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Increasing Visibility at BT

John Bamber, BT’s Head of Systems and Office Services, is a man who likes a challenge. He willingly confronted the task of setting up a wide-ranging supply-chain visibility and track and trace system. This was developed for BT’s massive parts and materials supply operation, starting from “a blank sheet of paper”.

Similarly, Chris Wright, Managing Director of systems house Skillweb, is also a man willing to take on a major challenge. Although his company was relatively new, he was ready to build a system that could meet the needs of a customer as large as BT.

The two men have achieved their objectives, although it wasn’t always easy. “You can’t sit down and write an exact specification for what you’ll need in three years’ time,” says John Bamber. “You know a lot, but turning it into an application is a different matter. You can only do it in incremental steps as you go along.”

Defining the challenge

The project involved the distribution of parts, tools, consumables and safety and testing equipment to BT enginers, who repair and maintain systems for residential and business customers. It also involved the delivery of some new product into the retail market.

BT delivers product to 27,000 mobile engineers around the country, using a fleet of 220 trunking and delivery vehicles. The central hub at Magna Park in Leicestershire handles 24,000 order lines a day. There are also nine regional depots, plus a second large warehouse at Northallerton in North Yorkshire, which focuses more on direct fulfilment through a parcels network.

The system already included a high degree of computerisation and automation. For instance, the warehouse at Magna Park features an automated FKI Logistex high-bay racking system, with advanced features such as automatic guided vehicles. BT uses a heavily modified version of the Logility ASC software suite to handle inventory planning and management, and some equally tailored warehouse management systems.

The challenge was that these systems couldn’t offer visibility of product once it was despatched. This required a whole new layer of monitoring and analysis during the delivery process, much of it in near real-time. The potential reward was a major leap forward in supply-chain integrity – with a corresponding reduction in the risk of consignments being lost, stolen or otherwise misdirected.

Preparing to meet the challenge

The BT team included systems and supply chain process experts, and transport personnel who would use and manage the application on a daily basis. When the team first sat down to develop a specification for the new system, its ‘wish list’ focused on two main elements – dynamic vehicle scheduling (meaning different journeys every day), and end-to-end track and trace of all consignments. “Although we could get hold of both types of system off the shelf, there didn’t appear to be an off-the-shelf way of linking them together.”

Ironically, although the starting point was the scheduling, the BT team soon realised that the dynamic aspect was not necessary after all. “We found that although the drops might vary from day to day, the basic route patterns could be kept fairly constant. So we reverted to fixed runs instead.”

However, BT did stay with its chosen supplier, DPS, whose Logix routing and scheduling system was duly implemented. This left the major focus on TraX, the track and trace system developed by Skillweb. Skillweb’s soution allows product to be scanned and recorded at every stage in the delivery process. The information is fed back to the centre at Magna Park, giving the organisation an unprecedented overall view of the supply chain in its current state.

Developing the solution

At the heart of the system are Intermec 720 handheld computers. These have been issued to all drivers, and are also used at the central warehouse. Delivery details for each driver are downloaded to the terminals at the depot by direct cradle connection, and effectively serve as an electronic manifest, sorted into correct delivery order.

The terminals have built-in barcode scanners, which the driver uses to scan each ’event’ during the delivery process (offloading, cross-docking etc.). Codes can be displayed on cartons, pallets or cages, and also at each delivery point, so that the driver can actually confirm arrival by scanning a fixed location code.

Most of the engineers’ deliveries are made on an unattended basis, to locked drop-boxes at selected BT sites. There are 700 such sites, of which some 150 are at TECs (technical engineering centres). The larger ones can have up to 200 lockers. These are scanned individually to confirm each delivery. “Unmanned handover is very convenient, but we wanted additional visibility at this point,” says John Bamber. “Scanning really tightens up control and accountability.”

Some deliveries go directly to the distribution centres of large retailers, and in this case the handheld terminals can also capture signatures electronically. This feature is also used if deliveries are made directly to locations such as building sites, where the product has to be handed over to a third party.

The Intermec terminals run under Windows CE. The scanned data are downloaded to BT’s host computer system in batches when the drivers return to base. The handheld units can also be used to send messages by GSM mobile phone link or 802.11 wireless local-area network. “Batch downloading is usually fast enough for what we want,” remarks John Bamber, “but reports can be uploaded instantly by GSM if necessary.”

At the control centre, Skillweb’s software processes the information and feeds the resultant intelligent data back to BT’s own management systems to close orders, record deliveries and to create a database for further trend analysis. The user interfaces within the control centre at Magna Park provide BT’s Transport Managers with the tools needed to manage both the trunk network and the end point delivery throughout the UK and NI. Skillweb also developed its own computer-based training system.

Putting it into practice

Once a trunker is loaded and despatched, detailed information on every consignment is passed to the appropriate Depot Supervisor for local distribution, or for further distribution through a series of satellite depots. The TraX system provides planners with all the information they need: tractors, trailers, customers, drivers, opening hours, restrictions, special instructions, etc. Plans are quickly and efficiently created and are downloaded ready for the driver’s shift.

At the end of every shift, the drivers are debriefed. In the unlikely event that they have failed to deliver all of their consignments, the system automatically reschedules them for the next day, and if appropriate lets the engineer know about the delay. With all driver recorded events up-loaded, the central system then generates its reports.

A daily performance scorecard is created for each depot, allowing managers to drill down and identify trends and implement continuous improvement activities. The wealth of information available allows BT’s managers to focus on service and customers’ needs – and on providing an efficient operation rather than simply chasing down missing consignments. Next day now means next day!

Reaping the benefits

As far as performance in the field is concerned, John Bamber says that deliveries take a little longer with scanning, but that this is compensated for by significantly fewer failures and missing items. He observes that drivers enjoy using the new equipment; and that the managers and operational staff also like it. To cater for potential problems in the field, BT has set up a help desk, but John says that it has been possible to keep this quite small.

“The project certainly involved a culture change,” he acknowledges, “but the impact has been worth it. It’s hard to quantify the benefits, because so much has changed, but we feel this system has brought us up to the same level as the major third-party carriers.” Chris Wright maintains that it actually puts BT ahead of many, since it incorporates the ability to track real-life performance against plan, which few comparable systems can do.

Once the initial phase of the system was running successfully in the local delivery fleet, the BT team expanded it to the trunking fleet. A third phase is now being developed, and will include additional features such as compliance; and the ability to match drivers, vehicles and trailers automatically, providing even tighter track and trace control.

Meanwhile, Skillweb has incorporated elements of TraX in its own packaged solutions. These include its Taskmanager, Track & Trace Manager, and 20/20 ePOD proof of delivery systems – all of which are offered either on a stand-alone basis or in combination. There is also a linking application called Total Visibility Manager, which draws in other components.

BT’s roving engineers are already issued with rugged laptop computers, which run mobile applications that allow them to update and close jobs, order parts and run demonstrations whilst in the field. John Bamber says that the TraX system has added a further degree of automation to their job, helping to ensure that they are supplied with the correct materials and parts at the right time.

“We’ll reach Utopia when engineers don’t have to worry about anything except the jobs they’re doing,” he comments, implying that the new system has moved the organisation a step further in that direction. He continues: “Everyone worked really hard on the project. There were times when it might have been easier to walk away from it, but we stayed with it, and the results have proved that it was well worth it.”