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Global transport and logistics solutions provider DSV has completed a pilot of Destiny’s digital pen and paper data capture technology in the UK.
The company was keen to deliver instant track and trace information for all its international consignments, and as a member of Palletline was also required to produce an electronic proof of delivery for each consignment.
Now, for each new consignment a form is printed at the local depot combining all the job delivery details with a unique embedded Anoto digital dot pattern. This pattern is sourced online in seconds from Destiny’s servers. When the driver makes the delivery the customer signs the form and prints their name using a digital pen, as well as adding any other written amendments.
The driver then ticks a send box to transmit the data on the form via a Bluetooth mobile phone back to Destiny’s servers. The job is then identified via the unique pen ID and dot pattern, and the pen strokes are processed and married up with the consignment details to recreate both a graphical image of the original form and a data file. These files are then instantly delivered to DSV’s FTP site, and also where relevant to Palletline, where delivery track and trace systems are automatically updated. The whole process takes less than a minute giving the depot manager and administrators a real-time view.
Destiny created the initial solution for DSV in four weeks and following the pilot, which involved 130 drivers, the system has now been rolled out to the company’s 20 plus UK depots and 700 drivers.
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Rene Falch Olesen, managing director of DSV UK, says: “The digital pen was the one solution that was easy to understand and easy to roll out to our drivers – with big savings in time and cost of service. It’s now a key part of providing full track and trace visibility.”
According to Destiny the digital pen can be operated at around ten per cent of the cost of a PDA and, based on pen usage in the case of DSV, the return on investment is less than six months. DSV now expects to roll out the system in at least five more countries by the end of 2009.
