GB2359401A

GB2359401A - Proof of delivery of goods

Info

Publication number: GB2359401A
Application number: GB0004075A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham Carrier
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-02-21
Filing date: 2000-02-21
Publication date: 2001-08-22
Also published as: GB0004075D0

Abstract

An electronic proof of delivery (POD) device and method are provided, the device being attached to goods or packaging for goods to be delivered from a sender having an electronic address to a recipient. The device comprises electronic data transmission means being preprogrammed or preprogrammable with the sender's electronic address, and data input means, wherein POD data entered into the device at the point of delivery is electronically transmissible from the device at the point of delivery to the sender's electronic address. By electronically transmitting POD data directly to the sender, the sender can be provided with a rapid POD. An electronic address of someone other than the sender could be used. The device may also be configured to emit a tracking signal to enable determination of the location of the goods during transit.

Description

<U>ELECTRONIC PARCEL LABEL</U> This invention relates to a device and method for providing proof of delivery, to a sender, of goods ordered for delivery or sent by the sender to a recipient. More particularly, the invention relates to an electronic proof of delivery device and method, which device is attached or attachable to the goods or packaging for goods. whereby proof of delivery may be provided to the sender by electronic transmission at the point of delivery. Goods ordered for dispatch, or otherwise destined for delivery, to a recipient at a destination address are typically labelled with the name and address of the person who ordered the goods or other recipient, to ensure correct delivery to the intended destination. Delivery of the goods is generally entrusted by the sender to a nominated carrier such as a courier or postal service. To enable the carrier to be able to demonstrate to the sender successful delivery to and safe receipt of the goods by the intended recipient, in compliance with the terms and conditions of carriage, the carrier will typically upon delivery obtain from the recipient, by way of record, various data such as the recipient's name, the date and time of receipt of the goods, and a signature, stamp or other form of acknowledgement or attestation, as a Proof of Delivery (POD). The obtaining of a POD is critical in the parcels/logistics industry in order for the carrier to be able to satisfy himself and to demonstrate to his customer, the sender, that the goods entrusted to him for delivery were in fact accurately and timely delivered and received by the intended recipient without loss or damage. Thus, it may allow the carrier to verify for example that the goods were received in good order, by the right person at the correct address, with the name and signature of the recipient as proof. and thereby ensure settlement of invoicing for goods received. Generally, the POD information is provided manually, on paper, by the recipient. The paper record carrying the POD data is then made available by the carrier to the sender. This method is slow in that the POD data must physically be conveyed via the carrier to the sender, and thus involves an excessive delay before the sender can be sure that the goods have reached the intended recipient. Alternatively, POD information from the paper record may be entered by the carrier into the carrier's computer system, either at the carrier's premises or via a central computer centre. Again, a delay is experienced as the paper record must be physically conveyed from the point of delivery to the carrier's premises or computer centre before being made available to the sender. It is also known for POD information to be entered directly by the carrier at the point of delivery into a portable scanner/transmitter device such as a handheld bar-code scanner. Generally, the information thus entered is then downloaded into the carrier's computer system, either at the carrier's premises or via a central computer centre. It will be appreciated that these procedures require the POD data first to be entered into the carrier's computer system before it can be forwarded on to the sender. It is also known to track the progress of packages at points along the delivery route, by using a bar-code scanning device at various transfer points to read information from the parcel, such as the consignment number, which information can then be relayed to the carrier's computer system. As electronic commerce (e-commerce) continues to grow and ever more goods are ordered via the intemet by both industrial and domestic consumers, it would be desirable for carriers entrusted with delivery of the goods to be able to provide their customers, the senders, with a rapid proof of delivery, preferably at or shortly after the moment the delivery is received. At the same time, there is a demand from consumers who have ordered or sent goods to be delivered by a carrier for a means of obtaining POD information rapidly. It would furthermore be desirable to be able to provide the sender or carrier with up-to-date tracking information as to the precise location of the goods in transit.

We have now found that it is possible to provide a rapid POD to the sender of goods, or to any other persons requiring rapid POD, or both, by electronically transmitting POD data, at the point of delivery of the goods, directly to the sender or any other specified person.

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides an electronic proof of delivery (POD) device for attachment to goods or packaging for goods to be delivered from a sender having an electronic address to a recipient, comprising: electronic data transmission means being preprogrammed or preprogrammable with the sender's electronic address; and data input means; wherein POD data entered into the device at the point of delivery is electronically transmissible from the device at the point of delivery to the sender's electronic address. In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method of providing proof of delivery (POD) of goods delivered from a sender having an electronic address to a recipient, comprising: entering POD data at the point of delivery into a device that comprises electronic data transmission means being preprogrammed or preprogrammable with the sender's electronic address; and electronically transmitting the POD data from the device at the point of delivery to the sender's electronic address.

The device is able to transmit POD data directly to the sender or to any other specified person. By `directly' in this context is meant that POD data, once obtained from the recipient of the goods, is transmitted to the sender without having to involve or be entered first into the carrier's computer system. However, it will be appreciated that the POD data could alternatively or additionally be electronically transmitted to the carrier's electronic address, and thus onto the carrier's computer system, as desired, by appropriate programming of the transmission device.

The device is intended to accompany the goods being delivered, and preferably is adhered or otherwise attached to the goods themselves or to the packaging of the goods. In a preferred embodiment, the device also functions as an address label on which information identifying the intended recipient, such as the recipient's name and address, may be recorded or stored. If desired, the device could also be configured to store any other information, for example the sender's name and address, instructions for the recipient, a description of the contents of the package or the consignment number. Such label information can be presented in visual or machine readable form, and can be recorded for example by printing or writing, or stored electronically in the device.

The device may be manufactured using microelectronic computer and data transmission technology such as employed in the manufacture of mobile telephones, facsimile transmitting machines, pagers and electronic tagging devices. The device will preferably be self powered by a miniature battery, but could be solar powered or powered from any other suitable external source as well. The electronic data transmission initiated at the point of delivery may be transmitted via a suitable communications network such as used in mobile telephone or pager systems, for example via satellite or terrestrial data communication systems.

The device will be programmable with the electronic address of the sender or any other specified person. This and other data could be entered by the recipient, or by the carrier or sender. On receipt of the goods and device by the recipient, the recipient will enter POD data into the device. Accordingly, the device includes a display screen and data input facility such as a keypad, miniature alphanumeric keyboard, scrolling button or other suitable means for manually entering data. Alternatively or additionally, an electronic input port may be provided to enable data to be entered electronically. To prevent inadvertent transmission caused by keys being pressed during transit, the device may be so programmed as to ensure that only correctly entered data will be transmitted, for example by requiring a specific sequential entry of key strokes before transmission can take place.

Preferably, for the recipient's convenience, the device is preprogrammed by the carrier with the electronic address of the sender or other specified persons. so that the amount of data required to be entered by the recipient on receipt of the goods is kept to a minimum. The device is also preferably preprogrammed with a sequential set of prompts or questions for the recipient, to which the recipient will input POD response entries, whereupon POD data is transmitted to the preprogrammed electronic address of the sender or other specified persons on completion of the recipient's set of response entries.

The specific construction of the device and the program design employed in the device do not form part of the present invention, and can be selected as appropriate by those skilled in the art. However, we prefer that the device be constructed in miniaturised form, preferably of a thin, planar construction that may easily be affixed to goods or packaging in the manner of a label. Thus, preferably, the device will be of the order millimetres (for example 1 to 5 mm) in thickness, with length and breadth dimensions of the order of centimetres (for example 5 cm x 10 cm). It will be appreciated that the weight and cost of the device should be kept to a minimum to ensure commercial viability. The device could be so constructed as to be reprogrammable and reusable, for example in case of the return of the goods or packaging back to the sender, or may be disposable after completed delivery.

The data to be entered into the device, or preprogrammed where appropriate, may include, for example: a) the consignment number (either preprogrammed or to be manually entered against a number printed on the label); b) the name of the recipient (company or person or both); c) the date and time of receipt; d) additional information (such as 'parcel damaged', `neighbour signed') e) the electronic address of the sender or other (e-mail address, internet site) The specific POD information to be provided on the device and transmitted to the sender or other persons can be selected. as appropriate, by those in the carrier/logistics industry and does not, as such, form part of the present invention.

The device, if appropriately configured may be provided with printed or other graphic information, such as the recipient's name and address, so as to provide a `smart' label. For example, the device might be run through a printer for information to be printed onto it.

The carrier may still wish to obtain a written signature from the recipient, even if an electronic signature can be entered into the device, as physical proof of delivery in case of a later dispute. Thus, the POD device may be used to supplement or replace conventional POD procedures.

The device may be programmed to transmit POD data to any number of specified electronic addresses. Whilst POD data is preferably transmitted at least to the sender, the same or other POD data may also be transmitted to other persons following data entry by the recipient. For example, POD data transmitted to the sender may be transmitted also to the carrier, in order to provide the carrier with a `mirror image' copy of the transmission. As mentioned, the carrier may additionally still require a conventional POD in order to obtain a physical signature.

To demonstrate by way of example, a customer may order goods, via the internet, from a supplier to be delivered to the customer. The order is processed and goods packaged. A `smart' label in accordance with the invention is affixed to the package, by the supplier or by the carrier, the label identifying the name and address of the customer and having been programmed with the consignment number and electronic addresses of the supplier and the carrier. Following delivery by the carrier and receipt by the customer. the customer enters requested POD data into the label in response to a set of preprogrammed prompts. POD data is then transmitted electronically from the smart label directly to the electronic addresses of the supplier and carrier, thus providing an almost immediate POD to the supplier and carrier. In a further example. if the goods were ordered by the customer to be delivered to a third party, the label might also be preprogrammed to transmit POD data to the customer's electronic address in order to provide the customer with an immediate indication that the goods had been received at their intended destination.

In a preferred embodiment, the device further provides a tracking function. In particular, the electronic data transmission means is preprogrammed to emit a detectable tracking pulse or signal such that the location of the goods to which the device is attached can be determined. The tracking signal emitted by the device is thus detectable by a suitable detection system in similar manner to conventional tracking systems such as used to locate stolen motor vehicles. A preferred detection system uses technology associated with global satellite navigation systems, to enable worldwide tracking of the goods during transit.

Preferably, transmission of the tracking signal is terminated when the delivery has been made to the intended recipient for the goods. Accordingly, in a preferred embodiment, the tracking signal is deactivated, preferably automatically, when the recipient enters the POD data into the device at the point of delivery. Alternatively, or additionally, the device may be provided with other means for manually deactivating the tracking signal, or for remote deactivation.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. An electronic proof of delivery (POD) device for attachment to goods or packaging for goods to be delivered from a sender having an electronic address to a recipient, comprising: electronic data transmission means being preprogrammed or preprogrammable with the sender's electronic address; and data input means; wherein POD data entered into the device at the point of delivery is electronically transmissible from the device at the point of delivery to the sender's electronic address.
2. A device according to claim 1 attached to packaging for goods.
3. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2 comprising a label for or labelled with the address of the recipient.
4. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the electronic address is an e-mail address or internet address.
5. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the data input means comprises a manual keypad.
6. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the electronic data transmission means is further preprogrammed to emit a detectable tracking signal.
7. A device according to claim 6, wherein the electronic data transmission means is preprogrammed to terminate emission of the tracking signal on entry of POD data into the device at the point of delivery.
8. A method of providing proof of delivery (POD) of goods delivered from a sender having an electronic address to a recipient, comprising: entering POD data at the point of delivery into a device that comprises electronic data transmission means being preprogrammed or preprogrammable with the sender's electronic address; and electronically transmitting the POD data from the device at the point of delivery to the sender's electronic address.