UK parcel delivery service Evri has invested £1 million in artificial intelligence through a new partnership with AI consultancy Robiquity, which it claims will improve customer service and ensure parcels pass through its network smoothly.
According to Evri CTO Marcus Hunter, the overarching aim of the investment is to drive enhancements in customer service, including smarter use of data, enhance parcel security and optimise workforce productivity.
Hunter revealed that the firm was also experimenting with augmented reality headsets to “significantly reduce” the time it takes to bring in and train new couriers.
“As the situations couriers deal with on the doorstep can vary greatly, Evri will explore the use of headsets for couriers to experience real-life scenarios and how best to deal with them to achieve customer satisfaction,” he explained.
Customer service
The company believes its strategy and investment will improve customer service, because it reasons AI will simplify, speed up and improve the consistency of its parcel delivery services by automating simple data collection and identification of issues.
This in turn will free up Evri’s customer service team to focus on resolving more complex issues, leading to faster resolutions and a consistently higher quality of service.
By using AI tools, the firm added, it will also enhance parcel security through being able to identify, on the doorstep, whether a parcel has been left in a safe enough place – as, it claims, the tech will analyse data against previous delivery photos.
The enhancements also claim to analyse claims data, and automatically check geo-location and delivery photos to identify potentially false claims.
“This builds on Evri’s existing ParcelVision technology, which checks all photos couriers take, in real time, to ensure the quality of delivery photos,” the firm added in a press release.
Evri also plans to use AI to optimise workforce planning by analysing data and predicting future demands.
Evri is working in collaboration with AI consultancy Robiquity – whose clients include Jaguar Land Rover, Schroders, and Pets at Home – to create an ‘AI Centre of Excellence’ team to ensure it is recruiting the right talent.
“The team at Robiquity have been crucial in building the foundation – allowing us to move at pace with implementing the early stages of our strategy,” Hunter said.
The strategy – which kicked off in the idle of 2023 – has already delivered tangible benefit resulting in “improved outputs and optimised operations”, Hunter claimed.
He added: “The significant benefits achieved through Intelligent Process Automation in the first six months have given us the platform to explore other AI, with a view to implementing later technologies to help shape the future of our business.”
Robiquity COO James Procter explained: “We are already seeing massive benefits delivered in the first six months, with much more to come.
“This is testament to the partnership approach adopted between us. We are looking forward to supporting Evri on its applied AI roadmap and celebrating further successes along the way.”