- Result of the engagement
- Logistics
Forty-eight vehicles, four locations and eight hours less administration a week
A logistics company reorganised how it handles 48 vehicles used by 72 employees across four locations. The total time spent collecting, entering and correcting data fell from 12 to four hours a week. The administrator receives notifications, and vehicle users have their own panel for submitting information.
Problem
The spreadsheet held mileage, bookings, service dates, insurance and repairs, and data reached the administrator through different channels. The total load was 12 hours a week.
The change
An employee who knew the fleet built a prototype application with a panel for the administrator and one for vehicle users. The IT department handled permissions, the database and the launch.
Effect
The combined work of the administrator and users takes four hours a week. Discrepancies in a sample of 240 entries fell from 28 to five.
- Key result
- Eight hours a week recovered, that is 32 hours over the four weeks measured. The measurement also covered employees' time, to check whether the work had simply moved from the administrator to everyone else.
Measurement
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total administration time, weekly | 12 h | 4 h | −8 h |
| Discrepancies in a sample of 240 entries | 28 | 5 | |
| People using the application | — | 65 of 72 | |
| From prototype to launch | — | 8 + 4 weeks |
Basis of measurement: A four-week measurement of the same activities before the change and after launch, covering the administrator's work and the time employees spent submitting information.
The challenge
The existing spreadsheet held mileage, bookings, service dates, insurance and repairs. Data reached the administrator through different channels. Over the first four weeks the measurement covered both the administrator’s work and the time employees spent passing information on. The average load came to 12 hours a week in total.
What we changed
An employee who knew the fleet built a prototype application. The person leading the project helped narrow the first version to the most common activities and agree the scope with IT. The IT department was responsible for permissions, the database and the launch. The administrator became the process owner on the company’s side.
The application had two panels. Employees booked vehicles and entered mileage, while the administrator saw current data and notifications. The prototype was developed over eight weeks, and preparing it for launch took IT another four.
Measurement and results
After the launch period, a four-week measurement of the same activities was carried out. The combined work of the administrator and users took an average of four hours a week. The company recovered eight hours a week, that is 32 hours over the four weeks measured. Including employees’ time made it possible to check whether the duties had simply moved from the administrator to everyone else.
A check of 240 entries before the change found 28 discrepancies. In a sample of 240 entries after the change there were five. In the first full 28 days after launch, 65 of the 72 authorised people made at least one booking or data update in the application. Having an account was not counted as using the solution.
What the owner gets
The owner received confirmation that the application is used, that it reduces the total load on the team and that it improves data quality. The administrator could give more attention to overseeing the fleet, and the five discrepancies found set the scope of the next improvements.
- Conclusion
- The employee knew the operations, IT had the skills needed for the launch, and the prototype helped both agree what should be built. The five remaining discrepancies set the scope of the next improvements.