Nova Post periodically holds internal presentations of new developments, where teams show management potential innovations that have already been tested in certain branches or divisions of the company. Some of them will soon be available to a wide range of consumers, so since I had the opportunity to get acquainted with these developments, I will consider the most interesting ones in more detail.
The Invincibility parcel locker
At the beginning of this year, Nova Post had almost 16 thousand postal machines in its network, so most of the logistics operator's users are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of these devices. And the company itself is constantly collecting data on their use, so it was only a matter of time before an update was introduced. Nova Poshta is also well aware of the challenges of today, including the problem of power outages due to Russian attacks on the energy system. Therefore, together with a Ukrainian manufacturer, the company worked on a new Invincibility parcel locker.
It should correct the main shortcomings of the current generation of Nova Post post offices, in particular, the new design has improved the reliability of fastening, the parcel locker will be more difficult to turn over, and its cells will be harder to break out, because the gaps between the doors have been significantly reduced. This has also made it possible to increase the tightness, so there is less chance of water getting into the mailbox.
Existing Nova Post post offices can overheat or freeze and not open the door. The new design should reduce the likelihood of such incidents. For the company itself, it also makes it easier to replace the components of the parcel locker if necessary.
But most importantly, and this is also a plus for most users, the Invincibility parcel lockers will be able to work autonomously for 16 hours thanks to the built-in battery. They also have an adjustable solar panel on their roof, which, under favorable weather conditions, allows for longer battery life.
And since during power outages, Nova Post customers may need to recharge their gadgets, including to pick up a parcel from a post office, in such cases, they can recharge directly from the parcel locker. The body of the post office is equipped with wireless charging cradles and USB ports that support PowerDelivery and QuickCharge 3.0. It can charge 12 devices simultaneously.
At the same time, the Invincibility parcel locker also serves as a Wi-Fi access point, so you can connect to it to access the Internet. However, in the case of long power outages, this function also depends on the backup power supply of operators and providers, so it may not work. Of course, it is very expensive to install Starlink on every post office machine.
Given the number of existing post offices in Nova Post's network, we shouldn't expect them to be replaced soon, but given the number of improvements, the Invincibility post offices will be a great replacement for the previous versions.
Automatic measurement of shipment dimensions
From the point of view of an ordinary Nova Post user, it is not always clear why the company wants to implement changes that will ultimately save only a few seconds per operation. However, on the scale of a large logistics operator, these saved seconds often translate into significant process acceleration, which allows more shipments to be processed and thus higher profits. One of these changes is proposed by the project of automatic measurement of the dimensions and weight of shipments, which should reduce this time from 15 to 5 seconds, as this process is currently mostly done manually.
A special device automatically measures the size of shipments up to 120 cm and their weight if it does not exceed 50 kg.
To do this, you simply place the box with the parcel on the platform, and then the sensors will make all the necessary calculations.
Therefore, Nova Post branches may soon begin to abandon traditional weighing devices and tape measures, at least for smaller shipments.
Self-service at the office
A few years ago, e-commerce giant Amazon began testing the concept of stores where you could simply walk in, pick up the item you wanted from the shelf, and leave. The tracking of what the customer took and the withdrawal of money from their card linked to their Amazon account was automatic. Nova Post had not yet reached this level of automation, and the very concept of a store without Amazon cashiers, as it turned out, still required the involvement of people who remotely confirmed purchases.
But the opportunity to relieve operators and give users more freedom still proved attractive to Nova Post, so the company is now testing a format where you can walk into an office, use a self-service terminal, and simply pick up your parcel from the rack. There is no contact with the office staff.
This approach also allows Nova Post to solve the problem of staff shortages in its offices, which currently reach 20-30%. And some customers seem to be happy to bypass human communication, as according to the results of testing the system at the Kyiv Post Office #26, 37% of its customers are now being served independently. The technology owes this level of adaptation to its simplicity. The user only needs to go to the terminal, scan their code in the Nova Post app or enter their phone number and select the parcel to be picked up, then the system will indicate the number of the rack and shelf from which to pick up the parcel.
There are no doors or locks on the racks, which raises concerns about the safety of other shipments, as someone could maliciously grab not only their own parcel, or simply mix them up. However, the developers of the system say that video surveillance is quite enough for control, and customers, on the contrary, like the trust of the company.
Driver assistance system
On September 20, Supernova Airlines, a member of the NOVA group (Nova Post), conducted a certification flight on its own Boeing 757-200F aircraft, which is expected to start regular commercial cargo transportation in the winter season of 2024-2025. This means that our shipments will soon be able not only to travel, but also to fly on Nova Post's own aircraft. But to get there, they need road transport, and the company uses a lot of trucks and vans of various sizes. Unfortunately, they periodically get into accidents; according to the company, there have been more than 200 of them since the beginning of the year, and the amount of damage amounted to UAH 121 million. And since distracted driving is often the cause of accidents, the company decided to start testing a monitoring system that would improve driving safety.
ADAS (Advanced driver-assistance systems) was installed on some of Nova Post's trucks for testing, consisting of a camera and sensors that record both the situation on the road and in the driver's cab.
In particular, it monitored whether a person was falling asleep at the wheel, snores, smokes, drinks, talks on the phone or otherwise distracts from the road and warned of potential dangers on the road. During the test, according to the Nova Post team that conducted it, the number of cases when drivers were in a dangerous situation decreased by 72%.
Selling packaging
Every month, Nova Post sells about 300,000 boxes in its offices, which are bought both for their own needs and for business when sending purchases. So the company came up with a hypothesis that packaging could be sold as a separate product in the outlets. It has already been tested in two offices, where a special stand and a terminal with a digital assistant were installed to sell boxes and help customers choose the right packaging. The concept proved to work, and Nova Post plans to develop it further, so it should be easier and faster for customers to buy the right packaging.
But not only in offices. Another problem that the company is working to solve is customized packaging for business. Of course, to develop their brands, entrepreneurs want to send goods to customers not just in standard boxes with the Nova Poshta logo, but with their own design. However, for most small businesses, this is a challenge, starting with determining the right size and materials for the packaging and ending with the design and finding the right supplier. That is why Nova Post has already created an MVP version of the portal (minimum viable product), which tests the ability of businesses to order packaging in their own design.
If the focus group testing is successful, entrepreneurs will be able to choose the type and size of the box, its materials, and upload their own design layout to be printed on the surface of the packaging. The entire ordering and payment process will be implemented through a single portal, followed by delivery to the desired Nova Post branch or address. I hope that this project will move from testing to a real service, and that Ukrainian small businesses will also be able to delight their customers with interesting and unique packaging.