26/05/2016

Addressing around the world simply isn’t good enough. 75% of countries suffer from poor or non-existent addressing. And for the 25% who do have a reliable address, packages still go astray, couriers get lost and local businesses can’t be found.

Something needs to be done to make addressing better.

A 3 word solution

what3words is the simplest way to talk about location. It has divided the world into 3m x 3m squares, each with a unique 3 word address. It means that now people can refer to any precise location using just three words.

It’s more accurate than a postal address and more memorable than GPS coordinates. It means people can pinpoint a specific location on the planet and communicate it more quickly and easily than any other method. The system is helping to optimise business, drive social and economic development, and ultimately save lives.

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Coming to a 3m x 3m square near you

Blackbay is a leading provider of mobile enabled solutions for the transport and logistics sector. They offer real-time track-and-trace services, on-the-road routing and scheduling, and help to connect the entire delivery operation, from shipment to customer.

what3words is now fully integrated into Blackbay’s Delivery Connect service. With a 3 word address, items can now be sent to an individual’s precise location, rather than to an address. What that means for customers is packages can be requested to arrive at the specific point they’re required, as opposed to a site office or central delivery point.

Blackbay can also ensure greater accuracy in situations where a postal address is ambiguous or unreliable. Instead of a house name or number, drivers can deliver straight to a unique and accurate 3m x 3m square, anywhere on the planet.

Commenting on the what3words partnership, Nigel Doust, CEO of Blackbay, said, “We’ve gone from waiting by the post box for weeks, to getting pizzas on moving trains. Delivery companies are no longer delivering to an address, but to an individual. With online shopping now second nature, we’re moving to an on-demand economy where a delivery could be required whilst shopping, or whilst visiting the park”.

It’s a revolutionary new way of thinking about delivery and represents a genuine step change for the industry. It’s also one that what3words is uniquely designed to fulfil. By pinpointing locations down to a unique 3m x 3m square on the planet, now anywhere can become your next delivery destination.

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what3words and you

Without a precise addressing infrastructure, delivery and logistics becomes both challenging and costly. Every extra minute spent searching for a residential address, a pick up point or a specific location is time and money that will hit your bottom line.

For affected individuals, the lack of a reliable address means time wasted waiting for couriers to arrive, frustration having to give directions over the phone and, in some cases, packages simply never turning up.

Our partnership with Blackbay is just one of the many ways we’re helping logistics and delivery companies – at a local, national and international level – optimise their operations.