What do postal businesses need from AI and security?

DNVN - As more and more businesses enter the delivery market, the competition to attract frontline workers is fiercer than ever. This poses many urgent requirements...

The express delivery market is fiercely competitive.

In March, one country’s state-owned postal company announced it would stop all mail delivery services by the end of 2025, citing a 90% drop in mail volume since the turn of the century. Another country reported that mail volume in 2022/23 was half that of 2011/12, falling from 14 billion to seven billion. Many other countries are seeing post office closures, rising stamp prices, and fewer postal services each day and each week.

The proliferation of email, text messages, messaging apps, electronic bills and receipts has led to what many experts call a “structural decline” in the amount of paper mail delivered.

This is happening across the region but is in stark contrast to the strong growth in domestic and international parcel delivery services – a trend fueled by the pandemic and the boom in e-commerce, which has seen a growing number of competing couriers offering flexible services to households, shops and delivery lockers, with a range of delivery options.

Businesses are constantly under "pressure" to expand delivery routes and increase delivery points.

The rapid growth of parcel and postal delivery services requires a continuous increase in logistics human resources - from warehouse staff to delivery drivers - to meet the needs of expanding delivery routes, increasing new delivery points as well as customers' increasing expectations for service speed.

As more and more businesses enter the delivery market, the competition to attract frontline workers is fiercer than ever. This creates an urgent need for high-quality, fast-implementing, learner-friendly training programs that help employees quickly achieve the required productivity.

Get ready for AI

This is where artificial intelligence (AI) can play a powerful supporting role. By taking on the role of assistant in the daily work of the postal and logistics workforce, AI can quickly provide new employees with necessary information, such as standard operating procedures, human resources policies, optimal delivery routes or delivery point updates. At the same time, AI also supports frontline staff in tracking work lists, helping to improve efficiency and accuracy in operations.

In Vietnam, the warehousing and logistics industry is also rapidly adopting advanced technology to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs amid rising demand from e-commerce and global trade.

With the growth of e-commerce, the globalization of supply chains, and customers’ expectations for faster delivery, businesses are adopting a variety of smart warehousing solutions to optimize inventory management, reduce operating costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Industry 4.0 technologies such as IoT, AI, machine vision, and big data are also being widely adopted, helping to more accurately forecast demand, monitor assets in real time, and optimize floor plans.

Integrating AI into frontline parcel delivery can become a key part of a business’s growth strategy. AI reduces training time and costs, while increasing operational value by helping new employees get up to speed quickly and perform better. This allows businesses to optimize costs while workers have more time to serve customers and complete more tasks. AI also simplifies manual tasks, providing a more positive work experience for frontline workers. This not only improves operational efficiency but also increases employee retention, while minimizing the cost of recruiting and training new employees.

But the question is, where should AI be integrated to make it easily accessible without disrupting daily operations? The answer lies in the tools that warehouse and logistics workers already use regularly – handheld and wearable devices. Integrating AI models directly on the device eliminates the need to transfer data to the cloud, thereby enhancing security and reducing latency because processing is done entirely on-premises.

These devices need to be equipped with chipsets capable of processing AI, so caution should be exercised when purchasing cheap devices, or implementing “bring your own device” (BYOD) policies, especially for contractors and temporary workers.

Ms. Tran Thi Bao Tran - Country Director Vietnam, Zebra Technologies.

AI-ready devices need to be equipped with the latest chipsets and have the right software architecture. These are devices designed for mail handling and delivery environments, not just regular mobile phones. They must be able to be managed, secured, serviced, and upgraded collectively by IT or operations technology teams, and provide frontline workers with computer vision, voice AI, and agentic AI applications.

Security issues

For this solution, simply calculating the cost per device or fleet is not enough. A strategic, long-term approach requires organizations to resist the temptation to buy the cheapest solution or require employees to use personal phones.

IT or operations leaders need to focus on long-term value. The costs of lost man-hours, slow employee onboarding and training, slow delivery routes, suboptimal route selection, and data and security risks need to be considered as drivers for investment and appropriate tools.

Data protection and privacy are a priority across logistics and postal organizations. Security measures and policies need to be in place to protect data stored in centralized ERP and CRM systems, in local branches, and on the devices of frontline couriers en route to customers’ homes or lockers.

And it is drivers and couriers who are at risk, as companies still have policies that allow them to use personal phones that do not provide the appropriate level of security for work-related data and software. Measures to keep devices secure include keeping software up to date, using approved apps, securing Wi-Fi, and managing IT devices. Protecting customer data is paramount. Hackers, ransomware, and data leaks on the dark web can damage customer trust and cause business revenue loss.

Saving money by buying the cheapest device on the market can cause greater damage to the hardware and reputation when these devices themselves have security weaknesses and lack AI-capable chipsets. With temporary and contract workers, when they leave the company, they also take their personal phones with them, potentially with large amounts of customer data, increasing the risk.

Logistics and parcel companies want better connected frontline workers, including the ability to monitor and control facilities, parcels, routes, and receiving points and lockers. This work needs to be done securely, as frontline workers are the ones who create, read, and handle the company’s data and are the face of the company. To help organizations prepare for the future, IT and operational technology teams need to invest in AI with security features.

Tran Thi Bao Tran - Country Director Vietnam, Zebra Technologies

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/chuyen-doi-so/cac-doanh-nghiep-buu-dien-can-gi-o-ai-va-an-ninh-bao-mat/20250917102242393