This year’s Parcel+Post Expo, held at the RAI Amsterdam on October 22-24, has been hailed a huge success by exhibitors and attendees alike. The event, which hosted more than 250 companies – over 40 of which were brand new to the expo – provided the ideal platform to showcase innovations including parcel lockers, robotic systems, automation technologies and last-mile delivery vehicles.
The event was a fantastic combination of established features and new special additions, proving that it really is the global meeting place for the postal, parcel and last-mile delivery industry.
Commenting on the three-day event, Emanuele Rosa, innovation engineer at Amazon Last Mile, said, “I came to the expo to see the latest innovations in last mile, and I have seen some very interesting technology including the use of AI in barcode reading. It has been a worthwhile event where I’ve made some good connections and have some great business leads to follow up.”
Parcel+Post Expo once again played host to the Universal Postal Union’s World Leaders Forum, which this year had a theme of ‘Smart and collaborative solutions to enhance customer trust’. It was also the 150th anniversary of the UPU, which the organization celebrated by hosting a special reception on Day 1.
Another highlight was the 16th annual Parcel and Postal Technology International Awards, followed by the PIP Startup Innovation Award Competition, with the winners announced during a live evening ceremony and free drinks reception sponsored by Plus One Robotics on the first day of the show.
New features at this year’s event included The HUB – Logistics for E-commerce Summit, which provided valuable insights into the evolving world of e-commerce via keynote sessions, panel discussions, case studies and technology workshops. Key themes for the two-day event included sustainability, AI, blockchain and predictive analytics, cross-border challenges and returns logistics.
Tony Robinson, the founder of Parcel+Post Expo and chairman of UKi Media & Events, which organizes the show, commented, “This was another fantastic exhibition of the best technologies for parcel and postal deliveries. With the backdrop of 150 years of the UPU combining with more than a quarter of a century of this technology showcase industry event, it was evident yet again why Parcel+Post Expo is so important.
“The sphere of technologies and the sheer scale and magnificence of many of the booths means that Parcel+Post Expo always has been and will remain the most prestigious and important parcel delivery show of the year.”
Exhibitor news
One of the highlights of this year’s event was the Bloq.it booth, where visitors could immerse themselves in the company’s locker technology via the Apple Vision Pro reality headset. Users were able to get an in-depth look behind the Next locker’s usability and replaceable battery technology, and experience a real-life installation.
The company worked closely with Apple developers to create a virtual deployment scene of a realistic village, highlighting the ease of use and flexibility of Bloq.it’s Next locker solution.
Speaking at Parcel+Post Expo, Bruno Luis, head of marketing at Bloq.it, said, “At this year’s Parcel+Post Expo we were able to see an industry eager for well-thought ideas. Companies no longer accept poorly designed products or experiences and that’s why we brought real configurators that allowed visitors to customize their locker in seconds, or see our frontend software shift in front of their eyes. In this industry, showing is better that telling. That’s why we surprised everyone with the mixed-reality experience everyone was talking about. We know people are attracted to disruption and they want to see it to believe it. In the end, everyone wants locker networks that work, and judging by the magnetic effect our stand had on visitors and competitors, I’d say Bloq.it is ready to lead the industry into that next step.”
According to Luis, this innovative approach garnered significant interest at the show, including from competitors.
Elsewhere on the show floor, Vanderlande was celebrating its 75th anniversary and marked the occasion with a live contract signing with DHL. The contract is for the installation of sorting technology at one of DHL Group’s MechZB last-mile depots at Regensburg in southern Germany – Vanderlande’s 75th contract of this type.
The project is expected to go live in the autumn of next year and will enable DHL’s Regensburg depot to handle 4,500 parcels per hour from four infeeds, with belt unloading telescopics to 37 buffer chutes.
Patrick Verhoeven, Vanderlande’s executive managing director, APS EMEA LATAM, said, “It’s fitting that as Vanderlande celebrates its 75th anniversary, we are able to extend our collaboration with DHL Group by joining forces on the 75th MechZB project. The original program has proved to be a huge success, helping DHL to increase the speed and efficiency of its last-mile operations.”
At Latvia Post’s booth, visitors were treated to live demonstrations of the company’s newest delivery vehicle, the Bruntor electric cargo scooter. Equipped with four wheels and a versatile cargo compartment, Bruntor adapts seamlessly to various environments and can charge at the Latvia Post parcel locker network, enhancing convenience and efficiency. Additionally, Bruntor can reach speeds that are up to 30% faster than traditional scooters or bicycles.
Cainiao also showcased its latest autonomous delivery vehicle, which features a fully self-developed software and hardware stack and is equipped with L4 autonomous driving capabilities to navigate effortlessly between locations. Senior business development manager Cathy Li was pleased with the response the company had during the three-day event, commenting, “This is a good platform to meet existing customers and new customers. It’s a great chance to meet everyone in the industry. It’s the best place to be.”
There were plenty of robotic technologies on show throughout the three exhibition halls, with Fanuc Benelux presenting its CRX-30iA collaborative robots, which aim to transform production environments by seamlessly integrating robots into human workspaces.
Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica showcased its Papick, ItPick and Depax robotics solutions, which aim to meet different logistics needs while achieving high levels of performance and efficiency. Papick is an automated sorting system for the collection of parcels weighing up to 5kg, primarily designed for the e-commerce and postal sorting sectors. Its AI integrated vision systems, advanced workflow management and efficient barcode reading systems enable it to pick and sort up to 1,800 packages per hour with a single robotic arm, with an efficiency of over 98%. Depax is a depalletizer capable of transferring objects or packages of different sizes from a pallet, and ItPick is an automated system that can pick individual products and therefore adapt to different configurations.
Körber also showcased its newest robotic technology, the VarioPick, which was used in collaboration with PostNord on an AI robot pilot project at the postal operator’s sorting center in Rosersberg, Sweden. The project highlighted Körber’s ability to deliver cutting-edge automation solutions under tight deadlines, and saw the company triumph in the Supplier of the Year category at the Parcel and Postal Technology International Awards.
Charles Brewer, group CEO of Pos Malaysia and a member of the awards judging panel, enthused, “Parcel+Post Expo once again delivered on all fronts. Not only is it the place to see firsthand the latest approaches and innovations for our wonderful industry, but it is also an incredible coming together of the who’s who of our sector, to network, share and learn from each other. The team and I loved it and will be back again next year as we continue our transformation.”
Conference highlights
Out-of-home delivery was a key theme for this year’s Innovation Forum, with Days 1 and 3 highlighting important challenges and opportunities in the parcel locker space.
Jacek Powalka, head of business development at Modern-Expo, provided a comprehensive roadmap for developing a complex parcel locker network, drawing insights from Poland, the most competitive European market. He explored the challenges of location finding and how to scale OOH networks, as well as highlighting best practices for efficient locker management and operations.
Alan Barrie, chair of YEEP! Lockers and Stamp Free, explored the pros and cons of developing a locker network from scratch, urging the audience to consider the options carriers have, how to make the right decisions, what is in the end customer’s best interests, and the views of local and national governments.
“Quite clearly, the rise of out-of-home was the last-mile disrupting opportunity on show at the event,” Barrie said. “How can we as an industry justify delivering to millions of places every day when thousands of places can deliver a new kind of convenience and dramatically reduce our impact on the planet? Or from an end consumer’s perspective, why should I wait for my parcel at home when my parcel can wait for me nearby? I believe those who are seriously ambitious in this space will reap the long-term rewards.
“I think it’s close on 25 years since my first Parcel+Post Expo and I still get the stimulus and energy boost I first experienced way back then, so I’ll be back of course,” he added.
At the UPU’s World Leaders Forum, AI and cybersecurity were two of the main focuses, with Edgar Barroso, professor of innovation and public entrepreneurship at Tecnológico de Monterrey and CEO of Horizons Architecture, exploring some of the most pressing questions surrounding the use of AI in the postal industry. He provided insight into whether the postal and logistics sector is embracing AI effectively compared with other industries globally, and looked at ways in which AI might help define a roadmap to success for the sector.
A special panel was also held on ‘Empowering women leaders to shape the future of post: innovation, inclusion and trust’. Simona Bratusa, international mail advisor at Posta Slovenije, was joined by Ivana Vrviscar, a member of the executive management team, Mariella Buisson, CEO of Seychelles Postal Services, and Siobhan MacDermott, head, global advisory business, 8 Degrees East, to explore the key role of female leadership in driving innovation and inclusion in the postal sector. Each of the panelists shared how they are advancing gender equality and ensuring their organizations stay ahead in a digital-first world, and also explored the themes of customer trust, AI and cybersecurity.
Commenting on the success of the conference program, Gustavo Damy from the UPU’s Postal Technology Centre said, “This year, what I’ve particularly enjoyed is the openness from companies toward adopting new technologies. There’s no longer a sense of hesitation around using tech to drive digital transformation. And for me, the highlights were the great attendance and interest at the UPU World Leaders Forum and the interest toward multilateral technology solutions by different players.”
Nova Post named Service Provider of the Year
Ukraine’s Nova Post came out on top in the Service Provider of the Year category at the Parcel and Postal Technology Awards, held at the end of Day 1. Recognized as one of the country’s leading delivery companies, Nova Post has over 12,000 branches and 18,000 parcel lockers nationwide. The company was recognized for its network expansion and business diversification over the past year, despite operating in a war zone.
Collecting the award, Volodymyr Popereshniuk, co-owner of Nova Post, said, “This award motivates us to keep improving and to set even higher standards for ourselves, reinforcing the trust that customers place in Nova Post. It also demonstrates our ability to operate and grow in a highly competitive global market and under constant threat in the war zone.”
To read more about the winners of this year’s Parcel and Postal Technology Awards, click here.
Next year’s show
Parcel+Post Expo will once again return to RAI Amsterdam in the Netherlands on October 21, 22 and 23, 2025. To register for the event, click here.