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Case Study :
T@lecom's Live link enables major improvement to meals on wheels service in the midlands
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Delivering large numbers of hot meals on wheels to the elderly in Staffordshire
within a tight time frame is now less of a logistics headache following the
introduction of an advanced wireless communications system that provides a
'live', real time link between the drivers and their control centre.
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Flowfood,
the Ashton-under-Lyne based manufacturer and distributor of frozen ready meals,
operates a meals on wheels service for Stafford County Council. Under the
contract, it provides the meals and 38 vehicles and drivers to deliver them.
Each vehicle driver delivers around 48 meals a day between 11.00am and 1.30pm.
The meals are regenerated in ovens fitted in the vehicles en-route.
It's a tight
schedule that doesn't leave much room for delay, and there are additional issues
that can have an impact on the service. These include accountability – being
able to quickly confirm that a meal has been delivered – and protection of the
vulnerable: spotting problems during a delivery regarding a customer that may
need to be reported to the appropriate authority for follow-up action etc.
Originally, Flowfood operated a paper-based system that generated the driver
delivery lists in its central depot and faxed them to the three depots in
Cannock, Fenton and Newcastle-under-Lyne, where they were then given to the
drivers.
Once the day's deliveries were completed the delivery sheets, coupled
with driver comments, delivery times and any notes were returned to the depot,
who sent them back to the central depot to be entered into the computer. However
this process was laborious and took at least two days, meaning that the company
did not have the flexibility or speed it wanted to be able to respond to any
problems.
Flowfood wanted to find a better way of working and a possible
solution was identified during a telephone conversation with 02, the mobile
network. 02 suggested that T@lecom's Wireless Delivered™ system could be tailored
to provide the 'live' communication link the company's meals on wheels service
needed to be able to increase its delivery flexibility and effectiveness. In
addition, the system offered other benefits that could help Flowfood fulfil its
unofficial 'good citizen' role whilst dealing with the elderly in the community.
The T@lecom system, which is already providing valuable support to a number of
transport and logistics operators around the country including those within the
NHS Trusts, is one of the most advanced on the market. Incorporated within and
tailored to existing company distribution systems, it offers a continuous 'live'
line of communication between a company's control centre and its employees in
the field equipped with a PDA over a GPRS mobile network.
After an initial trial
to test the system and discover its potential, Flowfood and T@lecom worked
together to make the changes needed for it to fit the customer's existing
business model. All 38 drivers are now equipped with PDAs and the improvements
to the meals on wheels service are quickly adding up.
Delivery lists are now
sent directly to the PDAs saving the generation of around 200 pieces of paper a
day and the 1.5 hours it took to fax them to the depots. The lists, once the
day's deliveries have been completed, are transmitted directly back to the
central office computer, where they are processed automatically. Moreover, any
amendments to the details on the lists can be made immediately by the driver in
front of the customer and their signature captured to confirm they are correct.
Data protection issues have been removed and office administration significantly
reduced.
Driver concerns regarding a cut in hours have been dispelled as the
system does not save them any time, but it does make their job easier and the
satellite navigation option has proved valuable for drivers tackling a new route
for the first time.
"We have been delighted with the success of the new system
and the benefits it brings to our meal on wheels operation,"
says Flowfood's IT
Manager Alex Rawson.
"T@lecom's support throughout its introduction has been
first rate and all the changes we needed to make their system fit ours were
carried out instantly. As a result, we have been able to improve our service
levels and generate considerable interest in our system that may lead to new
business and contracts with other local authority service providers in the
future.
"Whilst the prime benefit has been a saving in administration time and
costs, leading to improved efficiency, there have been other significant changes
to the service we provide that weren't immediately apparent at the outset, but
which have proved extremely positive for us and the community we serve.
"For
instance, if we get a call from a relative saying a person hasn't had their meal
we can immediately check with the driver and either know why and what is being
done, or be able to go back to the caller and confirm the meal was delivered and
at what time.
"The system also offers our drivers an additional degree of
protection they didn't have before. If they don't get a reply on a delivery they
can instantly flag up that there may be a problem and our control office can
contact the appropriate authority to investigate.
"Also, they can report if the
customer is ill, appears confused or needs assistance, and this is all logged on
the system. When you are dealing with some of the most vulnerable in our
society, it is a comfort for our drivers to know that their observations and
actions can make a difference, and that their vigilance helps establish an audit
trail that may prove both a help and a protection in the future.
"For Flowfood,
the ability to create a real time audit trail on several different levels has
revolutionised the way we operate our meals on wheels service and I believe the
T@lecom system has the potential to allow us to identify even better ways of
working in the future," he adds.
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