27/09/2017

Danish postal solutions provider Lyngsoe Systems and what3words have developed a new solution that can scan 3 word addresses. The solution has been integrated into Lyngsoe Systems’ Manual Image Capturing Stations (MICS), and is being demoed at Geneva’s PostExpo (26-28 September).

3 word addresses follow a consistent word.word.word format and are optimised for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanning.

‘The impact of 3 word addresses on last mile deliveries is clear, and we believe they can increase efficiency in other, less visible parts of the process, like mail-sorting’ said Chris Sheldrick, CEO and co-founder of what3words. ‘Manually sorting mail is expensive and resource-intensive for postal services. With what3words and Lyngsoe, this process can be optimised in order to save time and money, meet customers’ delivery expectations, and improve the quality of their service.’

With eight national postal services already having adopted what3words, 3 word addresses are fast becoming an addressing standard. Global logistics giant Aramex has also integrated what3words to provide better customer service and improve deliveries to poorly addressed areas. In a recent test pitting 3 word addresses against regular street addresses, London-based on-demand courier service Quiqup found that using 3 word addresses reduced overall delivery time by an incredible 30% .

Cross-border e-commerce has led to an increase of poorly addressed parcels that have to be processed by postal services. 3 word addresses provide a standardised addressing format for every country in the world, removing the risk of error and allowing postal services, and entire countries, to take full advantage of the e-commerce boom.

Lyngsoe Systems’ MICS camera can now scan 3 word addresses printed on envelopes or parcels and assign them to the correct bin. The sorting bins are predefined by each postal operator, allowing for a completely tailored solution. The system is very cost efficient: it is quick to implement, simple, flexible, intuitive, requires limited training of staff, and can capture and sort 3 word addresses.