Mathematician helps Nightline to gauge demand for parcel deliveries

An academic from the University of Cambridge has been brought in by Ireland's leading courier company to help make sure deliveries to and from the country are made on time.

Dr Tom Sawyer, who works at the university's Judge Business School, has been helping Dublin-based courier company Nightline to devise a method of accurately predicting how the firm's parcel volumes will change over a year. The courier, which offers a range of services through online parcel delivery specialist Parcel2Go's Irish website www.parcel2go.com/ie/, hopes Dr Sawyer's research will help to improve the company's ability to plan throughout the year and help it to manage its parcel delivery loads.

Parcel2Go's marketing director, Richard Mercer, said: "We haven't heard of a courier company bringing in the help of an academic before, but the idea makes complete sense. Everyone in the courier business knows that the run-up to Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year, but trying to work out how demand will shift each month can be extremely difficult.

"By the sound of things, any Parcel2Go customers in Ireland who book an international parcel delivery or a service to an address in Ireland, can rest assured Nightline will have the necessary resources in place to be able to handle demand, whatever the time of year."

A report by Post&Parcel said the model used by Dr Sawyer has already been utilised in the healthcare sector to deal with seasonal fluctuations in demand for services, and is capable of helping a business to plan months in advance. Short-term forecasts are however more accurate than long-term predictions.

Mr Mercer added: "Nightline is an important partner for Parcel2Go, helping to provide Irish businesses and private individuals with safe and reliable domestic and international courier services throughout the year. This new tool will no doubt be a great help when it comes to future planning and this can only be good news for Parcel2Go and Nightline customers."

About Parcel2Go:
Parcel2Go Ltd has been offering its customers the opportunity to organise a international parcel delivery through international parcel delivery firms for the past 21 years. Based in Bolton, the company operates a cost-effective collection and delivery service using couriers such as City Link and DHL throughout the UK, Europe, and countries across the world.