Originally Posted At: Business NH Magazine
With online ordering continuing to rise, wariness about home deliveries and porch pirates is also increasing. But a NH company is using technology to solve the problem.
Position Imaging, a Portsmouth-based tech company that focuses on package logistics and asset location, is seeing increased interest in its flagship product, Smart Package Room.
Smart Package Room allows couriers to deliver packages into a secure room by scanning a unique QR code, then scan labels and assign packages to residents. Next, they place the packages on any open shelf. Position Imaging’s computer vision technology locates and tracks every package. The system automatically notifies residents when packages are ready for pickup. After the resident enters their unique PIN at the kiosk or wall monitor, the location of their package is shown on a digital room map. Once inside the room, the system uses light and audio cues to direct a resident to their package and notifies them if they pick up the wrong item. A camera adds 24/7 monitoring.
“Go to any big building in New York City and you will see packages lying everywhere. That was a huge pain point,” says Position Imaging CEO Ned Hill.
Position Imaging has also just rolled out iPickup Center, a system designed to make in-store pickup of online orders more efficient. How this works is similar to the Smart Package Room but also uses a laser to point customers to their package. If a customer attempts to pick up the wrong package, an alarm sounds and a notification is made. iPickup Center also allows stores to replace bulky locker systems they currently use or eliminates the need for staff to go on a hunt in the back of the store for online orders. “Now, [a customer] can scan a QR code, the system will point at the package and they are out the door in 15 seconds,” Hill says.
Hill says iPickup Center already has several customers. “The pandemic slowed us down tremendously because we could not install in buildings. [But] it enabled us to add new features and new products,” he says.
He expects sales for the company, which has 50 employees, to double in 2022 and again in 2023. Plus, they plan to launch a new product, iClip, next spring. The iClip tracks individual items, like luggage at an airport or meal pickups at restaurants for delivery services, Hill says.
For more information, visit position-imaging.com.