The social web of logistics
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Challenge
To enable transport and logistics of goods in future urban areas, where energy is expensive, CO2 emissions per capita are limited and access by car is restricted, while the need of transporting goods still rises (because of more individualized products, internet shopping etc.).
Solution
bring.BUDDY is a social web of people who carry parcels and letters for other people in their area. The system behind bring.BUDDY analyzes the daily routes of its members and anonymously assigns parcels to people who can take them along. The parcels therefore find their ‘natural‘ ways through the city or to the next logistic hub, where they can be picked up by professional carriers. bring.BUDDIES identify themselves via mobile phones when they pick up or drop a packet. If they want to participate they just turn on a bring.BUDDY-App on their cell phone.
The altruistic idea behind bring.BUDDY is to enable people to help other people. But by carrying parcels bring.BUDDIES can also foster financial efficiencies: They collect points which then can be redeemed for other bring.BUDDY services, public transport tickets or products at bring.BUDDY partner stores. In order to make it more fun, bring.BUDDIES can start parcel carrying competitions on the platform and compete against other bring.BUDDIES.
Results
The idea behind bring.BUDDY was developed by a multidisciplinary student team at the School of Design Thinking, Potsdam, in cooperation with the DHL Innovation Center. At the moment, it still is in the testing phase: the students show the video prototype to as many people as possible (professionals and non-professionals) in order to get feedback and to make contacts. The feedback until now is very positive. Many people could imagine participating. They seem to like the altruistic motivation behind the idea. To experts in the field of logistics the long-term perspective of the idea seems particularly attractive.
Target Markets
Target markets can be found in urban areas worldwide that suffer from energy scarcity, traffic congestion and smog. Especially cities like Copenhagen or London where administrations are actively trying to change the behaviour and attitude of their citizens towards transportation and mobility.
Initial target users of bring.BUDDY are generally young, creative, internet savvy urbanites who want to be part of a social change and want to start it locally.
Specific Interests In Meeting Partnering
We are interested in connecting with 1) local government officials who could imagine a pilot phase in their city, 2) companies that are interested in funding the idea with money or knowledge, 3) organizations or individuals who are interested in the idea and would like to discuss it in order to develop it further.
Specific Interests In Customer Contacts
bring.BUDDY is not yet online, but we would be glad to discuss the idea with anyone who is interested.