Berlin, July 5, 2022 - When the day begins, the newspaper is in the mailbox - modern subscription models, individual delivery requests, high quality expectations, and intense competition for reliable employees pose major challenges for publishers in their core business today.
With its smartphone app "Digital Delivery Book," German Autolabs now offers a solution that enables publishers to digitize traditional, manual delivery work steps. This makes processes more efficient, more flexible, more transparent and thus fit for new business models, such as letter and parcel delivery by publishing logistics. The app was developed jointly with the logistics division of Südwestdeutsche Medienholding (SWMH).
The app was specially developed for last-mile delivery and, in addition to daily delivery information, a map view with destination guidance and optimized delivery documentation, also features proactive voice assistance. This guides the driver through the delivery area and announces important delivery information in German or English at the right moment. Delivery staff can report problems directly to internal logistics dispatchers and reader service by voice input. Even newcomers to the job can be fully operational in no time at all and find their way around the delivery district more easily. Special functions such as adjusting the aisle sequence, combining deliveries in neighboring houses, and cross-district route calculation are real work-savers for experienced delivery professionals.
German Autolabs was able to win Südwestdeutsche Medienholding (SWMH) as its first customer. Following a convincing test run under real conditions, the company will now gradually equip its delivery staff with the "Digital Delivery Book" app.
Even during the four-week field test in Munich, the full potential of the app became apparent in the publisher's day-to-day operations. The previously printed delivery books and delivery bills with delivery instructions, such as vacation interruptions, were no longer needed, and the majority of delivery staff (83 percent) actively used the built-in voice control. Delivery cancellations due to outdated information were reduced by 13 percent and customer service complaints by ten percent. In addition, job starters were fully operational three times faster thanks to the app.
"The digital delivery book is an important building block in the digitalization of the logistics value chain, which is why we are now starting the phased rollout in the Group," says Jürgen Baldewein, Managing Director of SWMH Logistik GmbH. "In addition to flexibility and responsiveness in our processes, we also see better employee retention and ultimately higher customer satisfaction as a result of this modern working tool."
"Across Germany, more than 300 daily newspapers with a circulation of around 10 million copies are distributed on weekdays, and around 150,000 people work in delivery," adds Holger G. Weiss, managing director, co-founder and CEO at German Autolabs. "This shows the great potential of our application, where we bring all our experience in optimizing mobile workforce workflows through voice assistance."
