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It’s time to get your ‘Pulse’ racing; the London Olympics 2012 are almost upon us! With 121 Systems’ new software for handheld devices and transport management software, we explain how our Clients can go for gold during this manic period!

121 Systems Help Clients go for gold at the London Olympics 2012

Are you a qualifier or just a spectator? With 121 Systems transport management software we guarantee you won’t fall at the final hurdle.

Our clients are smart enough to know that in order to be in complete control throughout the Olympic Games duration they need to have the right tools. Pulse provides a mechanism for a driver, transport office and Roadnet Transportation Suite to be in constant data and voice communication throughout every stage of a driver’s route. It not only offers projected arrival times, location of the delivery vehicle, consistent and accurate address monitoring but much more.

 Liam Northfield from the Freight Transport Association has been telling people to think of the games period as a ‘three month Christmas period’1. With an estimated 8.8 million spectators clogging up London transport arteries, and miles of London’s roads being recommissioned as the ‘Olympic Route Network’, it is essential that transport departments are fully prepared.

So, a 109 mile route encompassing the Central London Zone is going to encounter changes such as:

• Changes to traffic signals

• Restricted turns into side roads

• Suspension of parking and loading bays

• Suspension of pedestrian crossings

• Games Lanes

What this will mean for our Clients and what difficulties are they likely to face?

Of course, our clients’ main concern will be delivering to their customers on time but if not planned for, the following will have a HUGE impact.

• Current route plans won’t take into account the Olympic Route Network.

• If those whose routes don’t usually enter London but due to the Olympics increasing demand their customers have asked for extra orders to be delivered within this area , will all their fleet be compliant with the new tougher Low Emissions Zone standards which took effect in January?

• If they plan on initiating nightly operations, do operating centres/depots have environmental restrictions regarding servicing customers at night? If deliveries/collections are to be done at night, are these drop-off points within residential zones? For a code of practice relating to work at night please visit tfl.gov.uk for more information.

• London Lorry Control Scheme restricts over 18 tonne lorries at night. Will they consider using different vehicles? Using Sub-18 tonne vehicles will be costly as well as adding to the possibility of congestion within the city at night.

• Drivers will be unaware of new routes including changes to delivery points and loading bays

• Increased deliveries means more staffing issues

Pulse and Roadnet Transportation Suite have given our clients the head start needed when planning for the Olympics.

Redesigned Routes

Roadnet Transportation Suite including Territory Planner, Pulse, Roadnet and Mobilecast have allowed our clients’ transport departments to reconfigure new routes, taking into account the Olympic Route Network & all the changes it will bring. All the new road layouts have been meticulously redesigned leaving enough time for any additional changes to be made as they occur. In March, the Transport for London department released a ‘Games Data Layer’, which includes specific information for each day of the games including a database of postcodes affected. What this means is that our Clients can now input this information into Territory Planner which will then provide a detailed route plan for all drivers on all game days.

Driver Support

Drivers will be fully supported by Pulse as the mechanism can retrieve pre planned route data from Mobilecast which will guide them along new routes with the embedded satellite navigation. Pulse will also prove useful to drivers and transport departments if drivers come across alternative delivery locations that have not been captured during the initial route redesign as they can geocode (using GPS Location Technology) these new delivery locations which can in turn be used on future deliveries throughout this period.

Regardless of the amount of pre-planning our clients do for the Olympics, it is still reasonable to assume that any situation can occur during this time. It is essential that drivers and transport offices are able to clearly communicate with each other. If a driver needs support in terms of finding alternate routes, the embedded phone within Pulse will prove invaluable should they need that assistance.

Nightly Operations

Should our clients want to adapt their current operations for the games period and deliver into affected areas during the night when congestion will be reduced, then they will have to consider the points mentioned earlier. If depots/operating centres have environmental restrictions regarding servicing customers at night, our clients can customise their scheduling by using [Territory Planner] and Roadnet to avoid these depots and use others within reasonable distance or alternatively add them into the plan when time restrictions have passed.

It is also important not to overlook the London Lorry Control scheme that restricts over 18 tonne lorries delivering at night. Using Territory Planner, Clients can schedule alternative vehicles to make those journeys and consider resending the over 18 tonne vehicles to service other territories that do not have certain vehicle restrictions (It is essential to remember that vehicles above a certain weight require an O Licence, this is to ensure these vehicles, and the operating centres where they are kept, are run safely and with consideration for the environment). This may help to keep vehicle downtime to a minimum. The only problem with this is it could prove costly as more resources, such as extra drivers, will be needed.

Equipment Planning

If Clients need to add more vehicles to service these areas or if they have to deliver to these areas when normally they don’t, they will have to take into consideration the new Low Emissions Zone Standards. These regulations only allow vehicles to enter all roads within Greater London, those at Heathrow and parts of the M1 and M4 that meet certain requirements. There is a vehicle checker tool that can be found on www.tfl.gov.uk  for those who need more information on this. If our clients need to commit alternative vehicles to these routes, they can utilise Roadnet and assign the correct vehicles.

Staffing Issues

The huge influx of people entering London during the Olympics is going to create higher demand for resources and increase waste. It is possible that those companies, who are operating collections and deliveries inside the city centre and the areas that encompass the Olympic Route Network, are going to need to increase staff levels during this time.

This means that Transport Managers are going to need to be in complete control and will be reassured by the fact that they have fully integrated tools to help them manage their resources effectively. Using Roadnet Transportation Suite provides them with a level of security in terms of successfully juggling equipment, staff, time slots and all the restrictions that are going to come with the Olympics, into optimised routes.

Maybe throughout this period our Clients will have more outgoings due to staffing and overtime but by successfully using 121 Systems’ route scheduling software they will save fuel and time as they will have deployed fully optimised routes specifically redesigned for overseeing the London Olympics 2012. Not only this, but they will still maintain high quality customer service, which is what it is all about, isn’t it?

For more information on Roadnet Transportation Suite and it’s separate elements including Territory Planner, Roadnet, Pulse and Mobilecast, then please call us on 0115 943 9130 or visit our contact page for more information.

For more information on London Olympics 2012, useful websites include:

• www.getaheadofthegames.com

• www.tfl.gov.uk/2012freight

Good luck to all those GB Athletes taking part in the London Olympics 2012!!

1 Parsons, J, 2012, Get In Training, Logistics Manager, 12 March, P24

Is it a phone? Is it satellite navigation? No, it’s Pulse! A handheld device that will exceed expectations. Your transport department and customer service will wonder how they ever coped without it!

With 121 Systems’ background knowledge of the logistics industry and understanding of the day to day issues that occur in transport management, we have been able to develop a tool that will not only benefit your transport managers and drivers but your business as a whole too.

Pulse provides a mechanism for a driver, transport office and Roadnet Transportation Suite to be in constant data and voice communication throughout every stage of a driver’s route. It not only offers projected arrival times, location of the delivery vehicle, consistent and accurate address monitoring but much more.

Pulse retrieves information from Mobilecast which also works with multiple Windows wireless devices, including smartphones and industrial rugged mobile handheld computers built to withstand the tough environments your drivers face every day.

It will become your drivers’ wingman.

Pulse holds many different applications that allow your driver to maintain a level of control throughout the delivery process.

Put yourself in the shoes of a driver. What issues do they face on a daily basis?

• Access Problems?

An item for collection is behind closed gates and no one is around to open them. He can take a photo using Pulse’s inbuilt camera functionality. This confirms the dilemma and also informs the transport manager and customer services, keeping everyone in the loop.

• Incorrect Delivery/Collection Locations?

Pulseallows drivers to Geocode (using GPS Location Technology) the location to where the Actual drop off/collection point is as opposed to the ‘front door’ of a building. This is then recorded for future routes allowing stop time to be reduced.

• Damaged Goods?

A customer has refused a delivery, the box is damaged. The driver can insure himself by taking a photo and automatically relay it back to customer services or the transport department who can then provide a solution to the problem.

• Excess Paperwork?

A driver is forever juggling paper and clipboards. Pulse is a fully integrated system that allows him to do everything electronically. Daily surveys such as vehicle checks, take notes relating to delivery information and customer ‘signed for’s’ can all be done via Pulse.  This will reduce driver admin time, in return generating more time on the road.

• Nobody ‘At Home’

Pulse can be set up to allow the driver to call the customer but limit the amount of information he can see, such as the phone number itself.

Transport Managers will recognise they are missing a crucial element in daily transport operations.

Transport managers often come across daily challenges coordinating a fleet of vehicles and deliveries. The Pulse tool will allow them to be in complete control of operations throughout the whole delivery process for the whole of their fleet!

121 Systems guarantee that by using Pulse you will see an improvement in the following:

• Route Compliance

Is your transport manager constantly aware of his drivers’ location at ALL times? Does he know if his deliveries are on schedule ALL of the time? Is he using his drivers to their full potential? This system will enable him to monitor and react to service and operational issues as they arise! It will also help him identify where potential efficiencies can be made to improve service levels, reduce operational costs, minimise fuel usage as well as maximise driver utilisation.

• Time Window Compliance

 Are your customers receiving the best possible delivery service? In order to meet customer delivery expectations, awareness of what is happening as it happens is essential! With Pulse your transport manager can physically monitor the route plan and be constantly aware of route changes or unidentifiable stops. These exceptions will impact on your customer service levels but this tool will allow you to take pre emptive action and alert customers should the expected delivery time’s change.

• Time & Mileage Compliance

Pulse identifies deviation from the route plan and captures route information such as the routes where drivers are taking longer than expected or using longer routes. This information is crucial when trying to reduce operational costs.

• Route Plan Vs. Actual

Are your planned routes totally efficient? Pulse captures real-time location data from the PDA and compares planned delivery schedule with the actual execution of the plan. This provides real-time analysis of operational key performance indicators and predictive alerts of likely delivery failures.

• Driver Debriefs

Have you considered that by reducing driver administration time you will allow your drivers to spend more time on the road? Pulse automatically generates driver end of day debrief reports as soon as they have logged off for the day. These reports compare planned and actual activity; they highlight missed stops and mileage expectations. The PDA System captures data at all stops on route including any exceptions. All of this means that your drivers will spend less time sweating the small stuff and more time increasing profitability.

Pulse isn’t the same as every other handheld device on the market today. It is a bespoke piece of software designed to be installed and set up to meet every individual need and requirement based on how your company operates.

Pulse will integrate easily into existing corporate intranet sites and CRM applications. 

At 121 Systems we pride ourselves on our extensive knowledge and expertise in logistical software design and implementation. However, we do not purely focus on this as we believe in providing a complete service for all our clients and ensure support throughout every step of the installation process and beyond!

Keep your finger on the Pulse and request more information by calling +44(0) 115 943 9130.