18
May
“Where is my delivery?”
Does that sound familiar – something you often hear from a dissatisfied client calling you on the phone? When you have hundreds of deliveries currently in process – some being shipped, some not yet started, some already completed – you will probably want to reply – “I don’t really know at the moment, but I can find out if you want”.
What follows is a rummaging through client orders, waybills and delivery receipts, and after talking to a couple of colleagues and calling three managers you may be able to call back and answer the client’s question. Inconvenient, time and resource consuming, isn’t it?
The situation
Only a couple of months ago, OÜ Miil, one of the leading container transport companies in Estonia, whose fleet of nearly twenty trucks making almost one thousand sea container deliveries a month, was experiencing similar problems. Considering that a delivery of a container involves at least two trips – to its destination and back – that makes 1600 trips per month. If we divide this figure by the number of days in a month, we get 53.3 trips per day, if we divide it by hours and minutes – on average, each delivery will change status and location every ten minutes.
Since the company’s vehicles have by now been equipped with GPS tracking devices for years, we can always know where the vehicles are, and considering that a sea container cannot move unless loaded on a truck, the container can only be where the truck currently is (loaded on the truck) or where the truck once was (unloaded from the truck). Only one piece of crucial information was missing – how do we know when something has been done with the containers?
In telematics, such a problem falls within the category of asset tracking, where it is usually solved by installing a separate tracking device or a chip (RFID) in the container. This requires the development of a specific infrastructure, and the system is relatively expensive, both to implement and to maintain. In any case, such a solution was not a good option for Miil. Since the sea containers are not the property of Miil, it would have meant a constant hassle with equipment and technology. The system would have been relatively unreliable and thus inefficient.
The solution
The SeeMe development team are proud to present their solution, which:
- facilitates the work of logistics firms,
- avoids needless calls to drivers,
- puts an end to client enquiries,
- assists drivers in their work via a navigation device
- delivers a transparent service, allowing clients to see the vehicle’s location and the phone number of the driver, so they can contact the driver directly.
All of this is possible thanks to a standard Garmin navigation device added to the GPS tracking device, and through which the driver can communicate the container’s number and current action (loading or unloading) to the SeeMe service environment. As a result, we have a simple information system maintained by the drivers directly from their cabin that easily manages hundreds of containers all at once. In addition to a real-time overview, it is also possible to check the history of activities and see who did something with a container and when. Miil saved the funds it would have otherwise spent on expensive equipment and technology and was able to continue with the familiar SeeMe user interface.
In addition to increased efficiency in their everyday work, the most important gain for Miil was the operative added value it offers its clients. Each of Miil’s clients can now go to the Miil webpage (www.miil.ee), enter a client name and see all that client’s orders or a specific container number to see the movement of all goods in real time. The client only needs a computer and internet connection, and is free of charge.
Heiki Hütt, manager, OÜ Miil:
“Many thanks to the SeeMe team! In the last five years, three companies have offered us a similar service. All of them tried to develop the service we required, but failed and did not return.
SeeMe’s service definitely increases our reliability and provides assurance to our clients, both those sending and receiving the goods. Several times in the past people have been searching for containers that have already been unloaded and are on their way back. Now we can see the containers that have been unloaded and will never “leave” them in a client’s yard.
Sometimes we have ordered transport ourselves, and the usual reply is “The truck will arrive in an hour”. When the truck is not there an hour later, we make a call. They say that they have a flat tyre. After four hours we receive the truck, but the driver knows nothing about the flat tyre. We have never resorted to such “white lies”. When there is an actual flat tyre, the client will be able to see precisely where the goods are being currently held.”
The article was also published in Estonian biggest business newspaper Äripäev on 18th of May 2011
