Autumn 2007

ByBox, the company known best for its smart locker-bank unattended delivery system for the express parts delivery market, has made a return to its roots in the business-to-consumer market in France, where it already has a strong presence.

The company has signed a contract to supply a B2C locker-bank system to La Poste. The lockers will be used by consumers to pick up home shopping items as an alternative to having them delivered at home. Technically the contract has been won by ByBox's French subsidiary, Logibag, which also makes the lockers for the whole ByBox group.

ByBox is calling the latest version of its hardware the Cityssimo V2. It features upgraded software and a redesigned central console that links to bespoke software developed specifically to meet La Poste's requirements.

The consumer interface has been improved too. It now includes a 15in colour touch screen that will accept credit-card payments and print self-adhesive postage labels for parcel shipping applications.

 

A change to PC-based architecture is also in the pipeline. Initial versions of the V2 will continue to run the embedded Linux operating system of the current generation, but the company says PC-based architecture will make it easier to integrate peripherals into the system in future.

Logibag general manager Fabien Pichet says the company is hoping that the contract award will help ByBox shape future standards for its industry. 'We already manage a thousand lockers in and around Paris for postal service companies,' he says, adding: 'I believe this order will be the first of many for our new generation of postal lockers.'

Earlier this year ByBox chief executive Stuart Miller told Fulfilment & e.logistics a new initiative in the B2C market was being developed for the UK. It is not clear yet if the French experience provides a guide to its plans for this country, but the technology certainly includes elements such as credit-card validation that could also be applicable here.