Papyrus, a multi-channel retailer that sells greeting cards, has seen productivity among delivery drivers more than double since implementing a web-based workforce management application from RedPrairie Corp., the retailer tells Internet Retailer.
Since integrating the application to its operating platform with web-based integration technology in 2003, Fairfield, CA-based Papyrus has been able to track in real time the number of deliveries made per hour by its drivers to stores and distribution points, Del Duquette, who manages the workforce management system for Papyrus, says . The application has been integrated into the wireless bar code readers used by drivers to scan boxes delivered at each stop.
The readers feed such information into the central operating system as the time of the delivery and location where the boxes were delivered, as well as all information related to the driver’s route. The data are then used to chart hourly deliveries and track the driver’s location in real time.
Armed with the ability to track product movement in its distribution channel has enabled Papyrus to identify weak spots in the distribution process, such as poor route planning, and steadily increase the average number of deliveries by all drivers to 30 per hour, up from 10 per hour.
Delivery data are also uploaded in real time, enabling the retailer to identify where bottlenecks occur in the system. “We had a paper-based system prior to this and were lucky if delivery data got keyed in the same day,” recalls Duquette. “Now we can monitor data in real time and know where drivers are in their routes, which allows us to find out why a bottleneck occurs and take action to correct it or determine if it is merely an exception.”
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