Package tracking goes beyond just receiving a shipment on schedule. When a delivery is critical for a project’s completion, it’s not enough to make sure that it arrives to your mail room or receiving bay in a timely manner; you also need to ensure that inbound accountable mail and parcels reach the intended person or department. There is nothing worse than knowing your package arrived to your location but you don’t know where it is. Last mile delivery errors and delays negatively impact your business’s productivity and are a source of unnecessary confusion.
With the right solution of package tracking software and mobile computers you can track every delivery from mail, UPS/FedEx packages and freight deliveries. From the moment a package is delivered, you can track when it arrived, where it is sent and who finally received it all with a chain of accountability and confirmations. Ensure your deliveries arrive on time, every time.
What are the Key Benefits of a Package Tracking System?
A well implemented package tracking system provides the benefits of:
- Speed – Deliver packages faster from the mailroom to where they are needed.
- Accuracy – Reduce errors and miss-placed deliveries.
- Efficiency – Save time spent looking for packages.
- Accountability – Know when packages arrive, where they were sent and who signed for them.
What is Package Tracking?
When packages, parcels, mail or valuable documents arrive at your facility their journey has not quite ended yet when they make to the mailroom or dock. Anything that gets delivered has a final destination to a specific person or department in your business and this “last mile” is the one step you do not want to lose or misplace anything. Especially in the case of overnight or time critical deliveries, getting the package to where it is needed, on time, every time is the goal of any package tracking system.
In a typical application, when the package is delivered to your mailroom or dock it will first be entered into the package tracking application. If the package already has a tracking number you will be able to scan the barcode on the delivery label to uniquely indentify it. In the cases where there is no existing tracking number the tracking software will generate one. Additional features of the package are recorded as well like its recipient, temporary storage location, delivery date, package type, etc…
Once in the system you can then deliver the package to its final destination. You would first send all your delivery information to your mobile computer sorted by receive date, package ID and recipient name/location. You can instantly find all packages going to a particular recipient to avoid any mistaken deliveries. Upon delivering the package, the recipient signs for it to verify it was delivered to the correct person and in good condition. You can capture the signature on the screen of the mobile computer as well as print a receipt if required.
After all packages are delivered you will have a searchable chain of transactions to know exactly where every package is. Each step of the package delivery process is time stamped with the captured signature of the final delivery and even an e-mail confirmation in some applications. In the cases that something is lost or undelivered you will have an accurate record that is easy to produce reports of where exactly the package is and who is accountable for it.
What Should You Address When Making a Package Tracking System?
When putting together an effective and suitable package tracking system there are a few key questions to answer:
- How many packages do you receive daily?
- What type of shipments are you receiving?
- Will the shipments have tracking numbers or will you need to generate your own internal numbers?
- Will you require a signature capture on final delivery? A printed receipt?
- Do you need email confirmations on delivery?
- How many users will you have?
- Do you need integration with an accounting or inventory system?
What are the Components of a Package Tracking System?
All package tracking systems consist of 2 core components:
- Package Tracking Software – From taking in deliveries to the final delivery scan, the package tracking application will log and create a system of accountability for all packages entering your facility. Support for multiple mailrooms or docks, email notifications and receipt printing are features to consider when choosing the right application.
- Mobile Computers – A mobile computer allows you to scan incoming deliveries immediately into your tracking application. Once received, the mobile computer serves as the means to capture a signature and a final delivery scan when the package is sent to its final destination.
