shareholders were blind, page-35

Whatever happened to this idea? Weren't Pitney Bowes going to set up a network bypassing Australia Post.



QUEUEING at the post office to pick up parcels could soon be a thing of the past thanks to intelligent lockers.

Technology firm TZ Ltd, headed by Australian entrepreneur Mark Bouris, and Pitney Bowes, the global logistics giant, are planning a trial of the hi-tech lockers at locations around Sydney within a month.

They will probably be at petrol stations and supermarkets, allowing access to the lockers all day, every day, bypassing Australia Post's pick-up system.

Instead of putting a card in your letterbox to tell you to collect your goods at a post office, a postman or courier will send an email or text message, informing you of the number and security code for the locker containing the package at one of your nominated locations.

The technology has been developed by TZ, a small listed technology group that began designing hi-tech locks.


It has developed the electro-magnetic locking systems that respond to digital signals, and is already being used in smart lockers in Britain, US and Europe.

Mr Bouris said the system had hundreds of potential uses but that this could be the most exciting. "The internet has given us incredibly convenient ways of buying goods; electronic payment systems mean we can pay for them in a matter of seconds and air travel means they can be transported from the other side of the world in virtually no time," he said.

"The problems only start when the parcel gets to within a few kilometres of your home. Then we have to contend with 19th century delivery systems.

"We need a hi-tech solution suitable for the 21st century, and secure, convenient, 24-hour-a-day access to our goods is long overdue."

Pitney Bowes is negotiating with potential site owners and is expected to have numerous trials running soon.

"We want to install the lockers at locations that give convenient access for the public, as well as in offices around the country" said the managing director of Pitney Bowes Australia, Tony Simonsen.

Similarly, building groups are considering installing banks of lockers and post boxes at new residential developments.