Meeting The Delivery Demands Of The Future With Intelligent Delivery Lockers

TMG is deploying intelligent delivery lockers within a variety of environments

By: Frank Farnacci, EVP, TMG

In the past few years consumers have been exposed to intelligent delivery lockers as retailers innovate delivery solutions optimizing their speed to market.  Whether you’ve rented videos from Red Box, picked up on line purchases at Walmart or Target, or accessed groceries in refrigerated lockers in your grocery store, intelligent delivery lockers have proven to be an extremely reliable, secure and flexible solution for delivering products to consumers.  Now this technology is proving to be an effective method for executing delivery services within universities and corporations.

Today’s corporate world is blurring the lines between office attendance and flexible working schedules and places.  Today’s office environments are also evolving with advanced amenities.  Intelligent delivery lockers are a viable option for organizations to deliver mail, parcels and other materials to constantly mobile employees with a minimal labor base in its mail and receiving departments in the same fashion that “B to C” companies are engaging their customer base. 

TMG has deployed several locker solutions.  With intelligent locker systems we effectively receive packages and securely deliver parcels into an electronic locker.  Notifications are sent to recipients with a special unlock code to pick up items at their convenience via email with integrated receiving technology.  Some of the benefits of utilizing TMG for a joint services and technology solution include, but are not limited to:

• Our access to multiple locker manufacturers to ensure the right solution
• Access locker branding and customizable locker sizes
• Alleviating package storage requirements in the Mail Center
• Increasing package handling and delivery SLA’s
• Providing maximum convenience to client end users
• Potentially reducing delivery staff for return on the investment

One can potentially reduce labor costs, gain space and add a new layer of security in with intelligent locker systems from TMG.  TMG has deployed lockers within corporate and university environments.  Within one University in New Jersey we execute the following workflow:

• Deployed a bank of 47 lockers that we have at our disposal
• The 47 lockers are of various sizes
• There is a keypad that TMG associates use in order to place a package into a locker
• A received package email notification from integrated receiving technology is sent to students with directions on how they can request to have their package placed in a locker
• TMG associates never put packages into a locker without receiving some sort of communication from a student
• Once a package is placed in a locker, we send the student an email with the code for that locker
• When a student retrieves their package, they will go to the keypad and punch in the code that we have sent to them
• The student has 48 hours to retrieve their package from the locker
• The feedback from the student population on the locker system has been very positive
• The lockers have been used primarily by the students who have off-campus internships, student athletes and students in the Graduate and Theological programs.

According to TMG’s Site Services Manager at this University, Kevin Healy, “Students have stated that the new locker system has been a great addition to the mail services on campus.  Most of the students mentioned that their days are pretty busy between classes, team sports and jobs.  The locker system provides them with the opportunity to still receive items even though their schedule might not allow for it.  Some of the students wished we had implemented the locker system a couple of years ago.  Overall the student feedback has been extremely positive to this new customer service function that TMG has added”.

Within the corporate environments in which we’ve installed systems, the goal was to support a highly mobile and rapidly growing work force.  “Specifically, our locker solution allowed us to support deliveries to a large contingent of individuals in flex work spaces while also limiting need for added labor to deliver to an increased population” said Merrick Colson, Senior Managing Director of Strategic Accounts at TMG who has overseen two recent installations. 

TMG is the optimal solution to integrate receiving operations with intelligent locker systems.  We’ll continue to hone our services to meet the evolving needs of the modern workplace. 

TMG’s Intelligent Delivery Lockers at a NJ University