Parcel lockers company KEBA has won a €4 million contract to deliver up to 400 self-service ‘pick-up’ terminals to Austrian Post by 2016 and has installed the first machines for customer use.
Austrian Post said today it was investing the sum to improve service for customers byenabling them to pick up parcels, large format letters or registered mail from machines installedin ‘self-service zones’ within post offices. The first ‘KePol LS’ terminals have been installed inVienna, Krems and Graz, and about 70 are due to be installed by the end of this year.
At present, Austrians can use self-service zones in more than 100 post offices across thecountry to send letters, parcels and registered mail via smaller drop-off boxes. The postaloperator is already in the process of installing standalone ‘Post 24’ terminals for parcelcollection and returns at various locations across the country.
Peter Umundum, Austrian Post board member for parcels and logistics, said: “I am not onlydelighted by the fact that we will thus be able to further raise the standard of our customerservices, but also that this investment of around €4 million can boost the domestic economy. KEBAis an experienced partner and we have long admired the top quality of its products.”
If recipients are not at home when the post is delivered, then a barcoded ‘not at home’ cardwill be left in the person’s postbox and the item will be deposited at the nearest post office ‘self-service’ terminal. The customer can then collect the item at a convenient time by using thebarcode to open the terminal compartment containing his or her item.
KEBA said the KePol LS system was specifically designed for indoor applications, e.g.self-service zones, shopping centres and post shops and was therefore ideal for Austrian Post’sself-service branches. The KePol LS combined all the advantages of the ‘KePol’ outdoor version,such as top quality, maximum availability, complete modularity and security, and in addition hadbeen specially customised, the manufacturer explained.
KEBA won a contract earlier this year to supply an initial 40 ‘MyPost24’ parcel terminals toSwiss Post. The company has so far installed more than 3,000 parcel machines, mostly in Germanywhere they operate as ‘DHL Packstations’ while the rest have been installed in various othercountries in Europe and worldwide.
