Test phase started: digitalisation of delivery notes

A delivery note contains a lot of relevant data, which goods have to be delivered in which quantity to the given address. As a rule, the delivery notes are handed out to the driver in paper form. The document must then be carried in at least two copies and countersigned by the customer after handing over the goods. The driver then hands the delivery note back to the relevant department. But how can this time-consuming work process be shortened?

 

As part of the current project “Digital Delivery Note”, a cooperation between GS1 and BVL.Digital, in which Nagel-Group is actively involved, a test phase was carried out between 23 August and 17 September 2021 at the sites in Trebur, Groß-Gerau, Borgholzhausen, and Reichenbach. The objective of the project is to develop an application recommendation that allows the elimination of the paper delivery note and its digital replacement in practice. The first test phase has been successfully completed, and the evaluation is still ongoing.

“Basically, we can currently say that the technology has worked well and that our drivers have also had very good experiences with the digital delivery note. 68 percent of the users surveyed would like to continue using the standardised industry solution for the digital processing of delivery notes,” says Florian Seffert (Head of IT Innovation).

Overview of the advantages of the digital delivery note:

  • Printing out and handing over delivery notes is no longer necessary. You always have the required delivery note with you or it can be sent later, even if the drivers are already on their tour.
  • Reduction of administrative work thanks to the digitalisation of printouts.
  • Reduction of possible sources of error, because …

– the data only has to be entered once. This also saves a lot of time.

– delivery notes no longer get lost or arrive at the company days later.

– problems or complaints can be communicated directly and immediate action can be taken.

  • Real-time data transmission

 

Through a PDF/A-3, there is the possibility of embedding file formats. This offers an important advantage, as it has significantly simplified the handling of documents. “We are currently working on adapting such a machine-readable PDF/A-3 to the requirements of Nagel-Group. Our top priority is to create a clean process in order to be able to provide an unchangeable and unambiguous receipt,” says Martin Große-Wächter (IT Innovation). In addition, the machine-readable PDF enables all relevant data for our recipients to flow directly into their merchandise management system. This could save Nagel-Group as well as customers and consignees an enormous amount of time.

By the end of the year, it should be clear what the digital delivery note must look like in order to guarantee a smooth process flow.