Royal Mail becomes world's first delivery company to use tech innovator Wiliot's digital tags to boost efficiency and cut carbon

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Oct 30, 2024, 05:00 ET

Royal Mail is the first delivery company in the world to use Wiliot's innovative tracking solution to continue to modernise its network
The company has tagged its 850,000 wheeled containers with Wiliot's tiny computers that look like stickers, which allow them to transmit live data on location as well as humidity and temperature as they are transported around the country
This data will provide unprecedented insight into the journey of parcels, improve reliability and help reduce carbon emissions by optimising vehicle use

LONDON, Oct. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Mail has partnered with tech innovator Wiliot to transform the way it tracks items travelling through its network, using breakthrough digital tagging to provide unprecedented visibility.

As well as improving efficiency and reliability, this will help the company on its target of being Net-Zero by 2040 by optimising vehicle use depending on volume and reducing overall fuel use.

Royal Mail is about to complete tagging its 850,000 containers, called Yorks, which are used to transport customers' parcels and letters around the country, and has plans to use the digital tags on individual parcels in future.

Wiliot's sticker-like tags house tiny computers that are automatically detected by nearby Bluetooth devices as they travel through the network, removing the need for manual scanning and providing real-time feedback on location. The tags can also monitor environmental factors including temperature and humidity.

Installing the technology is part of Royal Mail's digital transformation as it modernises its network for the current day demands, including increased parcel volumes and demand for next day deliveries.

The continuous monitoring is made possible thanks to Wiliot's use of 'ambient technology,' which powers the computers using surrounding radio waves and means they can provide constant feedback to a cloud and AI based data platform.

As parcels travel between 37 mail centres, two automated parcel hubs and 1,200 delivery offices, via a vast network of vehicles, the tags create a live digital map of their journeys. This provides Royal Mail with unparalleled insight to address any issues and optimise its network.

In the future, Royal Mail plans to tag individual parcels, which will provide monitoring with even more precision and granular data on CO2e per parcel.

Nathan Preston, Tech Director for Strategy, Innovation & Data at Royal Mail, said: "Data led modernisation is an important part of our strategy to improve the effectiveness of our operation and make it as efficient and customer focussed as possible. We are excited to be the first postal company in the world to be using Wiliot's innovative technology.

"It has huge potential, from increasing reliability by allowing us to quickly spot and address any issues in the network, to reducing our carbon footprint by helping us to better fill our vehicles to avoid wasted journeys. Combining Wiliot data with other sources, we can more efficiently monitor the items in our network, without the need for any additional manual scanning."

Tal Tamir, Wiliot's CEO, said: "Royal Mail's heritage is well established and very rich. The significance of being central to its digital transformation mission is not lost on us. Through our platform, we're able to provide complete visibility across the supply chain, giving organisations young and old the tools they need to deliver faster, safer and more environmentally sustainable services and solutions."

For more information on Royal Mail, click here. For more information on Wiliot, click here.

For hi-res imagery, click here. To view the deployment video, click here.

Notes to Editors:

About International Distribution Services plc

International Distribution Service plc is the parent company of Royal Mail Group Limited, the leading provider of postal and delivery services in the UK and the UK's designated universal postal service provider. Royal Mail comprises the company's UK and international parcels and letters delivery businesses operating under the "Royal Mail" and "Parcelforce Worldwide" brands. Through the Royal Mail Core Network, the company delivers a one-price-goes-anywhere service on a range of parcels and letters products. Royal Mail has the capability to deliver to around 32 million addresses in the UK, six days a week (excluding UK public holidays). Parcelforce Worldwide operates a separate UK network which collects and delivers express parcels. International Distribution Services plc also owns General Logistics Systems (GLS) which operates one of the largest ground-based, deferred parcel delivery networks in Europe.

About Wiliot

Wiliot is an ambient IoT data carrier platform. Their Ambient Data Platform connects the digital and physical worlds using IoT Pixels, battery free smart tags that push data to the cloud in real-time without human intervention. This platform exists within a fast-growing ambient IoT ecosystem, with partners in that ecosystem that provide tags and edge devices.

Ambient IoT is an evolution of legacy IoT and RFID technologies with lower costs, end-to-end privacy and security, and the addition of new intelligence and sensing capabilities. It's on a path to scaling to trillions thanks to telecommunications standards - Bluetooth, 5G Advanced, and Wi-Fi 8 - 802.11bp.

Wiliot's mission is to make every single thing an agent of change, by adding intelligence and automation to food, apparel, packaging, pharmaceuticals, and other products.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2543937/Royal_Mail_Logo.jpg