ByBox

Increasing productivity by reviewing traditional supply chain operations and outsourcing more warehousing functions can save companies with a mobile workforce thousands of pounds a week.

ByBox, the UK's leading market leading supply chain solution specialist, has revealed that integrating its services into its clients' operations has enabled them to save significant sums on stock holding, transportation costs, outgoings relating to stock holding such as warehousing and offices, and personnel costs due to decreased warehousing needs.

By analysing a number of recent projects for clients where they have helped modernise operational practices, increase productivity and lower overheads on outgoings, ByBox believes it could save up to 20,000 man hours per week across its customer base - or more than 1 million hours per year.

Equating that to a cost of £50 an hour for a customer's engineer in the field, could result in more than £50 million being added to the bottom line of its customers each year.

ByBox operates with an unrivalled network of more than 18,000 secure drop-boxes at over 1,200 locations across the UK. It guarantees a pre-8am service for clients, ensuring their goods are delivered to the prescribed location in time for employees - often field operatives like engineers and salesmen - to collect them and get on with appointments rather than losing time waiting around for deliveries of vital parts and stock to arrive.

"Through working closely with our clients, getting under their skin as it were, to find out exactly how they operate, we can help identify where time and efficiency savings can be made in relation to stock holding and the order and distribution process," said ByBox European Managing Director, Mark Garritt.

"We are looking to save time for engineers or members of a sales team out in the field as well as increase overall productivity for a firm. Research we have done already through a number of recent projects of this nature has shown there are huge savings to be made through working with ByBox in this way, making the most of the services we can offer and allowing a client to cut back on some of their own operations. The investment pays for itself quickly. However, while we can help give the time back to a business, we cannot guarantee how that time is used to best effect."

The UK's home delivery market is on the cusp of being transformed by an innovative market-leading company.

ByBox has launched a stand alone service that will eliminate the frustration of customers waiting for products to be delivered to their home address, leaving traditional methods of delivery stuck well and truly in the slow lane.

Customers using 'myByBox' will have complete control of the delivery process by placing an order on any online delivery site and rather than putting in their home address for delivery, simply input the ByBox hub details.

Their products will subsequently be delivered directly to the high-tech ByBox dropbox which is located nearest to them. A unique reference number will ensure total security and customers will receive a text alert to say their products have been delivered.

Customers can then go to their box at their convenience, enter an access code and retrieve their goods.

Experts at ByBox said the service will provide the antidote to the frustration encountered by thousands of consumers often having to take a half day or full day off work to wait for products to be delivered to their homes.

Stuart Miller, Chief Executive of ByBox, said: "myByBox is truly innovative in that it gives customers total flexibility, convenience and ownership of the whole delivery and collection of goods process.

"Our quick and secure consumer service is a hugely significant development in the transportation of goods and will bring the curtain down on years of customer frustration and inconvenience associated with waiting for home deliveries."

ByBox has entered into an agreement with Network Rail to create a unique delivery solution which will change the face of home delivery for London commuters.

The initiative marks yet another chapter in the ByBox distribution revolution further demonstrating the innovative nature of the business and follows the company's announcement towards the end of last year of its move into the consumer online delivery market.

Banks of boxes will be sited at Victoria Station which attracts commuters daily. Gone will be the days where individuals working in the City have to take time off to wait for home deliveries as they will now be able to opt to collect their purchases from the station as they travel home from work without delay or fuss.

The first box has been installed this month and it is planned to roll out further box banks to other Network Rail stations in and around London and across the UK by the end of 2009.

The boxes are high tech and totally secure. The aim of the initiative is to offer the service to a consumer friendly location, such as Victoria Station, enabling consumers to easily integrate the process of collecting goods into their daily lives and so increase the degree of convenience it offers.

When a consumer orders goods and selects the ByBox delivery option they can opt for delivery into the box sited at Victoria Station.

Once picked and packed, ByBox collects the goods from the retailer, transports them through its network and delivers them into the selected box.

Customers will receive notification that the goods are ready for collection by email or text message, along with the security code they will need to open the box. They then go to the box, enter the access code and retrieve their goods.

It's as simple as that, but with the benefit of being able to choose when to receive the goods. Not only does this eliminate the need to take time off work or waste time at home waiting for deliveries, it also has green connotations as well as it reduces the number of delivery vans on the road during the day and congestion as they are trying to deliver goods, usually in peak time, on more than one occasion.

Stuart Miller, Chief Executive of ByBox commented: "This is a hugely exciting development and one which we have been working long and hard with Network Rail to achieve.

"There is no doubt that this delivery option via our banks of boxes at Victoria Station will have a major impact on the lives of commuters as the service becomes more widely embraced by retailers and consumers alike."