pakadoo and VW Commercial Vehicles Test Mobile Package Station

VW Commercial Vehicles and pakadoo are testing a ‘pakadoo point’ in Hanover. VW employees can order packages to the station, and a dedicated VW eCanter distributes the packages within the plant along a set route to the recipients. Both parties aim to learn from the test for the future.

(Böblingen/Hanover) Employees of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Hanover can now have their private packages delivered to the company premises. In the first phase of the pilot project, packages are delivered to a central point and handed over via VW e-Crafter according to a tour plan at one of the eleven stops that employees can choose from. For pakadoo, this is the first mobile ‘pakadoo point’, and for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, it is a pilot project to test new transport services and gather data on user behavior. If the pilot is successful, the concept will be further developed into autonomously driving pakadoo point package stations. For employees, the project already means convenient and time-saving receipt of private packages.

Receive packages where you work

The idea of pakadoo is to receive packages where you spend your day: in many cases, this is the office. Companies set up a so-called pakadoo point where private packages can be received, stored, and distributed to employees, regardless of the parcel service provider. The address labels with the PAK-ID are scanned, and employees are informed via email or push notification from the myPAKADOO app about the delivered packages. On large company premises, it is impractical to set up only one central pickup point for a large number of employees. This also applies to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Hanover. With around 14,000 employees on the 1.1 square kilometer campus, this situation was ideal for the New Business Development department at Volkswagen, which focuses on developing services as standalone business models (Transport-as-a-Service, TaaS). Together with pakadoo, they designed a pilot project to explore the possibilities for mobile package stations. In the first phase of the pilot project, packages are delivered to a central point and handed over according to a tour plan at one of eleven stops that the employee can choose.

VW eCrafter distributes the packages on-site

Starting September 29, 2020, a VW e-Crafter with a driver will deliver private packages to various stops on the company premises. Employees will be informed via email or push notification about the incoming delivery, allowing them to pick up their package shortly thereafter at the stop that suits them best: right in front of the office, at the cafeteria, or on their way home. The pickup times at the individual stops are set in the tour plan. If the vehicle is delayed, the recipients will be informed. The goal is also to gather data on user behavior, such as where employees prefer to pick up their packages. “In the future, we will see autonomous vehicles in fleet operations delivering goods, especially in parcel delivery. Transport will thus become a service that changes value chains. In the pilot trial with pakadoo, we will gather new experiences from business operations that we will incorporate into the development of vehicles and services. The mobile package station will soon autonomously navigate to its target addresses,” explains Katrin Lohmann, head of the Autonomous Vehicles department at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Pilot project of great interest

“We are pleased that we can realize the first mobile pakadoo point together with Volkswagen. The pilot project is of great interest to us in two ways: on the one hand, it is an interesting option to deliver packages exactly where the user is located on large company premises or in public spaces. On the other hand, our business solution for internal package distribution could also operate this way in the future,” says Markus Ziegler, founder and managing director of pakadoo. VW employees benefit from the first day of the mobile pakadoo point: because they can pick up their private packages exactly when and where it is most convenient for them. This way, they do not miss any delivery attempts and save themselves the trip to package stations or parcel shops.

About pakadoo

Receive packages where you are: Behind the ‘work-life-logistics’ of pakadoo is the idea of enabling employees to receive and return private packages directly in the office, regardless of the parcel service provider. To do this, companies set up a so-called ‘pakadoo point’; supported by clever logistics software, packages are stored there and distributed to employees. Employers create a social benefit for their employees with pakadoo, as they have more time and less stress after work, leading to a more balanced work-life balance. This approach is gradually being expanded to other areas and additional services. The product portfolio of pakadoo now also includes parcel lockers that can be used as an alternative to staffed pakadoo points in companies and at public locations. The openly accessible parcel lockers are available to all registered pakadoo users for receiving and returning packages. And with pakadoo Business, a digital solution for easy, secure, and transparent handling of business packages is available. Photo: © pakadoo www.pakadoo.de    www.volkswagen-nutzfahrzeuge.de