"I underestimated two things". CEO of Ukrposhta on the long launch of post offices and the future of delivery

The first postal machines of Nova Poshta appeared in 2016. Now there are more than 30,000 of them. Ukrposhta is just getting ready to launch. Why it happened?"It was my mistake, I underestimated two things," says Ihor Smelyansky, CEO. What exactly Smelyansky underestimated, why he does not believe in drone delivery, and what innovations Ukrposhta is still working on – the CEO told in an interview LIGA.net.How much did the postal machines costBy the end of the year, Ukrposhta plans to install 100 post offices-70 in Kyiv and 30 in Odesa. They are currently being tested, Smelyansky says: "For example, we have to take into account the issue of inclusivity. If a person is identified in the app as a person with a disability, we have no right to place parcels above a certain level.".After the launch of the first hundred, Ukrposhta wants to collect feedback on the size of the cells, height, and how the post offices work during power and communication outages. In particular, the models have iron buttons that can be used to open a cell with a code. They can be used if the app doesn't work or a person doesn't want to install it .The first postal machines from a competitor, Nova Poshta, appeared back in 2016. Now there are more than 30,000 of them. Why it took Ukrposhta longer to implement this technology?"It was my mistake, I underestimated two things," says the postal operator's CEO. "I underestimated how quickly they had to be implemented, and I was working on the other. Smelyansky adds that post offices would not work without modern sorting centers, so the company had to go through the robotization stage.Another obstacle was the procurement itself, which took a year. The startups that participated in the tenders often did not have a finished product: "There were some 'horns and hooves' who thought that a post office machine was just a piece of iron and a couple of boards." Ukrposhta earned UAH 1.5 million in fines for non-delivery of postal machines alone.In the end, the tender was won by the Ukrainian Modern Expo, which produces various types of business equipment and cooperated with Fozzy , Epicenter, Nova Poshta, etc. The contract amount is over UAH 20 million."The cost of a post office depends on the number of sections. It can be a couple thousand dollars, but I don't want to say from memory," adds Ihor Smelyansky.What to expect in the appUkrposhta released a new mobile application in September this year. The beta version's features include parcel creation and tracking, a map of branches, and a customer card. "Not the way I want it," Smelyansky says when asked how he likes the product, "I want it to be better.".Further development will proceed in two stages. The next stage will include parcel management: forwarding, changing the recipient, and paying for the parcel that is coming to you. As a result, the branches plan to cancel paper applications. "I want to believe that we will launch it by the new year," says the CEO.After that, the product will be added to accept payments and order goods, stamps, medicines, etc .Smelyansky adds that the CRM system also needs to be improved. This will make it possible to add a disability mark in the app and make it easier to receive parcels.Robots, AI and the Future of Delivery100% of parcels are sorted by automated lines, Ihor Smelyansky cites statistics. The robots were supplied by Ukrainian Intelligent Systems. As stated there, the transformation of the sorting centers lasted six months, the result is that the speed of processing small parcels has increased from 400 to 8000 pieces per hour.The CEO adds that the robotic lines are 98% made of Ukrainian parts, while the cameras are German.Artificial intelligence is currently being tested to build routes and analyze the most effective shifts: "We usually sort at night. But unfortunately, that's when the Russians shell us. If people spent half of their shift in a bomb shelter, it's a very inefficient shift.".The AI system should learn to redistribute flows if one of the centers is affected. And instead of Vinnytsia, sort parcels in Uman or Odesa, taking into account the load and delivery dates.CEO of Ukrposhta sees no prospects for drone delivery – drones will be perceived as unfriendly, and the cost of such delivery will be too high.Let's imagine that this is successful. Would you like to see a hundred drones in the sky above you? A successful drone delivery implementation will lead to a reaction: "Well, you're f**ked, you can't sleep or walk.".Instead, the future lies in postal machines and same-day delivery, if necessary: "In the United States, they just throw the parcel under the door, because the number of stolen items is much less than the cost of a courier to call and deliver it to your hand.".