How St. Mary’s University Overcame Parcel Management Challenges

St Mary’s University, on the edge of London, has a beautiful, spacious campus, where over 600 students and faculty receive daily mail and parcel deliveries. The university is also rated among the top 10 for student experience, reflecting its commitment to a fulfilling campus life.

George, the Security & Operations Manager, oversees a range of functions, from security and front desk operations to parking and post room management. Given the breadth and scope of George’s role, he often looks for automation and efficiency to streamline operations; that’s how George found Parcel Tracker.

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The Problem:

The post room at St Mary’s University handled high volumes of letter mail and parcels for over 600 on-campus students and faculty. However, the existing process was inefficient and outdated.

• Manual Logging: Staff manually logged each package in a paper ledger, assigning unique numbers and recording delivery details (date, time, recipient, and carrier).
• Individual Notifications: Post room staff emailed each student and faculty member one by one to inform them that their parcels were ready for collection.
• Inefficient Collection: When a recipient arrived, staff had to manually locate the corresponding log entry, obtain a signature, and then search the post room for the correct parcel.
• Misplaced Parcels and Clutter: Occasionally, parcels would be misplaced or mislogged, which also led to parcels accumulating in the post room.

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The Process:

St Mary’s University identified all these challenges and wanted to move towards improving and digitizing standard operating processes. Parcel Tracker stood out due to its simplicity and alignment with the institution's ESG goals, in part to lower its carbon footprint. With Parcel Tracker, they knew that the last mile of their delivery would be carbon offset.

• George provided a CSV/Excel file containing contact details for students and faculty.
• Allocated mobile devices for scanning, with help from the Parcel Tracker team.
• Post room staff received efficient, remote training via Zoom.

Parcel Tracker can be deployed as a standalone system or in conjunction with integrations into other systems such as Room Service by Kinetics, Active Directories and more. Initially, Parcel Tracker was only used to log deliveries for students living on campus. However, once they released how efficient it was, faculty and departmental parcels started to be managed through the system, too.

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The Solution:

With Parcel Tracker, St. Mary’s University experienced a host of immediate improvements:

• Enhanced Efficiency: The post room staff scan the parcel label with the Parcel Tracker app; with a snap of the camera, the student is detected and the parcel is logged with a photo and timestamp. The students collect their parcel with the QR code emailed to them. ‍
• Improved Visibility & Security: With every parcel accounted for digitally, and proof of collection automatically recorded, the risk of misplaced items is minimized.‍
• Scalability: Detailed analytics provide George with a comprehensive view of the post room’s operations, facilitating better staffing and resource decisions.‍
• Sustainability Alignment: With a fully digital system, Parcel Tracker contributes to the university’s ESG goals by reducing its carbon footprint.

No signatures are required for the handoff; the QR code serves to verify the identity of the student for collection. Parcels are also extremely quick to log, and notifications are sent to remind the students to collect their deliveries every few days. This has decluttered the post room, stopped items from getting lost, and, most importantly, allows the post room staff to save lots of time.

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The Result:

George particularly values the system as it gives him a birds-eye view of the operations, post room business and the number of held parcels. The analytics data on the Parcel Tracker platform enables George to make better staffing and resource allocation decisions without having to be physically present in the mailroom. This has saved the university time and money, and enabled the teams to deliver a more efficient service.

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St Mary’s University has transitioned from an inefficient, paper-based system to a modern, digital solution. They save time, minimize errors, and provide a better overall service. George and his team can now focus on delivering exceptional service, knowing that every parcel is tracked and accounted for. The post room team now additionally supports the reception at the main reception of the university, helping with queries and providing the best possible experience for students, staff, and visitors.

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