AtWhitbreadFood Logistics a combination
of ruggedised mobile hardware fromPsionand software from mobile
applications specialist Blackbay, deployed in the second half of
2006, has made the delivery process faster, more efficient and
paper-free.
Over the course of the day's shift, drivers for the company
deliver food stocks to 1,400 Whitbread outlets across the UK,
including Costa Coffee, TGI Friday's, Brewer's Fayre, Beefeater,
David Lloyd Leisure and Premier Travel Inn.
Whether stocks are distributed from the company's national
distribution centre in Reading, or from warehouses in Devon,
Glasgow, Castle Donnington, or Trafford Park in Manchester,
deliveries must reach their destinations on time, complete and, in
the case of chilled and frozen products, at the right temperature.
If any of these targets are missed, the customer experience and
unit profits could suffer.
Order discrepancies must be corrected as soon as possible and
drop-offs need to be monitored to ensure that inventory at the
depot is kept at optimal levels.
For these reasons, drivers for Whitbread Food Logistics are no
longer armed with clipboards stuffed with paper forms. That was the
old way. It slowed deliveries, could result in lost paperwork and,
owing to poor handwriting, sometimes led to inaccurate recording of
information.
Instead of pen and paper, drivers use a Psion Teklogix Workabout
Pro. They log in for their shift on this device, and their route
for the day is automatically downloaded to the device by the
Delivery Connect application from Blackbay.
Before the drivers leave the depot, Delivery Connect prompts
them via instructions on the screen to carry out inspections: first
to their vehicle's tacometer, odometer, tyres and lights then to
the food products loaded on to the vehicle.
As each driver leaves the depot, their time of departure is
recorded. Once they have arrived at their first destination,
Delivery Connect guides them through the drop-off process. First,
their time of arrival is entered. Next, food temperatures are
checked, customers are shown a summary screen confirming the number
and quantities of products, and any discrepancies are noted.
Finally, the customer's signature is taken on the device as proof
of delivery.
Later, back at the depot, the drivers are taken through the
end-of-shift reporting process by a similar series of prompts on
the device.
At every stage, the information captured on Delivery Connect is
sent in real-time via GPRS over the
Vodafone mobile network to managed mobile application servers
located at Canary Wharf. From there, the data is sent over a
virtual private network to Whitbread's main datacentre in
Maidstone, Kent.
This application of mobile technology has had a huge impact on
the efficiency and smooth running of Whitbread's supply chain, says
Jonathan Abbott, systems analyst and project manager at the
firm.
"We had already made great progress in streamlining our
warehouse management operations thanks to our implementation of
software from Chess Logistics Technology in 2003, but we had no way
of tracking what happened to food products once they left the
depot. The end game was always to extend our visibility of products
right to the customer's front door - and that is what we have got
now," he says.
It is a big improvement on the previous system. "Delivery times,
claims and driver feedback all used to be captured manually by the
drivers and then entered into the Chess system by a clerk at the
depot on the drivers' return. That had a lead time of up to 36
hours," Abbott says.
Now, each scheduled delivery is checked and centrally recorded
within minutes of the delivery taking place. Where discrepancies do
arise, they can be resolved more quickly.
By supplying mobile devices to drivers, a full audit trail is
captured for each route, enabling accurate driver debriefs and
providing data to feed back into route and schedule optimisation
systems, thanks to integration between Delivery Connect and
Whitbread's warehouse management system.
In addition, the administrative overheads associated with the
previous system were a real burden, and errors in data capture were
not uncommon when clerks had to transcribe handwritten notes from
drivers. The recent relocation of all administrative staff to a
single site - the national distribution centre in Reading -
provided a further catalyst for change, says Abbott.
"In terms of administrative staff, we have been able to reduce
headcount by five people, leading to a saving of £125,000 - so that
was five fewer people needed at the national distribution centre,"
he says.
Those remaining should find their jobs a lot easier, thanks to
the Delivery Connect application, he adds.
"One of the greatest benefits has been the reduction in the
paper trail," says Abbot.
Paperwork has been reduced by three to five pages on more than
6,000 deliveries every week, resulting in Whitbread Food Logistics'
paper costs falling by about £10,000 per year.
But it is not only the administrative staff who benefit. The
time saving for drivers is about 30 minutes per route per day. With
Whitbread Food Logistics operating 90 routes, this means a saving
of 45 man hours every day - a statistic Abbott says will lead to a
full return on the investment by year three of the project.
Whitbread's system was piloted by two drivers in June 2006, then
70 handheld devices were rolled out to drivers operating out of the
national distribution centre in September 2006, and the system was
extended to the satellite depot staff at Trafford Park in
Manchester in December 2006.
There are plans to roll out 20 more devices for drivers at the
remaining regional warehouses over the next few months.
Initially, the introduction of the devices involved a big
culture change, says Abbot. "Although many of our drivers are
PC-literate, some are not. So the thought of having to use a
handheld computer was a bit of a worry to them. They felt that it
would be a lot more testing than pen and paper. But generally,
their attitude changed once they had a go with the new system," he
says.
Training took the form of one- or two-hour individual classroom
sessions, after which each driver went out for the day on their
regular route accompanied by a "driver-trainer" with an in-depth
knowledge of the Delivery Connect system.
"By putting the system into practice as soon as possible,
drivers could quickly consolidate what they had learnt in the
classroom," says Abbot.
"The success of this project and the ease with which we trained
employees to use the technology is testament to the simplicity of
the Delivery Connect design. Drivers got to grips with it really
quickly, even those who are not very comfortable with computer
technology."
The handheld devices are holding up well. "The Psion Teklogix
Workabout Pro is a ruggedised device that can take quite a
hammering. It can, for example, withstand a drop of about feet with
no ill effects," says Abbott.
In the longer term, there are plans to extend the scope of the
Delivery Connect application to include more functions. "We are
interested in a number of things: satellite navigation is a big one
for us, for example, and the drivers are already saying it would be
really useful to them," says Abbott.
"They are also saying it would be great to use the devices to
access their timesheets. And we would also like to be able to
record vehicle damage on the devices. Right now, that is still done
on a paper form known as a 'scratch sheet', so that is another area
where we could potentially eliminate paper forms."
In some cases, the new functions are already supported by
Blackbay - they just need to be added on to Whitbread's
implementation.
"As soon as we are fully rolled out, Blackbay has said it will
be ready to help us, and it keeps us updated about new
capabilities," says Abbott.