mobile enterprise real life
For those in the highly competitive parcels industry, the use of mobile applications is not just desirable – it is essential. But whilst a mobile operation can mean increased efficiency in customer deliveries, reduced supply chain costs and access to performance data, the challenges of managing a large-scale mobile deployment can also be highly risky and costly.
Lynx Express recently undertook to extend its mobile enterprise across the UK. They had previously deployed 650 Pocket PC based mobile devices across 36 depots as part of their branch scanning system (eBS). However, it was soon clear that Lynx faced a number of challenges since it had implemented a wireless solution without the vital management infrastructure.
As Mike Fitzgerald, IT Director at Lynx Express explains, “The mobile devices were being used in a warehouse environment where the majority of users had little or no technology understanding and support was being provided from our Central IT Systems function in Birmingham. However, almost every problem needed to be attended to in person: from monitoring batteries, fixing hardware, through to essential software upgrades. The IT team spent most of its time driving all round the country trying to keep these devices working — it was a huge, never-ending task.”
The Solution
Mike invited B2M Solutions, specialists in the management of the mobile enterprise, to provide a solution to the problem.
“We chose B2M because of their expertise and knowledge,” confirms Mike. “The track record of the B2M team meant we really didn’t need to go anywhere else! They understood in detail the problems that we were experiencing and accurately forecast a few that we hadn’t encountered yet.”
Lynx purchased B2M’s mprodigy product suite – an enterprise mobile management solution designed specifically to help organisations keep employees out on the road, control mobile assets and suppliers more effectively, as well as ensure streamlined change management when new mobile technology is introduced to field staff. Lynx undertook a six-week trial before implementing mprodigy. This resulted in a team of four located in the Birmingham office now using mprodigy to remotely manage all aspects of the mobile devices. “If we didn’t have mprodigy, the team would need to be at least twice the size,” says Mike.
As packages arrive at any one of the 36 Lynx depots, the 650-strong team use ruggedised handheld computers equipped with eBS (a web-based scanning application) to scan and sort items ready for loading and dispatch. One of the main issues had been keeping the software on these devices up to date. In the past, a software upgrade (be it a bug fix or functional enhancement) has meant a manual visit to each depot and a full update cycle could take anything up to two months to complete. With mprodigy, this now takes a matter of days, managed almost exclusively from the central IT operation in Birmingham.
Lynx is now rolling out a further 500 mprodigy licenses which are used to manage their In-Cab devices. This includes support of the devices whilst they are “on the road” using GPRS communications. As part of the second phase of the mobile installation, a new software application was rolled out to these units and the process was enabled by mprodigy.
“For the rollout of the in-cab devices, B2M provided invaluable support in the role of facilitator between our hardware supplier Intermec and Microlise, the company that provides the software application,” says Mike.
“When incompatibilities arose, B2M had the expertise to identify the problems and sort out whether it was a software or hardware issue. B2M ensured the project moved forward – they cut through any nonsense!”
“mprodigy has ensured that the Lynx Express mobile enterprise is a resounding success,” confirms Mike. “B2M has given us fantastic support and helped us understand and realise the benefits that we could achieve with mprodigy. The textbooks would lead you to believe that wireless technology is stable — B2M has enlightened and educated us! Mobile is still a very young market.”
mprodigy provides Lynx Express with a clear view of how its mobile enterprise is operating. As a package moves through the system it gets scanned repeatedly. With mprodigy, Lynx can monitor device usage and if assets are not being used, they can be redeployed to other depots where there is a greater need.
Lynx has been able to reduce the overall cost of support and maintenance by decreasing the time and resources required to update devices thereby minimising the need to return them to a maintenance centre.
“Most importantly, we can keep drivers out on the road. If a driver has a problem, we can reset the device and get it working. We’ve found that for 80% of the devices that go wrong, resetting them remotely will get them operational again.
“On occasions, we have needed to make changes to the devices and the central system server at the same time. This is something that is often required for non-mature products such as those in the wireless mobile space and it can present huge problems. Before mprodigy, this would have been an impossible task,” concludes Mike
In the future, LYNX Express plans to use mprodigy’s Supplier Management capabilities whereby the software provides management information to help them see how their suppliers (hardware, software and communications services) are performing against negotiated Service Level Agreements. This will enable LYNX Express to further increase levels of service as well as reduce costs.