DPD & Mercedes-Benz +15% delivery efficiency with what3words
Mercedes-Benz and DPD carried out a delivery test using what3words addresses that resulted in a 15% efficiency gain.
When couriers deliver packages to street addresses, they often don’t end up exactly where they need to be. Addresses are inaccurate, can cover large areas, and can take months to be registered for new buildings. Street addresses for large sites like factories or industrial estates rarely point to the delivery entrance, and drivers waste time looking for the right drop-off locations. It’s frustrating, wastes time and fuel, and leads to a poor customer experience due to late or missed deliveries.
what3words makes it easy to deliver to precise locations
Every 3m square in the world has been given a unique combination of three words: a what3words address. For example, you can find DPD Germany’s HQ at /// fascinates.tacking.barn in Aschaffenburg, and Mercedes-Benz’s manufacturing plant entrance at /// match.tokens.spokes in Stuttgart.
With a what3words address, delivery drivers know exactly where to drop off a package and don’t waste time looking for the right entrance. what3words addresses can be entered directly into the innovative MBUX infotainment system, available in the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans used by DPD.
Mercedes-Benz, DPD and what3words carried out a test to determine how using what3words addresses impacts delivery efficiency.
The delivery test
Two DPD delivery experts, driving identical Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans equipped with MBUX, delivered around 50 packages to the same locations near Nagold, Germany. The route was based on a real DPD route, and the locations included homes, businesses and industrial estates.
Neither driver was familiar with the area. One used regular street addresses to navigate to drop-off points, while the other was supplied with two what3words addresses per delivery: one for the optimal parking spot, and one for the exact handover point.
Watch the delivery test video below
The results
Using what3words resulted in an efficiency gain of around 15%, with the driver who used what3words finishing his run more than 30 minutes before his colleague.
Having a what3words address for the optimal parking spot reduced driving time and accounted for 80% of that efficiency gain. The remaining 20% gain came from having the what3words address for the precise handover point, which helped reduce the time the driver spent on foot.
‘The test has shown that the system is a big improvement especially for new drivers and those that have to work in an unfamiliar delivery area. It also removes a lot of stress from the driver and makes his job much easier. In times when the number of packages is continuously increasing, there is a clear competitive advantage’ said Steffen Raiber, Manager Industry Management CEP & Logistics at Mercedes-Benz Vans.
Find out more about what3words for logistics and the benefits of adding what3words to infotainment system
