{"id":30473,"date":"2021-06-12T10:40:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T10:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.parcelpending.com\/?p=30473"},"modified":"2023-07-28T10:41:19","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T10:41:19","slug":"the-future-of-parcel-asset-management-at-universities-student-accommodation-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.parcelpending.com\/en-gb\/blog\/the-future-of-parcel-asset-management-at-universities-student-accommodation-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Parcel & Asset Management at Universities & Student Accommodation Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Universities and student accommodation sites handle\u00a0<\/span>a rising number of parcels<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0arriving for students and staff every day. Manual, people-based ways of handling these deliveries can be fraught with difficulties such as resourcing, security and levels of contact during handovers. Added to this,\u00a0<\/span>books, IT equipment and other assets regularly change hands<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0on site.<\/span><\/p>\n

The future of\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>package management<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and asset tracking in higher education<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(HE) was the\u00a0<\/span>topic of discussion<\/a>\u00a0at a recent Institute of Government and Public Policy (IGPP) online event.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the session, Quadient\u2019s UK&I commercial director of parcel locker solutions, Bren Standell, noted that\u00a0<\/span>online retail has transformed the way we shop<\/span><\/strong>. Students bring their experience of online ordering to their university lives and that includes an expectation of rapid delivery, (next, even same, day) and control over how and when they receive goods.<\/span><\/p>\n

The delivery landscape \u2013 an influx of parcels<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even pre-pandemic,\u00a0<\/span>eCommerce was growing with a 2019\/20 8%\u00a0year-on-year increase in UK<\/strong>\u00a0parcel volumes\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0<\/span>a phenomenal\u00a02.8 billion delivered items<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside this,\u00a0<\/span>student numbers are rising<\/span><\/strong>, with\u00a0<\/span>over 2 million full-time students<\/a>\u00a0in the UK in that year. Nearly 25,000 new beds entered the market in 2020\/21, bringing the total number of\u00a0<\/span>student accommodation rooms to 681,000<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

More students means more parcels and, on average, it is believed each person will receive\u00a07-10 parcels a month<\/strong>. For a university with 1,000 first-year student beds, that can equate to\u00a0250+ parcels per day<\/strong>; even 1,000 a day if there are more than 3,000 students.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bren asked attendees of the webinar, which included university accommodation managers, directors of campus operations and facilities managers, about students\u2019 online shopping and a comprehensive\u00a0<\/span>90% said they anticipated a significant change in habits<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0after the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Movement of items on campus<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Added to parcel deliveries\u00a0<\/span>there is considerable movement of items on site between faculties, university buildings and amenities. These items include IT equipment, library books, on-campus food and student assignments. Collecting and dropping off such items is restricted if staff and students are held to opening times. What\u2019s more, making these exchanges brings individuals, and sometimes groups, into contact with each other in ways that are increasingly problematic under social distancing conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Higher education is evolving<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Striving to manage demands for parcel handling and the movement of items, HE faces a range of challenges including:<\/span><\/p>\n