You may have noticed those mini-crossword puzzles that have been popping up everywhere recently. On products, posters and even business cards, the 2-dimensional bar code has been picked up by marketers to encourage customers to make the link from the physical world to the digital world by scanning the code. The QR code is currently the best known, but several other formats exist, mostly invented decades ago for applications such as production tracking.
One of these formats, the Data Matrix, has been adapted by Royal Mail for parcel and letter tracking, and is starting make a difference to our logistics world. Royal Mail has asked e-retailers to adopt its 2D barcode and is pushing hard to get them to install special printers to produce coded labels and to apply them to all UK and International Royal Mail parcel services, including parcels and large letter format.
E-fulfilment specialist James and James has developed a new dimension to their business as they have prepared for the roll-out of the new barcode system. There are some clear benefits for e-retailers and their customers through this extension of automated logistics.
E-retail clients will be able to track the delivery status of their consignments automatically through the ControlPort real-time software system developed by James and James. Deliveries taking longer than expected can be flagged up and customers alerted.
The new codes, printed by thermal transfer printing at James and James’ facilities, are highly robust and readable under even adverse conditions. Since October, Royal Mail has begun to scan the 2D barcodes at key points in their network for a practice period to make sure everything is working properly. Any day now, we expect the Royal Mail to make the tracking information available to fulfilment and logistics companies.
Over the long term, Royal Mail will find its performance under more scrutiny as its delivery performance will be trackable over time by monitoring the scanned consignments. At this stage, fulfilment companies will be able to build up their databases on delivery performance and to advise their customers on appropriate lead times to quote to their end customers.
Software such as ControlPort from James and James already provides a highly trackable solution, and the introduction of these 2D codes should give even more information to help expedite and track problems with despatches.
Further information on the introduction of Royal Mail’s new code can be found at: http://www.royalmail.com/barcodeready
More information on James and James is at http://www.ecommercefulfilment.com/