What is Courier?
Courier companies used transportation as they’re main business. The basic definition of "courier" is simply someone who delivers something from one place to another place. A courier is a messenger, conveying something of importance from the sending source to the receiving source. They provide services to companies and individuals who need rapid service, accountability, and tracking that regular mail does not accommodate. Within this definitive context, couriers and courier services can come in many different types and styles.
Transportation in Courier Industry
In past times, before there were vehicles, couriers were usually just individual messengers, who traveled from one place to another to deliver news, documents, or products to the destination. Examples of this were the courier services of medieval times, which were one or more people who delivered messages or goods on horseback, or the famous pony express riders, who relayed messages or goods across the United States by passing them along from rider to rider until they reached their destination. Courier services, as well as trains also used stagecoaches after they started coming into regular use. As time progressed and the age of technology set in, courier services began to use vehicles such as automobiles, modern trains, and airplanes.
Pressure and Demand on the Courier Industry
The years that followed the industrial revolution have seen exponential growth in the economies of countries that now make up the world's top economies. The surge in demand for supplies and commodities such as crude oil, palm oil and other materials necessary for the hungry economies of the day placed enormous strain on export countries as they struggle to keep up with intensifying demand of such commodities. However challenging the situation was in those days, companies managed to adapt the the change in paradigm, and with the advent of automation and computerization, logistics took a turn for the better. This has greatly aided and enhanced the courier industry.
The Paradigm of Economics according to the economic model of supply and demand, the stronger the demand for one particular commodity, the higher the price will be. But sometimes, it is true the other way round. If you have been reading the part on the history of the courier, you may understand that in the past, it was very expensive to afford such services and for much part this is esteemed to be a luxury. The physical strain placed on the industry was just too much to handle, and in order to survive such turbelent times, it was deemed necessary for the courier industry to embrace computerization to:
1. Reduce operating expenses
2. Promote reliability of services
3. Improve reputation.
Living in a Pressure Cooker...
Living in such pressing times calls for drastic measures oftentimes. Some of the common cited pressures and demands are caused by the following:
1. Increase in number of competitors
2. The need to have products and commodities delivered on time, and in one piece
3. A growing number of sectors are increasingly supported by mission-critical services. Example, Singapore's Domestic Speedpost Islandwide (an offshoot of Speedpost Express) delivery helps delivers common goods to clients to any location within Singapore in the same day.
4. The paradigm change from product orientation to customer/service orientation. In other words, customer satisfaction is priority number one.
Technology and Changes in Courier Industry
Everything around us has been evolute to become more reliable and convenient nowadays including the Courier Industry. A lot of factors had been taken due to the dramatic growth of new markets which contribute to this evolution like safety of the delivery goods, demand of the consumer and technology being used for delivering purpose. How technologies help with today's Courier Industry? One of the most contributing factors that had been making a lot of changes in Courier Industry is technology. Long ago, whenever people wanted to make delivery of goods or mails, a lot of processes need to be done such as:
1. Write or wrap the letter and items that you want to send
2. Go to the nearest post office
3. Line up to buy stamps or get form for delivery purpose
4. Paste stamps and fill in the form of your mail
5. Pay the amount needed to do the delivery
6. Inspection of items being done manually
7. Delivered the items to the required destination by the workers
The duration for the manual processes involved above normally takes between 3 to 7 days. But now, with the enhancement of technology in the Courier Industry, the processes of delivery become simpler and save time. Although there are some of the processes remain same but there are getting better and simpler. For example the duration of the delivery has been shorten to 1 day and the process of delivering items become smooth without taking longer time as the need to use counter as a medium to send item had been minimizingly used.
Advanced technologies and faster types of transportation like jet and airplane had also been utilized to realize the demands of consumer. If long ago Courier Industry used ship or bicycle to make deliveries which took a long time of delivery, now most company and individuals prefer using airplane or jet which shorten more time to deliver their parcels.
Changes and benefits of technology in Courier Industry
Some of the famous technologies that had been used widely now in Courier Industry are RFID and Computerized Tracking. RFID is being used for recording delivery, orders online and postal services purpose while Computerized Tracking used to identify and trace the requested goods. With the developing technologies, people no need to wait for a long time just to send items or checking the delivery items. Moreover, customers also can check for their own status of delivery items whether had been sent to the requested destination or not. Now everyone can do it online with a faster and convenient way anytime.
The Future of Courier Industry
To sum it up, courier service is transformed and enhanced to meet the needs and demand of the current market by implementing latest technologies including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Courier service is a potential business model that could be enlarged and expanded to generate more revenue in future.
Couriers will specialize in delivering important or sensitive packages that need to be received in the local area; and/or because of time and temperature concerns, such as organs for transplant or key equipment or parts that are necessary for day to day operations. Even two-day delivery services use courier firms. Items that are mis-sorted, forgotten or just not picked up on a larger courier’s route. When a mistake has been discovered, courier firms fill in the gap and ensure packages are delivered on time.
In future, demand for a new type of representative courier will be emerged. With the increase in fuel prices and productivity goals monitored closely by companies, this new type of all-in-one courier has developed to "take care of business". Workers in companies have more work and less time to be out of the office. Operating largely using independent contractors that have gone through a screening process and background checks have found a niche in the courier industry. Research, in transit pet care, complex paperwork filing, and a host of other services are now offered in this new category of courier service. Under the current financial climate the trend has seen corporate businesses evaluate courier costs and steer away from sameday couriers and tend to sway towards the cheaper next day delivery solution.
In fact, courier firms specializing in same-day delivery provide an invaluable service because the "big five" (Aramex, DHL, FedEx, TNT N.V., and UPS) in the delivery business simply do not provide same-day delivery services uniquely designed to meet specific individual customer needs. Expedited delivery firms also prevent the big five from having a complete monopoly on deliveries that must be completed in a short period of time. This competition, both among couriers and with the big five, has greatly increased the quality and professionalism of the industry, while also ensuring reasonable rates for customers.
References :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courier http://www.electronics.ca/reports/rfid/postal_courier.html http://rfid.idtechex.com/research/reports/rfid_for_postal_and_courier_services_2008_2018_000129.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logistical#Business_logistics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand
by : Aziz, Lionel, Khadijah and Kar Teck
