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Telematics – an intelligent future, like it or not
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Oct/Nov 2008
Home delivery: How mobile solutions are changing the landscape
 Integrating despatch management, tracking and real-time proof of delivery can solve many home delivery problems, says Marcia MacLeod, but it takes buy-in from all parties As the home delivery market matures, retailers are beginning to recognise the importance of fulfilment and carriers are urgently trying to meet their demands. And mobile technology goes a long way towards helping carriers reach the last mile Holy Grail, allowing communication between driver, depot, carrier, retailer and consumer. So everyone in the home delivery supply chain knows what goods are expected where, and at what time. Take scheduling. As carriers receive orders from the retailer, they put them into routing and scheduling software to work out optimum routes and orders of drops, taking into account any promised delivery windows (before 9.00, 10 to noon or whatever). This schedule is displayed on the driver's handheld terminal when he or she switches it on in the morning. On top of that, the system also offers full address details, plus any delivery instructions, such as 'leave in shed' or 'leave with number 40'. 
 'You have to make sure the retailer captures the correct information on the web or in the call centre.' That's the advice of Becky Clark, managing director of online despatch management specialist NetDespatch. 'A lot of homes don't have numbers, just names. It helps to know, say, that your destination is three doors up from the Hand and Flowers. Fortunately retailers are becoming more aware of the need to capture this sort of detail.' Increasingly, handhelds also hold the consumer's phone number and email address, so the driver can 'pre-alert' the consumer, sending an SMS or email to say 'I'm an hour away from you'. Drivers can also contact consumers to notify them of delays, or if they turn up to find no one is in. 'Scheduling technology has become clever,' says Jeff Taylor, sales manager at Intermec. 'These days it can work through more algorithms in a shorter period of time to come up with optimum routes. It also makes real-time dynamic scheduling easier; drivers can key in details of any delays, and the software can re-schedule the route as required. And given the widespread availability of GPS and mapping technology, there's now no excuse for any depot not to know where a vehicle is at any time.' 'Mobile technology gives home delivery companies the complete picture,' says John Wisdom, group sales and marketing director at tracking specialist Cybit. 'Without it, there is no way of knowing – and telling a customer – when a driver might arrive at an address, or why he didn't show up as promised.' DPS International, which specialises in vehicle routing, and its partner Codegate, also believe that dynamic scheduling can improve service levels. 'If a carrier can schedule dynamically,' says Wayne Savill, commercial manager at DPS, 'it could get away with one vehicle fewer on a given day – but this does depend on having delivery information as early as possible to allow centralised optimisation before the parcels leave the hub. 'As parcels are scanned into the hub, the software can optimise routes on the fly. Not all parcels for one postcode area may need to go to one depot. If, for example, a delivery address is on the edge of the territory, it might be better to give it to an adjacent depot that isn't as busy.' DPS works with Codegate and now also TomTom Work to provide the all-important communications with the driver. The driver can choose from a pre-programmed menu to notify the department when he has arrived at a delivery address, captured a signature, can't deliver because no one's in and so on. 'Home delivery is all about timing,' adds Codegate managing director Terran Churcher. 'If carriers can offer timed delivery, they can reduce or eliminate re-delivery, cutting costs at the same time. And customer dissatisfaction is making retailers recognise the value of timed deliveries. If you can use handhelds for dynamic scheduling, you can match promised service levels more easily – meeting pre-arranged time slots, for instance.' Codegate's dynamic scheduling software, in production now, will also allow carriers to schedule collections while the vehicle is on the road, picking up return items too big to be posted. Dynamic scheduling isn't being used on a wide scale – yet. But handhelds are invaluable for tracking parcels, as Larry Klimczyk, managing director at Blackbay, explains. 'All data goes into the scheduling system,' he says. 'This generates collection requests and delivery details. When parcels are scanned into the vehicle, it will tell them if an item is being loaded on the wrong van or if something is missing off that vehicle's manifest. Then when drivers deliver each parcel, they scan it again – and capture a signature dynamically if required. 'The security of tracking orders is now paramount,' Klimczyk says. 'It is easier to prevent theft and lost items when you scan them throughout their life cycle. The nominal amount of investment required is far outweighed by the cost of theft or pilferage and non-compliance with SLAs.' ![Digital signature capture Ôis a givenÕ for Skillweb, an electronic POD pioneer]](http://www.mlogmag.com/magazine/37/Skillweb-Trace-and-Track.gif "Digital signature capture Ôis a givenÕ for Skillweb, an electronic POD pioneer]") Although some, like Chris Wright, managing director of Skillweb, believe digital signature capture is now a given, many companies, including the large supermarkets, aren't capturing PODs in this way. Isotrak has found its in-cab fixed terminal solution the most popular. 'It's much cheaper than a handheld system,' points out Craig Sears-Black, sales and marketing director. 'Neither Asda nor Sainsbury captures signatures – but grocery delivery, especially where products are picked in-store, is not as complex as a normal parcel home delivery operation.' Isotrak and Blackbay have just announced a partnership which will link Isotrak's vehicle tracking with Blackbay scheduling and POD software. According to Sears-Black: 'This will bring together the best-of-breed electronic POD/service management suite with our best-of-breed fleet management, which is good for customers.' For normal parcel operations, however, POD of some sort is becoming standard. 'We are increasingly getting requests for PODs,' Cybit's John Wisdom says. 'These can be provided by capturing a digital signature or by the driver sending a message, with navigation details on top, so the depot can see the delivery location. There are arguments for and against both.' Imaging is becoming more popular, too, allowing drivers to take photos of damaged goods, or of the addressee's door when no one is in. In some cases they will even photograph the recipient who signs for the goods. 'People are looking for more secure PODs,' says Andy McBain, senior product marketing manager, mobile devices, for Motorola. 'It can prevent fraud because consumers can't say they didn't sign for the goods. We've even seen companies offering a *secure delivery' option in which they send a barcode label to the consumer's mobile phone, which the driver then scans on arrival.' Stand-alone pod systems The demand for POD and signature capture has led to the launch of two new stand-alone POD systems. Valley Technology launched its POD Father a year ago, making it available on a 'pay as you go' basis. Jobs can be captured on the Web and sent to the driver's handheld terminal, or the driver can use a drop-down menu to find his next job. It, too, can capture images. 'POD Father is designed as a stand-alone system,' says Valley Technology's managing director, Alastair Brown, 'but it can also be integrated into back-office systems. And it is so cheap: it costs a maximum 33p per signature captured, depending on volume. As with most systems, all PODs are posted on the Web for access by the carrier, retailer and/or consumer, although most consumers still call the contact centre to track their orders.' Hub portal Channel and Mobile Solutions is in the process of launching its Delivery POD 2009, which replaces an early POD product. It goes further than simply capturing signatures, providing full tracking of orders from receipt to delivery. For unattended deliveries, Channel and Mobile suggests the carrier send an email to the consumer to tell them where goods were left. NetDespatch's PODXchange, launched earlier this year, allows couriers to send PODs into NetDespatch's hub portal for translation into a format the carrier and retailer can read. The company says it can handle messages from all major handheld devices in any communication format. But not everyone thinks POD, by itself, is the be-all and end-all. 'POD is a horrible term,' says Mike Bowen, managing director at Channel and Mobile Solutions. 'People assume goods have been tracked from start to finish, but often they are not. You'll soon find out when something goes wrong, because there will be no way of tracking it.'  In order to provide full tracking, POD systems have to be integrated into the back office, which always takes more time and money than expected. But once it's done, the possibilities are endless. Microlise has healthcare customers whose drivers, all trained nurses, not only scan every bottle of pills delivered to home consumers, but will also check that equipment is in place and working, and that the consumer knows how to use it. Much of the wealth of data gained through mobile technology can be used for strategic planning. For example, carriers can see if vehicles on one route always run late, which could be the driver's fault, or a consequence of extra traffic or other problems on the route. Handheld data can also be used as a training tool. 'If,' says Wisdom, 'you can show a driver that by taking road A instead of road B, he has gone 20 miles out of his way, he will understand the importance of following set routes. Drivers with good local knowledge can offer valuable feedback, too, which may lead to a change in schedules. If you have the information, you have the opportunity to refine the business.' The technology is available to improve home delivery enormously. Costs of handhelds and of data transmission have dropped dramatically – 30 per cent for data transmission. But in order to succeed, it still takes a 'buy-in' from both carriers and retailers that isn't always there. As NetDespatch's Becky Clark points out: 'Everyone is talking about better service, first-time delivery and timed delivery, but no on does it – and no one will do it until the consumer abandons home shopping and returns to the High Street.' Maybe this time we should shoot the messenger. CASE STUDY: Wincanton's in-house home delivery scheduling An in-house solution takes care of delivery scheduling for Wincanton, which increased its presence in home distribution with the purchase of Lane Group, a two-man delivery operation. It has a handheld system on 55 multi-user home delivery vehicles, 25 vehicles dedicated to Homebase and another 25 to Magnet. Comet, for which it now manages the south eastern distribution centre, does not at present use a handheld system. 'We use handhelds that drop into the vehicle to send messages back and forth,' explains Richard Conneely, head of customer solutions. 'We take the order from the retailer, schedule the delivery and allocate it to a vehicle. We always phone the consumer the day before delivery to give them a four-hour time window, which can be 10-2, 11-3 or whatever. 'Route information is uploaded to the driver's handheld. We can then track the vehicle and the order through to delivery, where the driver obtains a digital signature. However, we also create paper delivery documents as a back-up (and because consumers still like paper). 'Once the delivery is accepted by the consumer, we can see it immediately on our intranet, which the retailer can also access. If no one is in, the driver can't get the next job assigned until he has spoken to the call centre so they know what is happening, in case the consumer rings in. 'The driver has the consumer's phone number and can notify him or her of any delays.' Wincanton doesn't need dynamic scheduling, Conneely says, because everything should fit into the four-hour delivery window. But it has trialled imaging, which it expects to roll-out next year. A number of new hardware and software products aimed at home delivery have come on the market, or are due to be launched next year. Deltion, a transport management systems specialist, points out that many hardware manufacturers are launching location-based services, which could change the sort of devices used from ruggedised PDAs to ordinary mobile phones. The split at the moment appears to be 50/50, although Larry Klimczyk of BlackBay says ruggedised devices have a lower total cost of ownership, as they come with better support and upgrade potential. Opticon has launched a new device that falls mid-way between the two, being more rugged than a mobile phone, but with scanning and satnav capability at a price cheaper than a rugged PDA. Motorola has just brought out its VC6096, a dedicated in-vehicle device with full keyboard, GPS, Bluetooth and other wireless communication platforms and connection to vehicle wiring to obtain telematics data. DataLogic Mobile's device, which uses Windows Mobile, includes email functionality, while DA Systems' MX Framework, launched in September, offers barcode scanning, imaging and digital signature capture. Intermec is releasing a handheld specifically designed for home delivery early next year. On the software side, Haultech launched its signature capture system in April. It has also begun offering its software on Bluebird handhelds. Bluebird is a rugged, robust device from Korea that is cheaper than the main players, lasts well and incorporates imaging and scanning. Version 2.8 of Microlise's software closely aligns its Map Client and Transport Management Centre to give depots complete visibility and control over every aspect of the delivery process, and allows them to provide ETAs and exception alerts. CASE STUDY: Tracking and POD system gives visibility to Browns' Palletline business  Browns Distribution recently invested in Haultech's POD and vehicle tracking system for its Palletline business, which includes home delivery. 'Retailers log on to our portal and key in their order details,' explains David Brown, Jr, a director of Brown's Distribution. 'We collect these and allocate the order to a job and driver. The retailer can see what we are doing at every stage of the process. 'We give drivers an order of drops, and while some transport companies are meeting driver resistance to strict scheduling, we are relaxed with our drivers, who know they can recommend changes at any time. Drivers capture digital signatures, which are posted online instantly so customers can see when something has been delivered. We will also offer an exception-only alert system, if the customer prefers.' Browns Distribution also obtains weekly and monthly reports on how many deliveries went wrong, how many are forecast and so on, so it can spot trends and sort out problems before they cause too much difficulty.
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