Delivery specialist Smartmile and parcel locker manufacturer Keba have commenced installation of their first outdoor parcel machines in Finland and intend to install Smartmile-enabled Keba machines across Europe as part of a long-term plan over the coming year.
The pair note that retailers struggle with limited indoor space, all while balancing the consumer demand for 24/7 delivery. Outdoor lockers allow for installations of always accessible, higher capacity machines that solve these struggles and meet consumer demands better. Smartmile says it decided to partner with Keba because it felt the company was best suited to provide high-quality outdoor machines.
Aku Happo, CEO at Smartmile, said, “Seeing that each of our parcel machines serve multiple carriers and retailers, they have to manage very high volumes. Coping with high volumes means we have to look for ways to install high-capacity machines. Through outdoor machines, we offer more compartments to partners and consumers. We are happy to partner with Keba to meet the demand for outdoor solutions and are very satisfied with their innovative solution and solid aftersales support.”
Like all Smartmile parcel machines, the collaborative machines are open and shared, meaning that multiple couriers, hardware providers and retailers can be integrated into the Smartmile software and use the machines to exchange parcels. This integration with Keba apparently only took only two days, and the actual machine installation took six hours.
“We know that availability in the self-service area is one of the most important features for best customer acceptance. Therefore, numerous features guarantee smooth operation even under the harshest climatic conditions in Northern Scandinavia. Furthermore, we believe that Smartmile’s innovative open platform approach suits our KePol FLIP system just perfect and we are looking forward to a long-term partnership,” said Jürgen Kusper, CEO handover automation, Keba.
