An inbound package tracking system is often viewed as a necessary expense/tool for a company,
and the responsibility of finding one is often decided through a purchasing process designed
to find the lowest cost possible. This is appropriate for some businesses, but far too often
a company invests in a tracking system that doesn't do what they need it to. The best way to
determine what is needed vs. what can be spent is to take a simple approach.
"Hire" a tracking system the same way you would hire an employee. Ultimately, this boils down
to two questions:
1) WHAT DO I NEED?: Determine what you need to accomplish when receiving mail and packages.
What records are maintained? Does your current system provide this information without requiring
heavy staff involvement? Your accounts payables department also depends on a reliable process,
otherwise they'll spend a lot of time going back through receiving documents to confirm that an
invoice should be paid. Your next employee - a tracking system - has to do these things.
2) HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH TO ME?: First, look at what you are paying already. Many tracking systems
still require staff involvement to complete common tasks such as notifying recipients that a
package has arrived, looking up the status of a package or obtaining proof of delivery. If your
current software isn't performing these tasks, your employees are. So, when hiring your tracking
system "employee", you don't want to bring in underqualified applicants, tempting as their price
may be.
Answer these two questions, and you'll know if you have the right tracking system
