The short video below shows how mobile technology has streamlined the delivery process for Brakes Ireland. Today Brakes have removed the manual process of confirming deliveries with the real-time updates at the point of delivery while with the customer.
Working in partnership with Allsop, Brakes are delivering heightened customer service, and have removed the administration overhead of processing delivery dockets back at the office.
Brakes delivery drivers and sales reps very quickly adopted the Allsop Mobile App due to it’s easy to use interface and flexibility. Brakes have seen a drastic reduction in the amount of paper used and phone calls made between the depot and the driver. By adopting a solution that is easily utilised by both drivers and office personnel, Brakes have seen their staff become 20% more efficient and administrative costs are down over 50%.
The video shows both the web application that keeps the Brakes office staff bang up to date and the mobile application that ensures complete accurate delivery for the customer through an easy to use mobile phone.
Here are the steps highlighted in the video for a successful delivery:
- The delivery job and all the required information is available on the driver’s smartphone.
- The driver accepts the job and confirms when they are beginning the job which can be monitored in real- time in the office.
- The driver confirms their arrival using GPS technology to pick up their location – creating a time and location stamped record.
- The driver then records the number of cages delivered and the number returned.
- All this information is fed back to the office, meaning data re-entry is avoided and invoices can be generated faster.
Before Adopting a Mobile Solution
Prior to the introduction of Allsop Mobile, Brakes was very much dependent on paper-based and manual businesses processes. Drivers had to carry delivery dockets, printed notes relating to particular customers and additional paper to jot down any delivery issues. In addition to the cost of buying and printing paper, the delay in receiving these forms back to the office meant that it would take longer for office staff to invoice their customers and create delivery reports.
Paper in the field could be lost, damaged, or obscured and illegible to office staff which led to a decline in the quality of data captured. This created more work for office staff as they had to then call drivers in order to confirm the information which was written on the paper forms. This led to the management of deliveries becoming inconsistent and inefficient as the lines of communication between the driver, the back office and the customer were unclear and unreliable.
Another major issue for Brakes was managing the specialised containers used for these deliveries known as ‘cages’. Many cages were getting lost, broken or mixed up with customer cages. This led to disputes over the ownership of cages. With many never being recovered resulting in a monetary loss for the company.
The Solution
Brakes delivery drivers now carry a smartphone and use the Allsop Mobile app to complete all process steps associated with their delivery jobs as shown in the video above. All information regarding the delivery route and specific customer deliveries are available to the driver upon leaving the depot. The drivers then complete a simple, standardised workflow that allows them to capture important information: arrival/departure times, cages delivered and returned, any delivery issues, barcodes and other reference data, as well as customer signatures.
Allsop Mobile offers flexibility to empower managers at Brakes’ to make changes to the electronic forms in order to respond to the changing requirements of their customers. Brakes office staff use the web application to view and manage the data which is captured by delivery drivers and sales reps in real-time. Office staff can use the web interface to: locate drivers, view the actual routes which they have taken, view and manage assets such as cages and create reports based on data captured by drivers.