviews in the last year (61%) and those who had not done a review in more than a year. (39%).
The survey also found that offering customers shipment updates through location-based and wireless technologies could reduce 24% of customer calls for updates daily. The results didn't specify the precise technologies involved.
Intermec plans to use the survey results in its product planning, Sibio said.
This article, Wireless automation can reduce package delivery times 9239974by 30%, was originally published at Computerworld.com.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.
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