The “Packstation” enables customers to pick up their parcels round the clock at the nearest machine. The system works similarly to an ATM: Once customers have inserted their personal customer card into the machine and entered their PostPIN, a compartment opens and the parcel can be taken out. The machines make it just as easy to dispatch parcels and pay for COD items.

DPWN also thinks in a “green” way. In a pilot project, customers are being offered a climate-neutral parcel dispatch option in the form of a “green parcel”. This means that the carbon dioxide emissions that are generated by dispatching the parcel are calculated and offset via climate protection projects – a solution that combines innovative and responsible action in a special way.

Because DHL knows that innovation requires joint know-how, the company has launched the “DHL Innovation Initiative” together with IBM, Intel, Philips and SAP. The aim is to think about tomorrow’s technological developments today. The initiative will focus initially on the area of radio frequency identification (RFID): RFID is a technology that has already been used for decades to read and store data remotely – it is also used, for example, in Track & Trace technology for the tracking of shipments.

The core of the RFID system is an RFID tag or transponder consisting of a microchip with a mini antenna. It transmits radio signals which can be received by special readers. RFID tags are small and paper-thin – yet they appear to have a huge future market potential. In the logistics area, one could envision a future scenario like the following: Millions of RFID tags on parcels, containers and items of freight could make the “history” of a freight item accessible at any time and useable for other applications. In this way, the efficiency of all the logistics processes along the entire supply chain could be significantly enhanced.

With these and other innovations, DPWN is delighted to be able to further enhance Germany’s profile as a “land of ideas”.