Published on the 05/10/2009 | Written by Newsdesk
The national courier is now 20 years old and still keen to innovate. Its locally developed automated sorting technology has increased parcel-sorting capacity by a whopping 600 percent, it says…
CourierPost, which celebrates 20 years in the post business tomorrow, October 9, is also flagging its new green, technologically advanced east Auckland operations centre.
The $50 million centre boasts Kiwi-developed automated parcel-sorting technology that has upped capacity by 600 percent, says CEO Mark Gibson.
“This new facility is already influencing the direction of the New Zealand courier industry and, with a focus on continued development, will future-proof our organisation for years to come,” says Gibson, CEO of Express Couriers, the company’s parent.
He says much of the software developed around the facility, which officially opened in April, has been purpose-built. “It wasn’t a case of simply adapting tried and tested material; New Zealand is a geographically unique and highly competitive market with its own set of specific requirements, so more than a little Kiwi ingenuity went into the development process.”
More than 70% of CourierPost’s total freight is now processed at the centre.
The company also pioneered the introduction of Track & Trace technology in 1991 and owner/driver couriers in 1992, both of which have since become industry standards. The new sorting technology will help productivity further, by streamlining parcel-sorting and delivery times, and improving business efficiency.
Established by New Zealand Post, CourierPost was set up on the back of the Post Parcels branches in 1989, with a fleet of 170 couriers. Courier numbers have since increased more than 400 percent, to 700, working from 23 branches across the country. The company has a total workforce of more than 1,500.
