Improving the delivery process must be an ongoing process in your company. Technology, including mobile phones, change rapidly and great delivery software is a game changer for your company. Enterprise proof of delivery software solutions remove paper from the process, direct drivers from stop to stop, gives them answers to all their questions, and proves you delivered the product. Automation, Feedback, Driver Needs, and Reporting are all crucial items your Enterprise Proof of Delivery system needs to do well. Just having an App is not enough. Mature systems provide all kinds of alerts, reports, and options to help you improve the delivery process.
Automation: Companies develop and install software solutions to automate business processes. The delivery cycle is repetitive, predictable, and perfect for automation. Proof of Delivery solutions control the process by leading the driver down a defined path. Along this path we sprinkle in some automation, business intelligence and some artificial intelligence. Automated emails and alerts are a good place to start. Warehouse staff could be sent an email when a driver is close to returning to the warehouse. Customers could receive a text or email showing them the estimated delivery time and when a delivery is complete. Managers could be sent a route review email containing stop information, duration timing, and any issues with the route. Using automation to generate alerts about the delivery process puts information in front of key stake holders allowing them to quickly see how well or how bad a route is performing.
Feedback: If you send your delivery people on the road with a stack of paper and let them figure things out, hoping they return with signed copies and an empty truck, you are in a delivery black hole. Today, Enterprise Proof of Delivery applications are sophisticated software systems. They are connected in real-time to other systems and provide feedback during the entire route. Stop information, invoice data, and driver information is downloaded to the App throughout the day. The App sends back completed delivery information, signatures, and route status. The returned information is then available to every department in the company. Signatures could be returned to your ERP system to print on invoices, actual delivery time could be fed into a customer web portal and to your ERP system, or route status can be made available to account managers throughout the day.
Driver Needs: Make sure your employees have the tools and data they need. In your software selection process, spend some time with your delivery staff to determine the information they need. Make sure your selected software gives them all the required information. It sounds simple but many times software is selected for employees not with employees. The system needs to help your staff, improve the process, and be used to its full potential. Including every employee in the software selection process is not practical. You can have meetings with staff to determine what information is needed, review this information with your potential vendors, and discuss with employees how the system will meet their needs. These simple things ensures you select software the meets your needs now and in the future. Including employees and making them part of the process helps them embrace the changes.
Reporting: Your Proof of Delivery App is a multi-function machine. It offers data collection, support services, and monitoring services but you need to get at the data. Most companies spend plenty of time optimizing routes and stops and often assume this is enough. Reviewing routes is as beneficial as reviewing sales history. There is gold buried in that data that can be pulled out with the right tools. Monitoring if the actual delivery time was close to the estimated delivery time helps see if the route can be accomplished in the time allotted. Monitoring stop duration and time between stops can help determine if an employee is efficient. Make sure your selected software package has back-end reporting and the ability to help you analyze route performance.
At FwdMbl Solutions our Enterprise Proof of Delivery options can be simple or be as robust as you will ever need. Our Proof of Delivery app can be configured to handle any scenario your drivers will run into. Simple Delivery, Delivery and Collections, Delivery and Sales, and Delivery and Returns. Our back-end reporting and alerts provide instant access to the status and performance of the route. We provide feedback to any ERP system and Data Warehouse. We use automation to reduce errors, handle the simple mundane tasks, and get your drivers on the road fast. Contact us to improve your delivery process.
John Kangas is the CEO, partner and developer at FwdMbl Solutions. FwdMbl Solutions, LLC is a provider of mobile sales and proof of delivery solutions.
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