According to the results, the duration of individual delivery processes was sometimes reduced by up to ten days. "Freight forwarders save themselves the entire effort of documenting delivery bills - from scanning and archiving to the obligation to provide information," says Oliver Püthe, head of the project at GS1 Germany. The detailed results of the pilot project were presented at the digital symposium "Paperless Logistics" on October 6, 2021. During the course of the project, the participants particularly liked the contactless transfer of the document using the QR code scan, the digital signature and the elimination of delivery note printing. They also welcomed the fact that the quality of the document does not suffer as a result of multiple manual passes. In their opinion, the benefits also include the prompt and complete availability of proof of delivery, including clearly legible information on delivery discrepancies.

"The digital delivery bill is an important building block for end-to-end digital business processes in transport logistics," says Christian Grotemeier, Managing Director of BVL. In future, every partner in the supply chain will be able to access their delivery bills digitally, comment on them and sign them.

The digital delivery bill is operated as a web app in the Open Telekom Cloud. Everyone involved in the delivery process has access according to precisely defined rights. As a first step, the shipping companies store the delivery bills digitally. They use the GS1 standard GDTI (Global Document Type Identifier) so that the digital document can be clearly assigned to the respective delivery. When loading, the driver scans a QR code with their smartphone camera. This gives them temporary, secure access to the digital delivery bill in the cloud. This also contains a QR code. It is shown on delivery. The recipient scans the displayed QR code from the driver's cell phone and electronically confirms receipt of the goods. This allows the subsequent steps, such as creating the delivery note and invoicing the retailer and carrier, to be initiated directly.

The process is secure: "Processing the data via the Open Telekom Cloud ensures the best availability and complies with data protection in accordance with European standards," says Ludger Vennewald, responsible for Sales Mobility, Transport & Logistics at T-Systems. Following evaluation of the pilot project, the digital delivery bill will be developed further. In addition, a GS1 application recommendation will be created to support companies with its implementation. The first concrete applications could be available as early as 2022.