Situation at a glance

Company profileDrive Assist offers a credit-hire car service tohelp people inconvenienced by accidentsthat are not their fault. Established in 1992,it has 15 depots located throughout the U.K.,more than 1,000 employees, and a turnover£150 million (U.S.$261 million) a year.

SituationImmense growth over a short time meantDrive Assist needed to find a way to improvebusiness efficiency and service. A quarter ofa million collections or deliveries per year,and six paper forms associated with each,left the organisation with extreme processingproblems.

SolutionDrive Assist worked with Microsoft® partnerTBS to develop a solution based onMicrosoft Windows Mobile™–based PocketPC Phone Edition devices. They run a TBSapplication, called TaskMaster, whichintegrates with the company’s Vehicle HireManagement System (VHMS).

Benefits• Reduces the processing burden of

handling 120,000 paper forms a month.

• Fuel consumption decreased by 2.5million miles a year.

• Drivers can reach clients within two-hourservice level agreements.

• Move-ons are expected to make up 75 percent of the business.

• Easy-to-use technology emulates business processes.

Rapid growth at U.K. credit-hire car serviceDrive Assist left the company in need of asolution to help it deal with the tens ofthousands of paper forms processedmonthly. Drive Assist chose the TBSTaskMaster™ field mobility solution usingMicrosoft® Windows Mobile™-basedPocket PC Phone Edition devices for its500 drivers. The drivers use TaskMaster,which is integrated with ALK CoPilotsatellite navigation, on the devices tolocate clients quickly. They can nowreceive jobs while in the field, and inputinformation from inspections directly on the

device, which is sent in real time to theorganisation’s back-end system.The processing burden of 120,000 paperforms a month has been eliminated anddrivers are now able to optimise theirroutes and conserve fuel to help meetenvironmental targets. Move-on deliveries,which ensure drivers can pick up a vehicleand deliver it directly to the next client,have increased from one per cent to 25 per cent of the business, freeing up2,000 vehicles for new business. DriveAssist expects this figure to increase to 75 per cent.

Technological Business Solutions customer case study • Automotive Fleet

Mobile solution helps credit hire car serviceeliminate 120,000 paper forms a month

“ We can now offer a more dynamic service to our business providers.The solution has made us leaner. It ensures that we can operate a two-hourdelivery service right across the U.K.”Nigel Bardsley, Operations Director, Drive Assist

The use of paper maps forced drivers to stay withintheir territory boundaries so they didn’t get lost ortravel too far away from base. Now, they can travelfurther a field. GPS navigation ensures they can easilyfind their way to or from any address, and the callcentres can communicate with them in real time topass on any information they might need.

Information accuracy has also improved. Before,drivers often returned with signatures or paperworkmissing. “We built the TaskMaster functions aroundexisting workflow processes and use logic andmandatory questions in the application to ensure thatdrivers validate and complete the requiredinformation,” says Reynolds.

Drivers in the field also benefit from accurateinformation. Call centre operatives enter the details ofnew jobs onto the VHMS system, which are pushedout to the targeted driver. They can access all thedetails they need, such as what type of inspection toundertake, the location of the car, and how they getthere stress-free.

Easy to Use for Fast AdoptionDuring the development of a prototype, TBS workedclosely with drivers to emulate their workflow fordelivering and inspecting vehicles. A series of drop-down menus and pick lists guides them intuitivelythrough each process.

Bardsley says: “Drivers are a contrasting range of agesand technical ability, so it was very important that theinterface was easy to use. The solution is so intuitivethat training normally takes as little as two hours andadoption has been fantastic.”

TBS6 Derby RoadBelperDerbyshireDE56 1UUUnited KingdomTel +44 (0) 1773 596 900Web: www.tbsmobility.comEmail: info@tbsmobility.com

Drive Assist - www.driveassist.co.uk

Microsoft - www.microsoft.com/uk

ALK - www.alk.eu.com

When the driver arrives at the customer’s address,they conduct a vehicle inspection to identify any pre-existing damage to the vehicle. Using a processflow within TaskMaster, drivers can complete aninspection for damage, and fill in a form on screen.The customer then signs on the device.

A runner in a second car takes the driver to pick upanother car from a client. Previously, the driver wouldreturn the car back to a depot, where they wouldcollect the paperwork for the next job. Now, they cantake the collected car to the nearest car wash, anddeliver it directly to the next customer.

“This is called a ‘move on’, which is significant toDrive Assist,” says Reynolds. “Never before have thebusiness processes been efficient enough tosuccessfully carry out move-on deliveries becauseuntil now, Drive Assist hasn’t been able to dynamicallypush jobs out to drivers in the field.”

Taskmaster is a smart client application. It sits on theWindows Mobile device and is driven by the data thatis sent to it. “We can make changes to the applicationover the air. This gives us flexibility in terms of theuser interface and the way the information ispresented to the driver,” says Reynolds.

BenefitsEnvironmental Solution Eliminates 120,000 PaperForms a Month The solution has helped Drive Assist find effectiveways to cut emissions and be more environmentallyconscious. It has reduced the processing burden andinefficiency of handling 120,000 paper forms a month,which has also had a significant impact on operations.

“Previously, with 20,000 movements a month, and sixpieces of paper per movement, we generated such avast amount of paper that started to hold the companyback from its progress,” says Bardsley.

The environment also played a major part in thedevelopment of the handheld project. “The deviceshave helped us to optimise our fleet’s efficiency,” saysBardsley. Using the global positioning system (GPS)navigation on the device, drivers can plan optimisedroutes from job to job. “The fuel savings aresignificant, at around 2.5 million miles per year.Thanks to this reduction in mileage, we havesignificantly cut emissions.”

Bardsley also says that move-on collections anddeliveries free up 20 per cent of the fleet. “Around2,000 cars of our 15,000-strong fleet are nowavailable to use for business growth without investingin new resources,” he says.

Helps the Organisation Meet Two-Hour SLAsBefore the mobile solution was deployed, drivers wereissued with road maps, delivery and collection details,and inspection forms, which they had to study.This process was time consuming and confusion with directions often led to delivery delays. GPSnavigation on the devices combined with clearinstructions at drivers’ fingertips help them to reachthe client on time.

The company’s 200 call centre staff can now accessreal-time information direct from the field, which helpsthem inform customers and business partners ofdelivery times or potential problems. “Should thedriver’s ETA change, we can send the updated timethrough the TaskMaster software to warn the callcentre, which, in turn, keeps the customer informed,”says Reynolds.

Bardsley says: “We can now offer a more dynamicservice to our business providers. The solution hasmade us leaner. It ensures that we can operate a two-hour delivery service right across the U.K.”

Increases Driver Efficiency and Streamlines BusinessNow able to carry out move-on collections anddeliveries, drivers can plan their journey efficiently andreduce their mileage. “Previously, move-on deliveriesmade up just one per cent of the business,” saysBardsley. “Now, Drive Assist is predicting that move-ondeliveries will make up 75 per cent of the business.”

“Previously, move-ondeliveries made up just oneper cent of the business.

Now, Drive Assist ispredicting that move-ondeliveries will make up

75 per cent of the business.”Nigel Bardsley, Operations Director, Drive Assist

SituationEach year, thousands of motorists are involved in roadtraffic accidents that are not their fault. Drive Assistoffers a credit-hire car service to help peopleinconvenienced by these accidents by working withinsurance companies to provide people withreplacement cars. Drive Assist has 15 depots locatedthroughout the U.K., which are controlled from a headoffice in Tamworth.

Since it was established in 1992, Drive Assist hasachieved dramatic success. Its understanding of themarket has helped it grow from a small business, tomore than 1,000 employees and an annual turnover of£150 million (U.S.$261 million). The business has15,000 vehicles in its fleet, ranging from smaller carsto prestige models, and it carries out 20,000 vehicledeliveries or collections every month.

This immense growth over a very short time promptedDrive Assist to find a way to improve businessefficiency and service. Nigel Bardsley, OperationsDirector, Drive Assist, says: “Paper-based processeswere becoming cumbersome and time-consuming.Drivers had to pick up paper forms and jobs at depotsevery day. They had to print out Web maps anddecipher them on the way to clients’ addresses, whichsometimes caused delays.

”Paper forms, needed for the delivery, collection, andinspection of vehicles, created vast administration.With a quarter of a million collections or deliveries peryear to document, and six paper forms associated witheach movement, the organisation dealt with extremeprocessing problems. Drive Assist knew that lost formscould potentially result in a significant amount of carrental for which the business could not charge.

The organisation was also keen to improve the waythe call centres communicated with the 500 drivers inthe field and accelerate response times. “Someinsurance companies demand that customers areprovided with a vehicle within two hours of their call,anywhere in the country,” says Bardsley. “This wasdifficult to maintain when we relied on the phone forlocating drivers and relaying detailed information todrivers.” Employees also had to key in the details ofpaperwork into Drive Assist’s Vehicle HireManagement System (VHMS), which logs vehiclemovements, to generate invoices. Not only was thistime-consuming, but mistakes sometimes led to costlyerrors and inaccuracies in the system.

The organisation needed to sustain its growth andbecome more efficient in the way that it suppliedservices to customers, clients, and business partners.It began to search for a solution that could integratewith VHMS, streamline the business, and reduce theextensive paperwork generated daily.

SolutionThe organisation chose to work with TBS to develop asolution based on Microsoft Windows Mobile™-basedPocket PC Phone Edition devices. After a pilot phase,these were deployed to 500 delivery drivers. They runa TBS field mobility solution, called TaskMaster, whichintegrates with the company’s VHMS back-end system.

Steve Reynolds, Managing Director, TBS, says:“The drivers use Vodafone VPx devices, which have akeyboard, integrated phone, and general packet radioservices (GPRS) data communications. They run theTaskMaster smart client, which is integrated with ALKTechnologies’ CoPilot Live navigation software.”

Now, at the start of each day, drivers receive jobs fromthe VHMS system, pushed out by the TaskMastermobile gateway over the Vodafone GPRS network,through to the device. The message instructs thedriver to take a car to an address. When they acceptthe job, the satellite navigation system calculates theestimated time of arrival (ETA) and sends it to theserver so that call centre staff can feed theinformation back to the customer.