Fast Forward takes top honours in 1999 Giga Awards for Workflow Excellence in Action
A pioneering e-commerce workflow implementation by Global Technology Business Intelligence (GBI), local reseller of Lucent Technologies` Viewstar, won top honours at this year`s prestigious Giga Awards for Workflow Excellence in Action in Brussels.
The award was presented to Eghshaan Khan, IT & services manager at Fast Forward, South Africa`s premier parcel and container services company. The Giga Global Excellence Awards are given annually to honour innovative use of technology. Entries are judged on their dramatic impact on a business`s operational efficiency, competitive positioning and/or revenue generation through improved business practices.
Fast Forward experienced difficulties in the management of the more than 15 000 proof of delivery (POD) documents generated daily. Deliveries are made to remote depots and to areas such as Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. If a POD could not be produced, recipients of goods refused to pay senders and Fast Forward, in turn, risked not being paid by its customers.
"In 1994, we implemented a document imaging system to manage the POD documentation," explains Fast Forward`s GM, strategy and business development, Kobus Nieuwoudt, "but this became outdated and technology had reached a new level of sophistication which could give us a further competitive advantage. After a thorough tendering process GBI was selected to implement a document management solution."
Last year, GBI supplied Fast Forward with ViewStar, a customer relationship management (CRM) workflow product. Fast Forward used it to develop a fully automated Web-enabled proof of delivery (POD) system for processing and tracking parcels throughout its national distribution network.
The resulting solution runs on a centralised SQL server repository in Johannesburg, housed on a Fujitsu 754 series server, coupled to a 660 GB Hewlett-Packard SureStore Jukebox. Scanning of documents happens at ten different depots at all the major Fast Forward centres throughout the country. The system uses workflow to keep track of processes and customer enquiries, and also ensures that there is quality input at all points of entry.
It enables Fast Forward to accurately account for up to 15 million transactions per annum. As a result it has increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, and managed to win back some key corporate customers. Today customers can quickly and easily find out the status of a consignment at any stage in its journey by calling Fast Forward`s national call centre in Johannesburg or by simply entering their account details on the company`s Web site and accessing the information electronically. Fast Forward now has the capacity to comfortably and accurately handle 10 to 15 million delivery documents per annum. POD documentation can be accessed and printed out over the Web and validation of scanned documents has improved data integrity markedly.
"The biggest challenge in implementing a successful workflow solution of any kind in South Africa, lies not only in the technology solution, but in the successful re-moulding of the organisational culture to compliment and accept the solution. With over 3.5 million consignments, 74 branches and over 3000 employees we had to find an innovative way to collect, manage and disseminate information across the enterprise. Through workflow technology and the Web we set out to redefine our national parcel and container services," said Khan.
Nieuwoudt says: "This is a very competitive industry with low margins. Costs are cut to the bone and the real differentiator is in the value-add we give to our customers. The new system gives them the information they need to streamline their own delivery and payment processes."
Future plans include expanding the Web-site functionality into a complete e-commerce site. The new system also paves the way for using customers` own reference numbers and invoices as delivery documentation. "We aim to improve our market share with value-add and cost-effective services. This technology makes us responsive to customer needs and empowers them", says Nieuwoudt.
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