Magazine Article | October 25, 2008

Increase Efficiency With Real-Time Delivery Tracking

Source: Field Technologies Magazine
Integrated Solutions, November 2008
Written by: Sarah Howland
Use RFID To Ease Safety Inspections

The Building Commission of Indiana is responsible for performing safety inspections for things such as elevators, amusement park rides, ambulances, pressure vessels (such as hot water tanks), and construction site mobile trailers throughout the state of Indiana. To accomplish these various inspections, The Building Commission of Indiana has 18 inspectors. Each year, these inspectors examine approximately 15,000 elevators, 1,200 amusement park rides, and 60,000 pressure vessels.

Until recently, the process The Building Commission of Indiana had in place to perform these inspections was paper intensive. An inspector would complete hand-written reports in the field during an inspection. These reports were then later manually keyed into Indiana's database by clerical staff for electronic records management. Further, multiple carbon copies of these reports had to be kept on file by building or amusement park ride owners, county officials, and The Building Commission of Indiana. The duplicated efforts of the inspectors and clerical staff that this process created was time-consuming and inefficient.
While attending a presentation on how to use RFID (radio frequency identification) to track emergency equipment, deputy chief Building Commissioner Bill Franklin realized that RFID technology could also help The Building Commission of Indiana with the inspection of amusement park rides. The Building Commission of Indiana partnered with Sysgen Data and Northern Apex to develop a customized application for using RFID in the inspection process.

Eliminate Manual Processes With RFID
Today, inspectors are equipped with Motorola handheld mobile computers. With the handheld, the inspector completes the necessary forms electronically rather than writing reports. Once the forms are completed, an Alien RFID tag (attached on the ride) that stores historical data is updated with the results of the latest inspection. The inspectors also use a belt-attached, portable printer, which connects to the handheld via Bluetooth, to print a copy of the inspection report for the ride owner rather than the carbon copies used before.
With the new solution, the data entered into the Motorola handheld computer is transferred via cell phone modem connection to The Building Commission of Indiana's mainframe computer system. Pertinent inspection information can also be downloaded to the handheld from the mainframe system. Now, data integrity is maintained more effectively because the human error that can occur with manual reporting is removed from the process. Also, with the automatic transfer of the data, The Building Commission of Indiana has been able to eliminate the manual reentry of data from the written reports to the mainframe computer system.                                                        

Schnucks Markets is a regional grocery chain that supplies its product to 103 stores in seven states using a fleet of more than 100 delivery trucks. With trucks often carrying perishable inventory, it is important for Schnucks to have an effective measure in place to track its shipments and ensure the product arrives at the appropriate end location in a timely manner.

Schnucks has been using GPS technology to collect tracking data for some time, but until recently, dispatchers manually recorded deliveries and planned route changes. Questions and updates required dispatchers to call the drivers multiple times per day. These manual processes left Schnucks vulnerable to instances of human error.

Schnucks turned to Agilis Systems for a customized fleet management solution. Each driver is given a truck-mounted, GPS-enabled mobile phone that provides dispatch with each driver's real-time location. Mobile Resource Management software from Agilis enables integrated Web-based dispatching, work order management, routing, and automated call-ahead services.

Rather than dealing with paperwork, drivers now download their scheduled stops and route information onto their phones at the beginning of each shift. Dispatchers follow drivers' progress on a Web map and can capture delivery information and provide updates on the fly. If emergency situations occur — such as bad weather, traffic conditions, or urgent customer requests — the dispatcher can quickly make adjustments and automatically alert the drivers. After each stop a driver makes, the next Schnucks store on the route is notified by an automated call to prepare for delivery, which reduces driver idle time while waiting for the store to prepare.

Decrease Idle Time, Reduce Fuel Expenses
Since implementing the Agilis solution, Schnucks has been able to increase route efficiency and decrease costs. For instance, Schnucks has decreased idle time for each delivery by 16%, thereby reducing expensive fuel consumption. The decrease in idle time of drivers waiting to deliver at the store location has allowed each driver to make an additional delivery per shift. The dispatcher's ability to manage the routes in real time has decreased time that was previously wasted on traffic jams and weather delays, and dispatchers can now prioritize customer needs and respond quickly by sending the nearest available driver.