On-time delivery

Australia Post has been paving the way for over two centuries as Australia’s most respected and recognised postal service provider. The company’s ability to identify opportunities and react appropriately to maintain market position was never more evident than through its acquisition of national road freight company StarTrack in the second half of 2012.

Seen as an avenue to add significant additional capability, particularly in the area of express and tracked parcel services, the acquisition of StarTrack allowed Australia Post to effectively deal with the increased need for package delivery generated by the 11 million online purchases made by Australian consumers each year. The next step in the evolution was to deliver a new era for parcel delivery via the introduction of mobile business hubs, a venture previously unexplored in the postal service sector.

Australia Post had no available blueprint from which to work when developing the mobile business hubs, so it sought professional assistance to tackle the challenge and turned to vehicle fit-out experts VQuip to help develop a framework for development of the concept.

With years of experience in the vehicle customisation industry, VQuip was ready to tackle the challenges of this unique project head-on and to provide the expert advice and in-depth knowledge needed to make the concept a reality. The requirement for the project was to serve two distinct purposes: firstly to strengthen Australia Post’s position as a local service provider by providing a mobile ‘trade stand’ for direct connection with customers; and secondly, to generate brand awareness by highlighting the business hub network, which would help to grow revenue in local catchments right across Australia.

The project time frame was particularly tight, with only six weeks between initial drawings through to the final rollout of completed product, so it was essential that the mobile hub vehicles specification adequately matched the criteria identified by both Australia Post and StarTrack at the design stage.

As the mobile hubs would almost double in footprint size when set up, each van had to be sturdy yet lightweight in its design, possessing an interior structure that would support the excess weight while allowing for enough room to provide easy access loading and unloading of each vehicle. These elements included banners, popcounters, additional seating and weather protection capability including pull-out awnings and pop-up marquees.

The design discovery journey entailed having a clear understanding of the customer’s needs, before commencing the design process. The design team ensured that Australia Post and Startrack’s vision was translated into reality and potential risks were identified and strategically overcome via a risk management procedure (RMP), a standard part of the design practice.

In addition to the physical considerations, the electronic system that supports the fleet of mobile hubs was also very complex in nature. Each van needed to sustain a diverse range of electrical equipment including iPads, EFTPOS systems, printers, screens and safes; and ensure that all customer requirements could be quickly and effectively attended to on the spot, no matter what the location.

The mobile hubs double in footprint size when set up.

VQuip provided the vehicles for launch across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in late 2014, giving Australia Post and StarTrack a unique vehicle design to drive innovation in the parcel delivery segment, facilitating the move into additional markets in the face of traditional letter delivery downturn.