Nova Poshta organized a day for journalists to show off the technologies they are still working on (most of them
Mobile branch of New mail in a container
We have already written about this new product - mobileNew Post office in a cargo container. It fits inside a standard BDF container that the company already uses. The deployment time of this department is 5-10 minutes, productivity is 10,000 parcels per month. It is relatively easy to load on a truck, move and roll/unfold. It is understood that such branches can operate as temporary ones (for example, in case of repairs to the branch), as well as the creation of temporary branches during festivals, concerts or events. There is also the option of using it in resort areas (coastal or mountainous), where its presence is not required throughout the year.
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
Video demonstrating mobile branch deployment:
And so it is transported.By the way, on the basis of the BDF container, Novaya Poshta plans to create not only its own branches, but also a fully automated mobile depot (more on that below) or an automatic parcel sorting station using warehouse robots.
Poshtomat Roboks for receiving parcels
We are all already accustomed to vandal-proof parcel terminalscabinets with cells for receiving parcels without human intervention, now Nova Poshta is preparing not only to issue, but also to receive parcels without human intervention. For this purpose, a special parcel machine has been created with the ability to determine the weight and dimensions of the parcel, and then calculate the cost of the shipment. Everything can be done, including payment, in the Nova Poshta application. The parcel machine was developed by Kapelou and allows you to place 176 parcel lockers in an area of 2 square meters.
</ img>
</ img>
Mini depot without people for automatic sorting
The same automatic depot with Ukrainianrobots Deus Robots, created with the participation of the Ukrainian company InterCargoTruck. It is also housed in a standard BDF container, which allows it to be quickly deployed in urban environments. Such a depot can handle 2,000 parcels and can sort parcels in up to 100 directions (presumably, these will be sorting terminals, after which the parcels will be sent to the recipient). And this is a separate project, not related to the city mini-depot (with a platform for a drone, a department for staff, racks for parcels and a post office), which was shown earlier. This type of mini-depot was created with the participation of the MokAvto company.
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
Yaskawa robotic arm
According to top managers of Nova Poshta, such a robotwill allow you to close the last link in the logistics chain where a person is needed. The cost of such a robot from the Japanese company Yaskawa ranges from 40 to 120 thousand dollars. The company Kapelou is adapting it, but the software for this arm (the model is called MOTOMAN GP7, it is a robotic arm with 6 axes of action, capable of lifting loads up to 5 kilograms) is written inside Nova Poshta. It can be used in departments for issuing parcels, or in sorting terminals for laying out on a moving conveyor line.
</ img>
</ img>
Video of this robotic arm in action. The company says that this is 5% of its operating speed - specifically for demonstration.
Recognition of employee movements
New Post plans to use technologycomputer vision powered by Intel RealSense to analyze and count their actions. Collecting such data allows you to find weak points in the chain of actions and optimize work, the goal of which is to speed up delivery and reduce delays and costs.
</ img>
</ img>
Satellite receiver for containers
And this is the thing thanks to which we can alltrack the movement of your parcel in the New Mail application in real time. The model is called Reach RS2 and allows you to track the container in which the parcels travel with an accuracy of up to 50 centimeters. This technology, as we all know, is already widely used by Nova Poshta.
</ img>
Robot for automatic delivery of parcels
In front of you, apparently, a very early prototypea robot for automatic delivery of parcels in branches. His task is to take a parcel from the cell and send it to the customer's delivery table. I won’t be surprised if in a couple of years we will already see them in Nova Poshta branches, which will further reduce the time for issuing the parcel and reduce the human factor. Such a robot always acts flawlessly and does not look for the desired cell with the parcel, but immediately knows where it is.
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
Video demonstration of work. So far, it still looks like Novaya Poshta is still at the very beginning of the development of such a robot.
Universal chip for couriers
And this is completely.not rocket science, but a thing that greatly facilitates the work of couriers serving parcel lockers in apartment buildings. Everyone knows that you can get into the entrance of a residential building only with the help of an NFC key fob, and each entrance has its own one. Such a device allows you to remotely reprogram the key fob for a short period of time, sufficient to service the locker at the entrance and replaces a bunch of key fobs that couriers are now forced to carry with them.
</ img>
</ img>
Lidar for automatic measurement of package dimensions
The leader, working in conjunction with RealSense, allows you to quickly determine the dimensions of the package. Apparently, he (or his analogues) will stand in the automated mini-depot for receiving parcels.
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
Sensors and bracelets for Nova Poshta employees
And this is just a technology that could not help but cause the editors gg Issues related to employee surveillance(in business there is a term “sabotage from below”, when employees do not like the company’s actions towards them). Special bracelets (the second of them is a regular Mi Band, by the way) allow you to track in real time (special sensors are installed in the terminal to track the Mi Band) the movements of employees in the terminal. We received an answer to a logical question from the managers of Nova Poshta: our goal is to make work more comfortable and efficient. “People shouldn’t sweat” (literal quote) while working, that is, in simple terms, they shouldn’t “rush” while trying to do their job. A study of employee movements within the terminal should identify opportunities to optimize work (and, as a result, speed up delivery).
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
Terminal Laser Scanner
Finally, on the territory of KIT (the so-calledKiev terminal of the New Post, And in the name it means “innovative”) several years have passed since our first visit, and it is impossible not to notice how upset it has become (they launched new lines, they are mastering the space of the second and even third “floor”). To speed up sorting, a laser scanner is used to instantly determine the size of parcels.
</ img>
This is how the sorting line of Nova Poshta in KIT works today:
Zebra cameras to optimize container loading
13 KIT ramps already use specialcameras (in the third photo there is a white box at the top) analyzing the loading of the container. According to Nova Poshta employees, they allow you to increase container loading by 5-8%, helping to optimize the space inside the BDF container. In general, the monstrousness of all the structures inside the terminal is truly impressive. According to the company's managers, their goal is to reach the level of processing 72,000 parcels per hour, which not every logistics terminal in the world can boast of.
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
</ img>
Automatic sorting of small parcels
They are testing in KIT (in any case, parcels fortape we saw), a new system with automatic sorting of small parcels. Each such robot on the line consists of two independent parts (with a platform for the parcel) and can stop in front of the container (they are blue) and unload the parcel into it. At the same time, the robot, of course, stops, and all the robots behind it too. But then they pick up speed again.
</ img>
How fast these robots rush on the line can be seen in the video:
In the dry residue
New Post continues to not only develop, butand invest in infrastructure development (plans for 2022 - 5 billion hryvnia, an unthinkable amount). But what is even more impressive and pleasing is the constant investment in IT projects and automation. New Post today, along with, for example, Privatbank, is one of the engines of the economy, performing a vital function, because logistics (movement of goods) is the lifeblood of the entire economy. And all this, contrary to speculation and misconceptions, is not being done in order to raise delivery rates and retain employees, but exactly the opposite - to make delivery efficient (that is, reduce its cost) and faster. And automation and collection of statistics from the wrist devices of company employees should not complicate people’s work (remember - employees “shouldn’t sweat”?), but make their work more comfortable by eliminating or reducing the amount of meaningless work (including that associated with moving around a huge terminal) . All for the sake of two things - reducing delivery time and reducing operational costs for delivery.
P.S.The company has not yet said anything specific about the timing of the launch of all this in general (and delivery by drones in particular), but so far it has been confirmed that 4 PD-1 drones from Ukrspetssystems are already in production. And these are production models, not prototypes.
For those who want to know more
- Inside KIT: how the most advanced sorting terminal of New Mail works
- Why does New Post need drones, robots and electric cars, and when will they start delivering parcels
- New Post launches its own airline
- Drone Delivery: Myth or Reality?
- Novaya Pochta sent a drone with parcels from Kyiv to Lviv and plans to be the first in Ukraine to launch a commercial service for such delivery (reportage)