Maintaining the human touch while going high-tech

WHEN Mohammed Nizzaar Abdul Nazzeer joined blu as a driver about a year ago, he knew there would be more to the job than simply getting from point A to point B.

"I wanted something more than driving," says the 33-year-old, who was previously a private-hire driver.

And he got precisely that - not just in the form of new skills, but also when he moved up to a supervisory role last December. "I've picked up a lot of things here," he concludes.

The first big difference was the nature of delivery work at blu: "It's not the normal kind of delivery where you send things to homes."

Although blu does provide home deliveries, its focus is on automated lockers called bluPorts, which allow customers to pick up parcels at their own convenience.

Apart from delivering items to blu's growing network of bluPorts, the company's drivers also have to maintain the computer system which controls these lockers.

"In the beginning I didn't know anything," says Mr Nizzaar.

But with some guidance, he quickly got used to logging into the machines for maintenance. "It's quite straightforward. If you know a little bit about IT, you should be okay."

Customers are not the only ones who find bluPorts convenient. Delivery drivers, too, see an advantage to this self-collection system.

With home delivery, "there's a lot of problems that can happen", explains Mr Nizzaar.

Firstly, customers may not be at home to receive their packages.

Then, some of them may insist on the package being left outside their house, in a shoe rack or cabinet - thus running the risk of theft.

If something does disappear, the deliveryman will have to answer for it, notes Mr Nizzaar.

In contrast, bluPort delivery is much more secure, which means peace of mind for deliverymen too: "There's no need to worry about things going missing."

Mr Nizaar's journey with the company has since taken him into even newer territory. He became a delivery team coordinator in December, and now manages half-a-dozen people. Each day, he oversees the planning of routes for the required deliveries.

This eye for efficiency was revealed in his previous role. Delivery routes are automatically suggested by software. But after driving similar routes a few times, Mr Nizzaar realised that a trip which took three hours by the advised route could actually be done in two.

"After that, when I showed them that 'This is a better route, it's faster', they made the change," he said.

Such knowledge of the ground illustrates how the human touch is important even in a tech-enabled firm, says blu founder Prashant Dadlani: "Processes can be automated but the human element should not be."

And despite being high-tech, blu's business is chiefly about people - something that was brought home to Mr Nizzaar when he heard a casual remark by his sister.

Having bought something online, she mentioned that she was going to Vista Point mall to pick it up at a bluPort.

"I said to her: 'Did you know that's where I work?'" Mr Nizzaar recalls with a smile.

Brought to you by The Future Economy Council