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Penguin Pickup had already established a successful network of drop-off points across Toronto and Montreal. The next step was adding autonomous parcel lockers to complement their existing network.
Penguin’s plan was to start with a pilot to validate the concept before scaling to a larger rollout.
Penguin’s carrier partners needed to deposit returns and failed deliveries directly into lockers for Penguin’s subscribed customers, without any pre-registration of parcels. Usage is tracked per compartment, enabling Penguin to bill courier companies based on actual locker usage.
CollabNet built the integration between the lockers and Penguin’s existing subscription platform, so lockers could validate subscribers and accept parcels from any courier without prior setup or API integration.
For CollabNet the business model was completely different comparing to our completed projects and experience in the European market.
The project required CollabNet to work across multiple constraints simultaneously.
CollabNet helped Penguin Pickup to evaluate different locker hardware options available in the market. Based on customer criteria and available options, ARKA’s battery-powered lockers were selected for the project.
CollabNet configured the platform for Penguin’s operational environment, including network data setup, carrier configuration, user roles, branding, cloud environment setup, hardware integration, and training for Penguin’s team.
Penguin’s subscription model was already in place – CollabNet’s work was making the lockers recognize and validate subscribers, so that couriers could deposit parcels for the right customers. Locker usage is tracked per compartment and billed to carriers.
CollabNet integrated with ARKA’s battery powered lockers, building software capabilities to manage power across locker components, monitor battery levels in real time and implement MQTT for hardware communication.
CollabNet has been a great partner on our locker pilot. Their team helped us quickly understand key challenges and opportunities in operating a locker network, while maintaining clear and efficient communication throughout. We appreciated their openness and expertise, and truly enjoyed working together.
Separating hardware and software gives operators flexibility and long-term control, but the scale needs to justify it.
With a small amount of lockers, the added complexity of managing two separate providers outweighed the benefits. At larger scale, the flexibility pays off as we have seen in the European market.
This project also reinforced that every market and client operates differently, which is why CollabNet’s platform is built to be adaptable to different business models, hardware and operational requirements.
The complete ecosystem for
Out-of-Home delivery networks
This project is co-financed by the European Union. Sendus OÜ is developing two new software modules, Configuration Management and Issue Management for the CollabNet parcel locker platform to increase its export potential (project nr 2021-2027.1.01.26-1736).
Grant amount: 18 780 €
Project period: 22.04.2026 – 30.11.2026