Interview – Kyburz unveils new Smartbox solution for micro hubs of the future

Electric delivery vehicle manufacturer Kyburz has launched its new Smartbox cargo trailer, which has been developed to help logistics firms “realise their micro hub dreams,” according to the firm’s head of research, Erik Wilhelm, who spoke exclusively to CEP-Research at Parcel+Post Expo last week.

The Smartbox has been designed to overcome some of the key challenges faced by carriers in developing micro hub networks, including a lack of space in cities, white labelling issues, and infrastructure concerns.

At Parcel+Post Expo, Swiss-based Kyburz also showcased its two newest delivery vehicles – the DXP and DXCargo, which featured a revised drive unit, and unveiled a vehicle combination solution from Planzer - a Swiss transportation and logistics firm.

The latter features a DXC with a trailer, which offers space for two interchangeable boxes that can be easily loaded and reloaded. This solution is part of the “Planzer – Dynamic Micro-Hub with LOXO’ project.

CEP-Research: Tell us more about the new Smartbox cargo trailer.

This is basically a super smart box that we have developed to help logistics providers in big cities realise their micro hub dreams. Before we developed the solution, we carried out research to discover the main reaons why micro hubs have had trouble gaining traction in big cities. The Smartbox on display at Parcel+Post Expo is the solution to all these challenges.

What are the challenges?

We identified three main reasons holding micro hubs back. The first is space. Locations in big cities are really hard to get and even harder to keep. Cities tend to say yes to micro hubs, but they often put a time limit on how long carriers can have the space for, and then after it is not guaranteed that the logistics firms get to keep that space.

Therefore, the Smartbox does not depend on rental contracts – it is flexible. It can be transported via an electric vehicle with a trailer and be dropped off, just like the electric scooters that are popping up in cities around the world.

The Smartbox has been equipped with several security features to ensure they are safe in this kind of “floating system.” They have robust locking technologies in place and an alarm system, which is loud, sets off security lights, and sends a message back to the central system. We have done a lot of work to make sure these assets are protected out in the field. The Smartbox also is enabled with GPS and solar panels so it can operate off-grid.

Tell us more about the white labelling issues.

The second thing holding micro hubs back is white labelling. Carriers are often very reluctant to share micro hubs. One reason is because of branding, and another is around who gets priority when a box fills up. To try and combat the latter, we have carried out a lot of work to monitor the parcels in the Smartbox. The box is fitted with depth cameras and some weight sensors embedded into the floor, which identify where specific parcels are within the box itself. Users also get a visual indication of where a parcel is located for unloading purposes.

We actually applied for a patent for this monitoring solution this week – before we showcased the solution at Parcel+Post Expo. There are similar solutions of this kind, but our research has found that our system is unique to the market.

How are issues around cost and infrastructure being overcome?

The third thing slowing down the implementation of micro hubs is infrastructure, and the cost of rolling it out. We have found that the cost of creating these micro hubs is not economical. When we looked at projects, we found it was roughly twice as expensive to go from a parcel van into the city approach to a micro hub. This is mainly because the parcels are handled multiple times and fill rates are super low. Typically, they must be super high to make economic sense.

To try and reduce cost, our Smartbox has been built on the back of our standard platform. The box that Planzer is using, for example, has already been rolled out hundreds of times by now. So, we know it works, and we didn’t want to do anything super fancy or different with the footprint of this.

Because the Smartbox works on the same footprint, customers like Planzer can gradually roll out the new solution in its existing networks and change their processes on the continuum. The new Smartbox also works in a similar way to how OEMs deploy new hardware and software. Often new products don’t have the latest software part activated, but it is available in the hardware, so down the road, when customers are ready, new features can be activated.

We can basically put the new Smartbox’s out there in existing networks and when the customers have enough deployed, they can activate the “smart” features and unlock the new micro hub approach.