By Lorne Hull, Marketing Manager, Express Cube Systems - A Division of Global Sensor Systems
SubscribeEffective January 2007 UPS will begin charging for "Dimensional Weight", i.e. charges based on the size of a parcel as opposed to simply its scale weight.
Called "dim" and / or "cubing", such charges have been applied by air shippers for years. This will be a "first" for ground shipments.
What this means to shippers, are potential increases of up to 75% for large packages. What it means to other delivery businesses is potentially lost revenue if they don't follow suit.
Industry players see dimensional charges as a challenge for small couriers and shipping companies unable to cost-justify the complex laser-based systems used for dimensional measurement. Such carriers will be losing major revenue opportunity.
Richard Cooper is President of a mid-size Canadian courier business, Cardinal Couriers.
"Our company was forced into dimensioning charges by the big players." says Cooper.
"We investigated all our dimensioning (dim) and cubing (cube) options, including Mettler Toledo Cargoscan and Quantronix Cubiscan. None of the systems we reviewed met our requirements."
The Cardinal solution was to contract with Global Sensor Systems (GSS), a Canadian company specializing in electronic sensing technology. The system developed combines horizontal and vertical sensor bars containing passive dimensioning sensors. The bars are mounted on a custom weigh scale. When a package is placed on the scale, its dimensions are instantly determined and the shipping weight is calculated by a computer within the measuring device.
"Our first system", says Cooper, "Was installed right in our conveyor line. The operator simply positioned the parcel on the scale up against the sensor bars. The weight and dimension data are captured by the system automatically for logistical and billing transactions.
"The ExpressCube is completely self-contained," Cooper continues, "with all the software needed to interface with our accounting system. We are able to dimension and weigh up to 500 packages per hour per system. It accepts boxes from 15cm to 122 cm length, 15cm to 91cm high, 15 cm to 61.5cm depth. Data collection speed is about 1.3 seconds per package." Bottom line, ExpressCube will dimension and weigh any box fitting in a 4 foot by 3 foot by 2 foot grid in about one second.
"Apart from being an extremely cost-effective solution by comparison," says Cooper; "we liked the concept of measurement without using laser beams. From a safety perspective on the shop floor, and from the maintenance angle as well - there's no need for alignment checks on the measuring beams and the equipment is suited to being knocked about on a conveyor line."
GSS has announced a countertop series of Expresscube. With a footprint requiring only a 24 in. space, these simple systems are ideal for kiosk, mail room, e-commerce, slotting, pic/pack and postal, operations.
"One of the problems we've experienced with dim charges," says Cooper, "Is that errors in dimensioning at the client front-end result in supplemental billing, sometimes arriving two weeks after the package has been delivered. We're encouraging many of them to invest in their own small systems so that we all get dim measuring on the same billing page the first time out."
One thing is certain, if you are a shipper without dim capability, you'll be losing revenue opportunity.