WBJ: How is the current international flow of goods like? How have the pandemic and the border restrictions affected deliveries?

Katarzyna Jaeger: Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been observing very high fluctuations in our customers’ volumes. Therefore, it’s essential to focus even more on the flexibility of our services. We serve customers from the automotive industry, among others, who have been heavily affected by the ongoing crisis. But our customers from the food sector experienced peak sales in March. The DIY industry is also doing well. However, the overall market volume is smaller. So far there have been no delays or stoppages in domestic deliveries and warehousing. Only right after border restrictions were imposed, there were huge queues at the borders during the first week, which resulted in prolonged international deliveries. However, our customers were informed about it on a regular basis. Thanks to the cooperation with various institutions, we can safely say that the flow of goods is normal again.

How does Raben – employing a diverse set of employees, including drivers – deal with the organization of work during the pandemic?

A crisis management team was appointed to coordinate activities in all companies of the Group. They monitor the situation and take appropriate actions. In this non-standard situation, we are making every effort to ensure that deliveries are run as safely as possible. For this purpose, we have introduced a number of safety measures, such as temperature checks and disinfectants at the entrances to our facilities, protective gloves and facemasks for our employees and drivers, 30-minute breaks between warehouse shifts, new procedures for drivers staying in the Group premises and additional disinfection of social rooms. Wherever it was necessary, glass or plexiglass barriers were installed in order to minimize personal contact. In our offices, we have introduced a system of remote working. We have switched to electronic communication and virtual meetings.

What has Raben implemented to minimize contact between the consignee and the driver or courier? How does a sender get affected?

In the new reality, the feeling of safety has become particularly important. At the same time, consumers have significantly changed their habits and behaviors. Having in mind the safety of the consignees and in order to keep the recommended distance between people participating in the delivery, we have launched a new service – PCD (Picture Confirming Delivery) – for groupage shipments. It’s a touch-free confirmation form of delivery by using a photo. It’s enough for the customer to enter an order into the myOrder system on the myRaben website in which they confirm the use of the free additional PCD service. Then the driver, while making the delivery, leaves the goods in the place indicated by the consignee and takes three photos: of the label, of the shipment and of the shipment with the label. They confirm the delivery without the need for the consignee to sign it. Thanks to this solution it is possible to keep the appropriate distance between the driver and the consignee. The photos are automatically saved on the driver’s mobile device and processed into a delivery note. The document also records the registration number of the truck, date, time and geographical coordinates of the place where the photos were taken. The customer can immediately see the proof of delivery on the myRaben platform in the myTrack&Trace module. Of course, the consignee can always choose the traditional method of delivery confirmation, i.e. signature on the driver’s mobile device or the transport document.

Is it possible to collect shipments in quarantine? Tell us more.

With the introduction of the PCD, a remote collection is possible even while being quarantined. The service is intended to facilitate the process of delivery also in case a consignee doesn’t want to, or for some reason cannot, confirm the delivery with a signature. This solution enables a completely touch-free delivery, without contact and interaction between a consignee and driver. No signatures or stamps are required. Thanks to the automatic registration of data, not only regarding the appearance of the shipment, but the date, time and place of delivery, and even the registration number of the truck, PCD offers greater certainty to a consignor and consignee that a delivery has been completed. On top of PCD, we have a number of additional services regarding advice and time deliveries that allow us to adapt to the availability of a consignee in the current situation. 

How is it possible to conduct tender processes in contract logistics during the pandemic when the client cannot be invited to a warehouse?

We have adjusted our warehouse processes in terms of the implemented safety precautions. We haven’t yet introduced any restrictions on our operations or the coverage of our transport network, and we don’t have such plans in the nearest future. I believe that the current situation shouldn’t put our activity on hold. On the contrary, we must act to ensure that negative consequences of the current state of affairs are experienced as little as possible by all economic operators. The key issue is to ensure business continuity of every company in the market. After all, each crisis opens up new possibilities. This whole situation doesn’t prevent us from conducting tender processes. Meetings take place in the form of videoconferences. We show potential customers our warehouses in a virtual way. 

How the pandemic caused faster development of e-commerce and how it influenced the change of distribution in some logistics clients from B2B to B2C?

We see many changes in the final consumer’s behavior. A lot of people work remotely, and they rarely go out. Therefore, more often, deliveries are not made to companies or shops, but directly to private homes. It’s especially visible in the DIY market sector, where we recently noticed a very large increase in orders.  Consequently, the number of groupage shipments to end consumers has increased in our network. Even now, when shopping centers are open, we still do not see many people visiting them. This trend will probably stay with us. Our warehousing and transport processes are ready for that. We propose our customers complex solutions both for B2C and B2B logistics.

Why delivery notification is so important during the pandemic? And why is the ETA (estimated time of arrival) solution so important?

Time is money. Thus, information about the delivery time of a shipment becomes invaluable, especially now, when the safety of all people involved in the delivery process is particularly important. Thanks to our innovative shipment monitoring system based on an ETA parameter, we are able to provide an estimated delivery time of a shipment in the form of a two-hour time window. What distinguishes our solution from others in the market is that ours is based on real-time data. In case of the situation which may affect the time of delivery, the system automatically changes the estimated time of delivery and sends updates to the customer. We provide our customers with tools such as ETA and PCD free of charge. We secure the business of our customers regardless of the situation. We want to build their competitive advantage, give them a service better than before, and we strongly believe we can change the market.