Ensuring employees have the equipment they need, when they need it has always been a challenge, even when everyone was in the same office. Logging faults, organising deliveries and ensuring everything got to the right person can be highly inefficient at the best of times. But especially when employees are spread out and not in the office all the time.
Whether employees are back in the office full-time or you’re adopting a more hybrid model, installing Smart Locker solutions can help you optimise your supply chain, particularly when it comes to the ‘last mile’ delivery to employees that can be the most challenging.
In this guide we’ll run you through how a smart locker solution can optimise the modern supply chain.
Supplying devices and equipment
The delivery of equipment, especially IT equipment has always been a convoluted process in any business, and is arguably more so now when employees aren’t necessarily working from an office full-time. Equipment is often simply dropped off, not set up and employees can waste a day then setting up their laptop or equipment before ever starting work.
Now, when they’re not even working from an office, the delivery of equipment becomes even more complicated if you’re expecting an employee to be around to accept the equipment. With Smart Lockers, you can do away with much of the convoluted management process that comes with delivering equipment.
Instead, the equipment can simply be dropped off at a designated locker close to an employee, for them to collect when it’s convenient. Equipment can be set up before being delivered and you can trace the delivery and collection of an item based on the personal ID assigned to the locker and delivery.
Secure ‘last mile’ delivery
The last mile is often the most challenging part of the supply chain. Whether delivering IT or office equipment or essential machine parts, this last mile has a number of challenges and potential problems. The delivery itself may not be logged properly so those who need to know about a delivery won’t be notified. The item itself could be misplaced after delivery (which is typical when delivering to an office reception)
Or if you’re delivering to an employee’s home, what if they’re not in and the item either has to be left in a safe space or with a neighbour or returned and dispatched again.
With Smart Lockers all equipment can be delivered to a safe and secure location with the delivery logged automatically on delivery (with notifications going to the employee that the item is available) and then another confirmation once the item has been collected. This way you have a transparent process and no concerns about equipment being lost.
Improving delivery conditions and item integrity
When we’re talking about the supply chain, it’s not just IT equipment or machine parts. It could be medicine or other packages that could lose their integrity and usability the longer they’re left out of optimal conditions.
Again smart lockers can help with this because they’re equipped with monitoring technology that can constantly assess the conditions within individual lockers to ensure they remain at optimal levels for the items being delivered.
For example, when delivering medicine, a locker could be remotely set to the conditions needed to securely store medicine, so when a package is delivered, the item moves directly into an environment where it won’t degrade over time.
This not only improves the efficiency of product delivery and storage but can save thousands of pounds by reducing the number of products lost to incorrect storage.
Create an always-on supply chain
One of the biggest challenges with any supply chain is time, and ensuring items get where they need to be when they need to be there. But for the end-user, this can create a rigid, highly inconvenient process when employees are being asked to wait around in a given location for hours.
Smart lockers can provide a 24/7 ‘always on’ supply chain because items can be delivered to a locker, and employees simply get a notification that their item is ready for pick-up. If an employee is working remotely it means they won’t be locked at home all day waiting for a delivery, and can simply pick an item up when it’s convenient.
For deliveries too, it reduces the pressures and costs of trying to deliver items within a specific time because Smart Lockers can be accessed 24/7 with a simple personal ID or card. Smart Lockers can help streamline the supply chain to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Smart Lockers have the ability to completely transform the modern supply chain and make the delivery and collection of essential items and equipment a more streamlined and cost-effective process. We’ve created a complete and proven methodology for delivering and rolling out a Smart Locker solution for any business in a number of easy to follow steps.
With our guide and expert insight on creating a delivery framework for your Smart Locker to deliver the solution, you’ll find the process simple and straightforward so you can make the deployment of Smart Lockers in your business a success.