DHL France has gained a sustainable development award for its new city-centre B2B parceldelivery scheme in Paris. Since January, the express operator has been using a network of drop
point machines in central Paris to deliver parcels. Business customers can then collect their goodsat their convenience.The Innovation Prize 2006 in the “sustainable development” category, which was awarded at therecent French transport fair SITL in Paris, was shared with the Paris city authority andConsignity, manufacturer of the self-service parcel machines.
DHL linked up with Consignity in January to launch a pilot scheme which is designed to optimizedistribution in central Paris and to reduce the environmental impact of city-centre deliveryvehicles. Consignity has so far installed 10 parcel machines in city-centre car parks that arepermanently open.
Under the system, DHL delivers the parcel into a customer’s numbered box within the machine,scans in the parcel’s barcode and sends an SMS alert with password code that the parcel can becollected. The customer identifies himself to the machine, enters the password code and collectsthe parcel. The machine is protected with an alarm system.
