One of the most vexing problems for front-line management is supervising mobile employees. Yes, their productivity can be measured and every attempt can be made to hire people of strong character during the interview process, but at the end of the day no one really knows where they were all day and what extracurricular activities might have occurred. The South African company eFleet, a joint venture between Energy and Combustion Services (ECS) and Consumer Logistics Solutions (CLS), uses GPS technology and cellular phone functionality to help any business with mobile employees more directly supervise, measure and manage its mobile workforce. This leads to improved customer service, expense reduction, and a more thorough management system.

Our goal is to help our customers streamline their processes, automate customer services, and enforce their business processes through the use of our technology, said eFleet Director John du Preez. The eFleet solution allows for full operational visibility in real-time throughout the operational lifecycle in the transport and logistics environment. Du Preez explains that eFleet is provided as a hosted solution which incorporates the fleet of vehicles, staff, and shipment information into a central database and includes mobile elements for monitoring and automatic data collection. Paper-based processes such as the exchange of waybills and Proof of Delivery (POD) documents are replicated with electronic document workflows, allowing for real-time visibility of all supply chain processes, which in turn provides for efficient management and accurate analysis.

The solution is based on three components; the web-based back end, the mobile GPS infrastructure and the wireless handset which is carried by the mobile employee. The solution addresses these critical requirements:

>>Resource utilization
>>Fuel utilization and management
>>Emissionsreporting and reduction
>>Vehicle allocation
>>Contract cost prediction and analysis
>>Real-time information for collections, deliveries, PODs, and locations
>>Vehicle management information.

The system maintains the workflow and prevents the mobile employee from losing track of collections and deliveries since these are communicated electronically and not printed on paper schedules or communicated over the phone. The workflow of the drivers and the delivery management system is streamlined from loading of the vehicles to final delivery, while providing real-time information on collections, deliveries and any other driver- related tasks and to allow access for queries and reporting and subsequent passing into the backend system.  

Another significant benefit is the more efficient fuel consumption. While fuel prices have come down over the past several months, cost-cutting is still a major concern in South Africa and globally. With the power of accurate information and analysis at their disposal, companies that operate fleets can use the eFleet solution to achieve substantial fuel saving costs by making sure all routes are as direct and efficient as possible. Based on the fuel volumes and on the baseline analysis, a minimum saving is anticipated, which in principle ensures that the deployment of the solution creates a cost savings that may negate the initial investment. The fuel saving, as well as operational improvement in efficiency, is achieved through a focus on the full operational lifecycle of the logistics process.

At the end of their shifts, drivers return and debrief their supervisors on the workday. Before eFleet, that debriefing for most of its clients was paper-based and could take thirty minutes, or even longer. Now, the supervisor already has most of the necessary information retrieved from the mobile system, and the driver and supervisor just spend a few minutes on subjective issues. As a result, companies using the eFleet system offer are much more responsive and efficient, and any South African company with logistics issues has the means to improve customer service and better manage mobile employees.

The iTask platform developed by Sybase on top of the SQL Anywhere and Afaria mobile infrastructure was fundamental to the development of the eFleet mobile system. The iTask platform integrates mobile devices with the back end to allow for real-time retrieval of accurate information. The task-based methodology focuses on simple user interfaces built on a base of reusable components to create a robust mobile application that empowers mobile workers. Afaria provides comprehensive management and security capabilities to ensure that mobile data and devices are up-to-date, reliable and secure. Sybase understands the logistics industry, and their employees background and knowledge helped make our project go, du Preez said. Our system seemed to be a rather straightforward extension of Sybases base functionality. The base technology also provides a mobile platform to easily extend SAP to all leading types of mobile devices.

Technology allows for customers to directly login to a website and track systems and packages without a force of operators and logistics control personnel in the middle. This helps make those customers more efficient and contributes to an accelerated return-on-investment (ROI).  It was also helpful that the mobile platform used by eFleet built on the familiarity with cell phones that the vast majority of mobile workers already have. As a result, users can be fully trained in three sessions lasting a total of about eight hours over a one-week period, which also accelerates the ROI.

Yes

Yes

The eFleet system offers the following advantages to its customers:

>>Eliminates paper
>>Saves time at the end of the day
>>Helps enforce business processes
>>Decreases overhead (particularly fuel, but also vehicle maintenance)
>>Plans delivery routes for maximum efficiency using well-known coordinates
>>Allows for tracking mobile employees and full operational visibility in real-time
>>Improves customer service, customer retention and new customer acquisition
>>Offers branding and product enhancement opportunities for wireless telcos


When I first had the opportunity to look at the eFleet product I was pretty excited, said Corrie Henning, an IT Manager at Supergroup, one of South Africas largest logistics companies. Now that its been in the field Ive moved from excited to thrilled. Our overhead is down while our efficiencies are up, weve never had an issue outside of normal maintenance, and our front-line management team has a perfect handle on the days activities. I wish we had had this years ago.

One South African company employed a delivery driver believed to be the companys best employee. His packages were always delivered on-time or ahead of time, and he never missed a shift. The eFleet system helped uncover part of why he was so conscientious. The system discovered that he was speeding through his routes to deliver packages early in the day and at the end of the day. This usually left him with an extra three hours in the middle. He used that time to run a taxi service in the area he knew so well, using (and somewhat abusing) the company vehicle in the process. Of course, he kept all the revenue generated by his taxi services and developed a lucrative, no-overhead business. The eFleet system discovered this misuse of company assets, and now this drivers efficiency is translated into a company benefit instead of a personal benefit. The company now gets the benefit of his efficiency, and its vehicle remains in better shape with decreased fuel consumption. Without eFleet, the company would have remained the unwitting underwriter of an employees entrepreneurial enterprise, and would have remained exposed to possible legal action should there have been an accident or injury while the employee performed his unauthorized and nefarious taxi services. 

eFleet delivers an overall cost reduction through improvement in operational efficiencies, both in the form of tangible savings such as reduction in fuel consumption, and the elimination of time-wasting logistics problems such as re-deliveries. It also delivers intangible savings such as reduction in loading of call centers, improved customer service, customer retention and new customer acquisition. The solution addresses the transportation and delivery component of the supply chain by harnessing the power of information.

Several wireless telco companies in South Africa have also benefited through the ability to offer another feature to customers under their brand on a subscription basis that offers a competitive advantage and an opportunity for additional revenue. The only word I can think of to describe eFleets system and the partnership we have with them is excellent, said Jethan Maharaj of cellular network provider MTN. Were able to brand their system and offer it to our subscribers at a price point and under conditions that are profitable for us and reasonable for them. Its been a true win-win. 

The eFleet project is unique as a subscription-model mobile GPS/wireless communications service that combines the front-end and the back-end support into one service offering. Effectively, this allows customers to finance the system within their operational budgets instead of with capital expense dollars. It is the first such generic solution across the industry.

When eFleet first proposed this system to large companies, the large companies were concerned about developing their own distinct systems and the capital outlay that would engender. This made the project a non-starter for most large South African enterprises. As a result, eFleet went back to the drawing board and came up with a partnership scheme with wireless telephone companies that would eliminate up-front expenses for the end user.

eFleet approached several large wireless companies and offered to license its solution to them in exchange for allowing the wireless companies to brand the service and offer it to users on a subscription basis. This gave the wireless telephone companies a new business service to sell to deep-pocket users, provided some differentiation versus competitors who were not part of the program, and created an increase in data traffic (data traffic is far less expensive to carry than voice and offers a tremendous ROI) which had a positive impact on margins. It also allowed large companies to get their sub-contractors to participate on the system by merely purchasing a subscription from the telco and obtaining a username and password to their system.  This uniqe solution saved eFleet from what du Preez characterized as a black hole for its system by allowing sub-contractors to be visible, saved the bandwidth redundancy of several large companies building proprietary networks, allowed the product greater reach across a larger business spectrum, and got it out of the prototype stage and into the marketplace.

As a result of this original thinking by eFleet, the system is now affordable for any size business with mobile workers. Companies can easily gain back their subscription investment through the asset management and productivity gains, and even the smallest companies can participate in the trend towards non-labor intensive mobile management of mobile workers.

The single most important obstacle was the original capital investment problem for potential customers as described in the answer to question four. 

There was no internal resistance or resource issues within eFleet or its parent companies,  Energy and Combustion Services (ECS) and Consumer Logistics Solutions (CLS).

There were and continue to be some change management issues with companies that have adopted the eFleet system. Workers resisted the change and expressed some resentment for what they perceived as the big-brother type monitoring that would take place once they took an eFleet handset into their vehicles. A few drivers also lacked experience with mobile devices (this was quickly addressed by the training program). 

Ultimately, eFleet and its partners were able to get the backing of the affected labor unions by engineering job rating upgrades due to the additional skills required to operate the mobile devices. The unions also saw that drivers would reach the end of their work days more quickly with the elimination of the end-of-day paperwork and schedule reviews with management.

In summation; capital investment issues were overcome by the licensing and subscription plan in partnership with mobile telecommunications companies, and workplace issues were overcome with a collectively bargained job upgrade justified by a necessary increase in skills and the additional realization that workers job conditions would likely improve with the reduction in paperwork.

Exceeded

The eFleet system has helped the continent of Africa better utilize its telecommunications systems. By providing a subscription based mobile solution, eFleet allows African business to embrace technology to become efficient in a way that was previously not available. As a result, hardware expenses and investments will not be as extensive. By removing the barrier of heavy initial investment and by also providing a standardized approach within the logistics industry, the benefits to the African business can be realized within a very short timeframe.
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This has also been a revolutionary development in mobile management. Management will no longer have to use archane efficiency measurements, nor will they have to worry about workers straying off their routes and performing activities outside their job descriptions. Paper has largely been eliminated, which enhances the quality of work life for all levels of employees. Finally, with more responsibility comes higher job ratings for some union employees, leading to larger incomes paid for by improved efficiency and asset management.

Hand held telecommunications devices are now common. Children often receive personal phones while still in school. Training for the eFleet system encompasses three sessions over eight hours, and most users are comfortable with the system after the second session and maybe one week in the field. 

There is every incentive for mobile businesses to embrace the eFleet system. Management becomes more precise, assets are more fully controlled, and there is greater employee accountability. The financial barrier is low with the subscription-based pricing plan. The only barrier to adoption is the time it takes to reach the marketplace. eFleet expects to be fully operational in South Africa by 2010.