Deadline Express gets visibility with Blackbay

Although it had some mobility solutions in place, couriers Deadline Express were still being slowed down by manual process and a lack of real time information...

Deadline Express is a leading provider of express and time-guaranteed courier services throughout New Zealand's North Island.

The business has established itself as a market leader, built around its commitment to consistent on time delivery, best of breed technology and superior customer service. There were some aspects of its operation, however, that were not what they could be.

For example, although Deadline’s drivers were receiving jobs on mobile data terminals, they were then completing in excess of 50 jobs per day by hand. Drivers were required to write job information and collect proof of delivery manually. This information was delivered to office staff who would then manually input the information into the system.

The amount of paperwork required for each job was not only causing inaccuracies for the office, but it was also affecting Deadline’s ability to provide accurate real-time information to their customers. Deadline’s drivers were also reliant on trunk mobile radio for communication with the office which was very slow and struggled to handle the volume of jobs each day. The coverage was also inadequate Deadline's increasing customer demands.”

In order to meet this customer demand and gain other operational efficiencies, Deadline identified the need for a scaleable mobility solution that could manage transactions electronically and provide real time accurate information to and from the field.

It also required a solution that could be easily adopted by its drivers.

“We have a lot of different abilities within the fleet,” says Deadline Express's Jenny Callagher, “and we needed the solution to be functional for those with limited knowledge of IT and handheld devices. After an intensive search for the right mobile solutions specialist, Deadline engaged Blackbay and the Delivery Connect solution.

“Blackbay already had a proven product in the market, they also had an excellent understanding of the industry,” Callagher says.

Working through the Blackbay formalised process of scoping and specifying the project, an agreed configuration of the Delivery Connect product was achieved, specifically tailoring Delivery Connect to fit the Deadline Express business process.

The functionality of the system enabled Deadline to track packages from dispatch to delivery, immediately provide updates to customer records and enable instant visibility of job status via the Deadline Express website.

“The ability to provide real-time Proof of Delivery has been a strong point of difference for us in the market,” says Callagher.

Delivery results
The Delivery Connect solution has enabled the automation of many of the standard point to point courier functions including:

• Job dispatch
• Job proof of delivery
• Point to multi point tracking
• Returns tracking
• Delivery failure tracking
• Courier handovers or swaps

As a result, Deadline Express has now gained visibility of all the activities that are carried out in the field in close to real time, improving efficiency by reducing minutes and hours of previously time-consuming processes.

“The Blackbay solution has helped us improve visibility of our staff and our deliveries,” says Callagher, “with accurate and real-time transfer of data to our drivers in the field.”

It has also provided Deadline the ability to see job information in real-time including proof of delivery (POD) and signature capture. “We have had great feedback from our team about the Delivery Connect solution,” Callagher says.

“Our administrative staff have benefited from the improved speed and accuracy of information and our drivers are more efficient as dispatch now has the ability to assign jobs based on skill, location and availability.”

Blackbay have a “great understanding” of the courier industry, says Callagher, which made the process almost seamless.

“We intend on working with Blackbay well in to the future and  have already engaged in plans for continued enhancement of the Deadline Blackbay solution. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the solution to other businesses.”

For more information
Blackbay Australia Ltd
Email: kate.kinraid@blackbay.com.au
Mobile: + 61 400 18 19 50
Website: www.blackbay.com

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