Nov/Dec 2004

Couriers are experiencing dramatic savings from automating their communication systems - and few more so than Klicka Courier. We take a look at the benefits in this demanding market

Most companies investing in mobile technology expect to get return on investment very quickly, but few stand to gain more than those in the highly intensive world of the same-day courier market.

The work is so demanding. Historically it has required whole teams of telephonists, controllers and administrators. They have to work with drivers to get packages delivered on time. They need to take orders, identify the best-placed vehicles to handle them, transmit the information to drivers, monitor the progress of the delivery, field enquiries from often impatient customers, log details of job completion and move on to the next.

Whilst even the most sophisticated technology can't altogether remove the need for all this human interaction, it can automate a lot of the tasks, and leave staff with more time and resource to focus their energies more cost-effectively.

 

A prime case in point is that of Peterborough-based Klicka Courier. Since implementing a mobile data solution it has not only secured a valuable contract with Royal Mail for parts of its same-day delivery service; it has also been able to expand its business with a third less vehicles than it thought would be necessary.

Klicka Courier was established in 2002 to compete in the same-day delivery market. Its directors had worked in the industry for many years, so were fully aware of the challenges they faced in a business which then relied on non-automated communication processes. It needed to reduce manual processes and improve driver efficiency in order to enhance customer service.

At Klicka, telephonists used to input customer pickup orders into DOS-based computer systems. Controllers would then telephone around all available vehicles to locate the nearest to the collection point, then pass the details on to the driver.

After collecting the package, the driver called the controller, who manually updated the system. The driver made the delivery, obtained a signature on paper, then contacted the controller yet again to update the system with proof of delivery details.

Paul Grice, managing director of Klicka Courier, says: "Telephonists often received calls from customers chasing up their consignment. The call was passed to a controller, who in turn called the courier for an update. All this was relayed back to the telephonist, who returned the customer call. It was extremely time-consuming and costly."

If there were delays caused by heavy traffic, for example, the depots would not be aware of them unless the customers called chasing their parcel.

According to Grice, very few drivers in the industry would return carrying a new delivery. "Compared with the haulage industry, where more than sixty per cent of vehicles carry a return load, the same-day delivery service suffered very poor vehicle utilisation."

Klicka Courier set out to automate the same-day delivery process with an integrated mobile information technology solution. In terms of hardware, the organisation chose to roll out 02 XDA II handheld devices running Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC Phone Edition. The underlying system it chose was Talecom's Wireless Delivered application, which has integrated vehicle tracking and satellite navigation. More than 100 Pocket PCs have been deployed to drivers, and 1,000 drivers will be using them by the end of 2005.

The Wireless Delivered application automates up to 95 per cent of the job allocation process through its despatch and control application. It matches jobs to appropriate vehicles, sends details to drivers on their wireless devices, works out the quickest route, and guides drivers on their journey. Courier Management Systems integrated the application with Klicka's back-office systems.

Vehicles are tracked at all times, and jobs are matched automatically with the appropriate vehicle. "The controller becomes an exceptions controller, dealing with incidents that can't be handled by the system, such as when parcels aren't in reception when the driver arrives. But ninety to ninety-five per cent of all same-day courier jobs are now automatic," says Grice.

The courier picks up an electronic signature as poof of delivery, which registers automatically in the back-office system. The system emails the electronic document to the customer automatically, within seconds of the parcel being delivered. "Most of the time, customers are aware that their parcel has arrived safely before the driver is even back in the vehicle," says Grice.

Text to speech

Not only can drivers view the jobs on their handheld devices; integration of the Windows Mobile system with text-to-speak technology also means the devices can speak the details to the driver.

Route guidance to the destination is also provided. The driver presses an on-screen button, triggering the application to feed the address co-ordinates of the next collection into the satellite navigation system. The fastest route to the destination address is promptly worked out, and the system guides the driver there with full voice and a three-dimensional map. Upon parcel collection, the driver presses a button on the Pocket PC to send new status information automatically back to the server, where the details are updated instantly for the controller to see.

The user-friendly Windows interface on the devices is said to help smooth implementation, guiding drivers logically through the pick-up and delivery process. Training requirements are minimal.

Reduced mileage

The navigation system removes the aggravation of driving into unknown territory. Drivers are directed via the shortest route, and the system will automatically allocate new pick-ups for their return journey, conserving fuel and ensuring dead mileage is minimal.

"Historically, we would have needed fifteen hundred vehicles to gain the scale of business that we expect to achieve," says Grice. "We estimate that we'll now only need a thousand vehicles on the road. The technology effectively eliminates the need for those extra five hundred vehicles."

"With same-day services, delivery time is critical, and drivers may only have a few hours to deliver goods. In the past, it was common for customers to spend a portion of their own time checking the delivery status. This solution means they don't have to."

Case study: More work, less stress

By implementing an automated job despatch system from DA Systems, Courier Systems says it has been able to increase the productivity of its controllers by 25 per cent, while at the same time lowering their stress levels.

The £10-million-turnover company has a fleet of over 300 vehicles, and was an early adopter of Windows-based control and back-office systems, as well as one of the first to offer customers Web-based booking and tracking.

In the courier industry it is generally accepted that 400 jobs per day is the maximum number that a controller can physically manage, albeit at high stress levels. The problem of increasing the figure, as DA Systems points out, is the level of interaction required between controllers and drivers.

This starts with job despatch, relaying collection and delivery details to the driver, monitoring the current job status through to proof and time of delivery. Historically, all of this information has had to be entered manually on to a PC by a controller.

Courier Systems wanted to increase its volumes without increasing staff overheads. The solution has been to deploy the NX Mobile Data solution from DA Systems, which automates the whole process. Job details are sent to the XDA II handheld units used by the drivers, including full pickup and drop addresses, special instructions, contacts and their telephone numbers.

The drivers then progress the jobs themselves, reporting back at each stage of the process to update the office system in real time, and ending with the full POD including name, date, time and the signature image.

Clients can track the status of the package on the Courier Systems Web site, including the electronic POD. The system can also email the PODs automatically to clients as soon as the job is complete.

Controllers can now comfortably handle over 500 jobs each per day. Carl Truscott, joint managing director of Courier Systems, says drivers also like the NX system. "They quickly realised that they were spending less time on radios and more time earning. The XDA II handhelds store a week's worth of jobs, so drivers can check them against their pay sheet. The XDA IIs are proving to be robust, too, with a breakage rate of less than a 4 per cent in the past year."

He adds: "We have increased our volumes and therefore our turnover by 25 per cent since the implementation of NX, without increasing our operational head count at all. This is entirely due to the account-winning features of NX and the added-value services we can give to our customers."

Case study: CitySprint picks Cognito's GPRS solution

The first operator in the competitive courier market to have chosen a mobile data solution from Cognito is CitySprint, which has opted for the company's managed workflow solution. The courier company has a 13,000-strong client base and operates 1,200 vehicles from 30 UK centres.

Data traffic will be handled over the O2 GPRS network, and Cognito is also supplying XDAII units to 900 couriers, who include both van drivers and motorcyclists. CitySprint's existing system already enables customers to book online and track and trace packages. The Cognito service will allow real-time updates of progress as well.

Cognito's managed solution includes "store and forward", which lets the controller know if a message has not been delivered because a device is out of coverage, and forwards it automatically at the first opportunity. It also includes date- and time-stamped audit trails to cater for any queries.

According to Mike Timlett, IT director for CitySprint: "After close examination of the leading mobile working suppliers, CitySprint chose Cognito as the preferred supplier. Cognito offers a secure, robust environment with a highly configurable managed solution."

Harry Hayden, commercial director at Cognito, adds: "By outsourcing their mobile solutions, companies such as CitySprint are transforming the way they do business, recognising that they can provide extremely high levels of customer service in very competitive marketplaces."