As part of its sustainability strategy, the BERNER Group is also focusing on consistently reducing its ecological footprint when delivering good.
Innovation on the construction site: Berner Group launches nationwide pilot project for new BERA BOX 2GO and OBTICASE
Cologne/Künzelsau, March 5, 2018. Receiving goods at a construction site frequently leads to problems for both dealers and buyers. Sometimes the recipient is pulled out of an important contract job at the most unfavorable time to confirm the receipt; sometimes the much-needed shipment is returned to the sender, because the parcel service provider cannot find the right contact person on site. The Berner Group has responded to this issue and, together with strong partners, developed a new solution aimed especially at construction professionals. This facilitates the delivery process and significantly increases the chances of a successful delivery. Starting this week, the new offer under the product names “BERA BOX 2GO” and “OBTICASE” will be tested by our subsidiaries Berner Deutschland and BTI in a nationwide beta phase with a total of 40 customers.
BERA BOX 2GO and OBTICASE are “parcel butlers”, as it were. This means that customers’ orders are brought directly to the construction site by the delivery services around the clock and placed in a security box that is theft-proof. This innovative solution does not yet exist on the market. No matter what, no matter when, no matter where – the new construction site box enables professional users to receive and send parcels at all times. In this way, workmen can be flexibly supplied with material around the clock without having to interrupt their activities. Even overnight shipments can be significantly better organized with the help of the new offer.
The use of BERA BOX 2GO and OBTICASE will make purchasing at Berner and BTI even more hassle-free in the future. This is because the solution features a variety of functions and services that are perfectly tailored to the needs of customers. In other words, it is an open system that is available to all current shipping and logistics service providers.
To enable DHL, GLS, DPD, Hermes, etc. to place parcels in the construction site box, they require a one-time authorization. Once the so-called deposit permit has been issued, the owner only has to set his box to “parcel receiving” via a special touchpad and an individual PIN code when he is expecting a delivery. The delivery agent can then simply open the BERA BOX 2GO or the OBTICASE, stow the ordered goods and securely close the lid again.
Mobile control center
The recipient is automatically informed when a shipment arrives – for example, via a push message to the cell phone. A corresponding app can be downloaded free of charge for iOS and Android devices. With the practical mobile app, users have their own personal control center at their fingertips, ready to use in their pocket at any time. They can manage their own user profile on a smartphone, check the status of a delivery on the delivery agent’s track & trace page, manage collections (e.g. returns), or share PIN codes for opening and closing the construction site box with other employees.
Thanks to its generous dimensions of 122 x 68 x 88 centimeters, the construction site box offers sufficient space, even for large consignments with several parcels in XL format. During development, of course, Berner also gave ample thought to providing the necessary security. So only weather-, water- and fireproof materials will be installed. To protect against theft, the robust steel box will also be supplied with a high-quality chain and the appropriate fastening lock from the Berner product range.
Strong partners
The Berner Group has strong partners for this ambitious project at its side, such as matching business experts from feldsechs. The Hamburg-based company, which develops and markets M2M product innovations and services together with major market players, specializes in individual system solutions for a variety of industries and relies on the optimal interaction of intelligently designed hardware and digital networking. The data exchange for the construction site box is completely conducted on the multi-award winning network of the technological leader Deutsche Telekom.
The BERA BOX 2GO and the OBTICASE test phase will run for three months. “In selecting the test customers, we consciously made sure that they are currently working at a minimum on one active construction site and, of course, are regularly supplied there,” reports Ingo Brauckmann, Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) Berner Group. “Feedback from the pilot customers will be systematically analyzed and will be instrumental for further optimization. The final rollout is planned for this summer at the latest. At that point, we will offer construction professionals a solution which will greatly facilitate their daily work routine, and which will exclusively be available from us for lease or purchase.”