RealTime - Fall 2008 - (Page 27)

For a truly mobile solution, Euro-Sprinters started searching for a mobile computer that featured GPS as well as GPRS. “We want to be able to keep track of a driver’s position, but more importantly, we want to know where he will be within the next one or two hours,” Proesmans said. Constant communications In cooperation with several partners, Euro-Sprinters developed a system through which orders can be processed online and tracked in real time, with information available just minutes after the goods are picked up. “Everything we do is managed by Navision,” Proesmans said. “The data available has to be processed in a quick and reliable manner to produce orders, waybills, navigation coordinates and invoices. After all, the transport vehicle has to arrive at the customer within one hour, while the invoice is processed and sent on the same day around 5 pm complete with digital signatures. The whole record is remotely and continuously updated so that it can be completed after delivery.” Based on Navitrans ERP software, orders are processed automatically after the assignment is filled in online. The project AOL (always online) led to a process of constant communication between the customer, the office and the driver. “The sat-nav software sends the driver to the correct address using GPS tracking, and via the ‘Estimated Time of Arrival’ (ETA) we also know where he will be later that day,” Proesmans said. “New orders are sent by GPRS, generated by Navision and converted to XML, resulting in a simple data package via GPRS to provide the courier with the shipment order.” After the order is received, the planner can choose between ten “best placed drivers” based on a geo-coding calculation. The ETA is calculated via geo-coding, and the driver closest to the customer at the right moment is offered the shipment order via the Intermec CN3. On arrival, the driver has the customer sign for pickup on the CN3 touch screen and fills in the time of the pickup; the GPS system calculates the ETA. Just a few minutes later, this information is accessible by the customer via the online tracking system. When the shipment is delivered, the driver again collects a signature, and both signatures are attached to the invoice that is generated later that day. The customer can track the shipment at all times via Internet, in a secure password-protected environment. CN3 allows Euro-Sprinters to process orders that have been registered via the Internet or call center, convert them to a digital waybill and set out a route from any given remote point that leads directly to the exact location of the customer. The CN3 devices send out GPS location updates via GPRS, enabling the Euro-Sprinters control room to keep track of the vehicle’s location at all times and providing an accurate ETA at the current customer and at subsequent ones. “ Since the deployment of the new system, orders with incorrect addresses are a thing of the past.” – Patrick Proesmans, “We know where the whole fleet will be an hour from now,” Proesmans said. “The Intermec CN3 is the handheld computer that answered our needs,” Proesmans said. “We wanted integrated GPRS and GPS as well as the option to scan signatures and use an imager for recording bar codes and pictures. The Intermec CN3 provides all these features.” The Intermec CN3 enables faster and better communication, so transports are planned in better combinations with regard to routing and the customer locations, and the navigation software determines the quickest route. Because the system automatically calculates the ETA, customers have accurate delivery status updates, and planners not only know the driver’s current location, but also where the driver will be and when he will be there. Finally, the paperwork has decreased dramatically; waybill and transport information is processed automatically and offered digitally. “Since the deployment of the new system, orders with incorrect addresses are a thing of the past,” Proesmans said. “We can tackle more work with fewer drivers, and the drivers themselves love the new system.” ❙ Chris Klopper can be reached at cklopper@mulberrymc.com. Resources: Euro-Sprinters: www.eurosprinters.com Faster communications, better planning Since January 2008, all 150 drivers have been equipped with the Intermec CN3 mobile computers. The Intermec Intermec (CN3 mobile computer): www.intermec.com/products/cmptrcn3/index.aspx FOR INTERMEC PRODUCT INFORMATION, CALL TOLL-FREE 800-934-3163 For a free subscription: www.realtime.intermec.com 27 http://www.eurosprinters.com http://www.intermec.com/products/cmptrcn3/index.aspx http://www.realtime.intermec.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of RealTime - Fall 2008

RealTime - Fall 2008 Contents View Intermec News Profile Smooth Ride Partner Profiles Time Is Money Hog Wild Bally Technologies Cashes In Running Precisely Events Coda

RealTime - Fall 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.