A milkround with a mission to reduce plastic waste and go paperless using DocuSign eSignature
When David Attenborough called for action to combat plastic waste in our oceans there was a 53% reduction in single-use plastics in the following 12 months.
Recognising the public desire for change and wanting to offer an environmentally-friendly alternative to the existing grocery market, the Modern Milkman is a grocery delivery service with a mission to reduce plastic waste across the UK and beyond.
The small business that started as a group of friends running their own local milkround, now employs 86 full time staff, servicing customers across the UK. The business delivers a range of fresh groceries in plastic free packaging, making sustainability convenient and achievable.
The organisation is leveraging DocuSign eSignature to transform its contract signing and management system, using technology to make a digital-first business more efficient and more sustainable.
Using electronic signatures to structure agreement workflows
Before implementing DocuSign eSignature, The Modern Milkman was using ‘wet’ signatures and free e-signature solution packages. One of Lambro Anastasiou’s first projects when he joined as CFO of the organisation was to implement more structure to workflow processes within the organisation.
Immediately he recognised that there was no logical structure when it came to document signing, storage and contract management. Agreements were saved in different places, in different formats, using a variety of tools and solutions.
“Our contract management was chaos—it's symptomatic of a fast growth early stage business.”
Lambro knew that instead of continuing to use free trials, a permanent electronic signature solution was needed. He chose DocuSign because of its brand recognition and reputation. “Everybody uses DocuSign, from government to venture capitalists. All of those people can't be wrong. ”
An e-signature solution that supports electronic witnessing
Another challenge The Modern Milkman faced was its need to sign a variety of agreements including deeds such as employment contracts, option grants and share certificates, which require more stringent formalities than other contracts. Where deeds need to be executed, there is typically a legal requirement for the witness to be physically present with the signer that they’re witnessing for.
DocuSign eWitness, a feature of eSignature, was instrumental in leading The Modern Milkman to choose DocuSign eSignature over other signing solutions because it enables the organisation to complete deeds electronically—saving on time and cost.
Because of its electronic witnessing functionalities, alongside its easy integrations and the fact that there aren’t a large number of stakeholders dealing with agreement signings within the organisation, DocuSign eSignature was quickly implemented throughout the entire organisation and the results were immediately recognisable.
Even in a pre-pandemic world, collecting these signatures and then having to store them manually was a nightmare. During a pandemic, DocuSign eSignature and eWitness is a complete necessity. Without it, how would we collect signatures with a witness?”
How DocuSign is contributing to the Modern Milkman’s greener future
As the population is becoming increasingly conscious of its environmental impact, more people are changing their consumption habits towards a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle. This is reflected in the huge growth The Modern Milkman has been experiencing.
Fortunately, the business implemented DocuSign eSignature at the right time. The Modern Milkman is expecting to grow significantly in the coming years and is seeking to become even more environmentally friendly. This includes making its entire fleet of delivery vehicles electric and continuing to build its relationship with DocuSign to become less paper-reliant.
The organisation's commitment to a greener future is reflected in its choice to use eSignature—a solution eliminates paper from the signing process as well as enabling the organisation to do business at a pace that wouldn’t be physically possible with ‘wet signatures’.
Within a couple of hours Lambro was able to collect over 20 investor signatures from around the world—something that could have taken weeks and accrued significant costs had it been done using pen and paper.
Using eSignature to scale a growing business
The future of The Modern Milkman is looking bright as the company continues to scale and invest in innovative technology. The Modern Milkman hopes to expand eSignature in order to onboard drivers, using DocuSign ID verification to automate license and passport checks that could save time and resources. Lambro notes the importance of having the right foundation in place to allow the company to scale and keep processes as seamless and efficient as possible.