For over 225 years PostNL has been a trusted name in logistics across the Benelux region. With ~33,000 employees and 5,700 retail points, PostNL is deeply embedded in the daily lives of millions.

The logistics industry has experienced a dramatic shift. Where letter mail once dominated, eCommerce is now the top driver of growth. With that comes a new reality: customers expect more order control, delivery options, parcel transparency, and personalized services.

“To keep up with the pace of change, software became our most important strategic asset,” said Jasper ten Hove, CTO at PostNL.

PostNL adopted the Mendix low-code platform in 2015 to address both their present and future software requirements. Since then, they have established a thriving developer community and modernized processes from parcel logistics to workforce planning.

Low-code supports the speed expected of PostNL while offering the competitive edge of adaptability – enabling them to be ready for whatever is next in their industry.

Laying the Foundation for Low-Code

Before low-code became mainstream, PostNL was already searching for faster and smarter ways to build software. Over the course of 15 years, the company explored various tools and approaches.

The pressure on IT then was not dissimilar to the challenges of today. Deliver new applications that scale, keep pace with innovation – and do it all without compromising security.

That exploration led to Mendix, which quickly proved to be more than a development tool. It became a foundation for change.

“If you use low-code properly, you can deliver systems that are mission-critical, high-performance, and highly adaptive,” ten Hove said. “That’s almost a golden triangle in IT.”

Mendix offered PostNL the ability to develop reliable software much more quickly, acting as an abstraction layer to remove the complexity that slows down traditional development. Security protocols, compliance standards, and governance practices came built into the platform.

“You don’t need to bother with the repetitive stuff. A lot of it is out of the box,” said Paul Willekens, PostNL’s Mendix Center of Excellence platform owner. “That really saves a lot of trouble.”

For developers like Alex van den Berg, a 15-year Java veteran, it was a welcome shift.

This balance between rapid prototyping and long-term sustainability marked a turning point. With Mendix in place as a strategic platform, PostNL could shift its focus from maintaining systems to transforming them.

Modernizing for a New Era of Logistics

PostNL’s shift from a traditional mail carrier to digital logistics leader was driven by market evolution. Today, PostNL operates through three strategic business segments:

• A fast-growing e-commerce network
• An international platforms business, capturing growth through asset-light, digital-first models
• A modernized letter service, transforming into a future-proof and socially relevant postal network

This growth hasn’t come without challenges. Consumers, employees, and business partners alike demanded better tools and experiences. To keep pace, PostNL needed to do more than digitize. It needed to rethink how it operated.

“We’re becoming much more consumer focused,” ten Hove explained. “That has two sides: the receiving customer and the shipping customer. They both have quite different demands and sometimes they align quite nicely, but it’s all changing quite rapidly. Most of those changes have to be facilitated by improvements in our technology.”

To support this transformation, PostNL built a strong digital ecosystem grounded in three core principles:

• Deep business understanding
• Adaptable software systems
• Aligned data models

“If you don’t align the data models across applications, platforms, and domains, it’s going to be very difficult for them to interact with each other or develop new solutions that overlap,” ten Hove said.

Mendix became a key part of this strategy, helping PostNL quickly reimagine and adapt its core processes.

“We are now looking at it from a more ambitious perspective,” van den Berg emphasized.

As its Mendix maturity grew, PostNL began pushing the platform into an increasingly strategic and complex territory:

• Building mission-critical systems
• Experimenting with new technologies
• Setting the pace for what low-code could accomplish at scale

Driving Transformation with Core Applications

PostNL runs approximately 109 Mendix applications across its enterprise, from core operational platforms to quick-turn tooling that empowers teams on the ground.

Some standout applications thus far include:

• Order Management System, PostNL’s flagship, mission-critical platform built on Mendix, capable of processing up to 1.1 million parcels daily. The system dramatically improved agility, cutting down a three-year development backlog to just three months.
• Smart Shipment Router (SSR), a logistics tool that transforms Customer Orders into Operator Orders through components like the Matching App (order enrichment), Process App (order translation and execution planning), Operator Interaction Component (external operator integration), and Batch Input App (data distribution). Running in zero-downtime mode and leveraging AWS, SNS/SQS, and SSR ensures seamless order processing and operational continuity across PostNL’s environments.
• Plan Board Orders (PBO) Planning, a transport planning app displaying automated results on a plan board. The Logistic Dynamic Planning (LDP) algorithm helps optimize order planning, while the app allows planners to manually adjust plans via drag-and-drop or simulations. Reusable modules like LDP Connector, Planning Visualization, and Simulation are shared across PostNL’s business units to save development time.
• A cross-dock logistics app eliminating spreadsheets in the scheduling process. This app uses real-time depot data to optimize truck flow and dynamically steer floor teams, significantly streamlining operations. Built in just three months by a single full-time developer, it was also the first Mendix app to connect with PostNL’s centralized data platform, paving the way for broader automation.
• Tachotracker, a real-time driver performance monitoring app developed in four months by PostNL’s Fast Code Solution team. It replaces a legacy system that delayed data by up to two weeks, now delivering daily updates to leadership and enabling faster, more responsive management across the delivery network.

This ecosystem didn’t emerge overnight. It’s the result of deliberate investment, iterative learning, and growing confidence in low-code to support even the most business-critical systems.

Creating Custom a Workforce Solution

Another major transformation was the custom Workforce Management (WFM) platform. PostNL had relied on an off-the-shelf solution to manage labor planning, but it proved too rigid for the E-commerce use cases.

“We saw that we need to meet their requirements in a better way and a more flexible way, also matching the future vision of PostNL,” explained Marilise Boeve, one of PostNL’s platform owners. “Since Mendix already proved within PostNL that is fast, flexible, and reliable, we chose Mendix as a first proof of concept to show that we can also build our own workforce management platform.”

The result was a tailored system developed in just eight months, rolled out nationwide in the following weeks, and now in use by 170+ planners across 27 depot locations. Integrated with seven backend systems, the app eliminated the need for Excel sheets, improved compliance, and laid the groundwork to scale to 30,000 users enabling precise, real-time scheduling across the entire operation.

“What really helped our implementation and development was that we have the Mendix Center of Excellence. This got security measurements in place and had the basis of our platforms steady and stable for us,” Boeve said.

She credited three core success factors:

• Building team capabilities with a strong goal and focus
• Working hand-in-hand with end users
• Prioritizing continuous optimization

The WFM platform continues to evolve as PostNL advances its digital strategy. Current enhancements include developing automated planning capabilities to further optimize labor allocation and support long-term operational goals.

In October 2025, the team launched a proof of concept integrating the application with PostNL’s in-house algorithm services on AWS, marking the next step toward intelligent, data-driven workforce management.

Scaling with Discipline: Governance, Fit, and Flexibility

As PostNL expanded its low-code portfolio across the enterprise, it quickly realized that sustained success required more than speed. It demanded structure, clarity, and the right fit for each project.

With Mendix playing an increasingly strategic role, PostNL established a strong governance foundation to ensure every application met high standards for security, scalability, and business value.

At the core of this approach is the Mendix Center of Excellence (MCoE), which provides best practices, architectural guidance, and development standards.

This triage process helps determine whether a solution should be bought, built, or custom-developed; and if built, whether it should live in Mendix or AWS.

To ensure quality and consistency, PostNL introduced a starter app: a templated foundation that helps teams begin with the right architecture and performance standards.

“We make sure there are tools that teams can use to make sure that they develop in the correct and easy way,” Willekens said.

PostNL’s agile delivery model also ensures that business and IT remain tightly aligned. According to van den Berg, each Mendix team is structured around a product owner and solution consultant, with architects playing a critical role in shaping the long-term scalability and integration strategy.

For high-scale or data-intensive use cases, PostNL may opt to build on AWS using a serverless, microservices architecture. Increasingly, PostNL is exploring Mendix-AWS integration to combine the best of both worlds, ensuring that high-volume data and complex operations – like scheduling, parcel tracking, and real-time planning – are executed seamlessly.

Ultimately, what sets PostNL’s digital organization apart isn’t just its processes or platforms – but its ability to reuse components across domains. By embedding standards across technical infrastructure and team structures, PostNL has built a software ecosystem that’s fast, resilient, and ready for the future.

Empowering Developers and Fostering Innovation

At PostNL, building a thriving low-code ecosystem goes beyond technology. It’s about empowering developers and cultivating a culture of continuous learning and collaboration.

To onboard new Mendix developers swiftly, PostNL leverages a curated libraries of resources, helping each developer hit the ground running with the right tools and best practices.

Recognizing that not every project requires a full-scale initiative, PostNL created the Fast Code team. This group is dedicated to rapid delivery of smaller feature requests or enhancements, typically within two sprints. This agile capability allows teams to stay responsive without sacrificing quality.

“The quality I look for in my developers is the power of their soft skills in combination with their technical skills,” said Fast Code platform owner, Leander Cramer.

To strengthen its Mendix community, PostNL hosts internal knowledge-sharing events such as engineering days and serves as a satellite location for Mendix’s Capture the Flag coding challenges. These events inspire collaboration and give developers space to share ideas and sharpen their skills.

“We try to promote our Mendix community with these events,” Willekens highlighted.

The Center of Excellence also offers a unique window into Mendix’s development philosophy and community-building strategies.

For ten Hove, the MCoE facilitates co-development by bringing business stakeholders and developers together, enabling real-time feedback as workflows and applications take shape. “This approach allows for very rapid development and prototyping.”

“A Center of Excellence for us has been a great way of facilitating the low-code ecosystem that we’re trying to develop and continuously bring to a higher level,” ten Hove said.

Building What’s Next

PostNL’s Mendix transformation isn’t just about modernizing logistics. It’s about redefining how software is created, used, and scaled across the enterprise. This aligns with PostNL’s AI-first strategy, embedding intelligence and automation across the company.

To continue pushing low code’s boundaries, PostNL is exploring the integration of Mendix and AI. To build foundational knowledge and hands-on experience, PostNL partnered with Mendix to launch an internal AI training series and workshops with business owners.

“Mendix brought us some exercises which leveraged the gen AI modules – from chatbots to predictive classification – while our teams shared theoretical insights to better understand AI’s real-world applications,” van den Berg shared.

A couple early use cases include:

• Automating Customs Document Classification – A previously manual process now reimagined with AI to significantly improve speed and accuracy in handling customs documentation.
• Predictive Delivery Forecasting – By combining machine learning and Mendix, PostNL can accurately forecast package delivery dates even before parcels arrive at their depots, enhancing planning and customer experience.

To support this evolving portfolio, PostNL continues to grow its developer community. “We’re a home for both highly technical experts and business-focused developers. Our needs are broad, so our community is, too,” Willekens said.

For PostNL, low code isn’t a shortcut, but a strategic foundation. It’s how they’ve built critical logistics systems, transformed internal workflows, and enabled teams to move faster than ever before. But the journey isn’t finished. If anything, it’s accelerating.