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Issue 81
Rugged Hardware
Industry Specific Software
Full Service Support
www.touchstargroup.com
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Superior Propane, Canada’s largest propane marketer, is realizing customer service improvements that top 30% as a result of their TouchStar mobile computing initiative OBTC, (On Board Truck Computing). This article looks at the ease of doing business, customer service improvements and internal success drivers.
 Donna Stevenson, OBTC Project Manager for Superior, reports that the ease of doing business at the district and corporate level has dramatically impacted customer service, streamlined internal business processes and extended the functionality of their back office system.
 Large to small commercial customers reap the rewards of OBTC as they typically, without notice, request copies of delivery reports and historical billing data and they need them immediately. Prior to TouchStar’s OBTC, the system could only produce static and basic reports, administrative staff would spend hours digging through paper files and the customer would have to wait days”, says Donna, “but with TouchStar’s OBTC, we have electronic reports and invoices that can be faxed or emailed within minutes…in custom format. They love this! Invoice disputes are infrequent as all the data is captured at the delivery site and authorized by the customer via electronic signature. Data entry is obsolete, as well as the errors that come with it. It’s a huge time and money saver administratively and drives priceless customer service”. The paper savings alone, she continues, “is significant”.
 Customer service management is up 32% as internal staff has immediate, electronic access to customers’ transaction history, allowing them to address issues in real-time. Wading through rivers of paper is eliminated. Customers enjoy one touch service and are no longer delegated to various departments for resolution, a process which could last for days.
 Paramount to their success is categorical endorsement of the project. TouchStar utilizes its proprietary 8 point process to ensure all aspects of the project management cycle are appropriately covered, not least of which is Change Management. Business and behavioral process change is effective only to the extent it is embraced and Superior has achieved their success through collaboration. “It’s a comprehensive solution, says a General Manager. Operations coordinators, administrators and drivers all work together to guarantee our business processes are aligned and we’re getting the most efficiencies possible out of the system.”
 Lending support to collaboration, the true testimony of accomplishment comes from users. One Operations Coordinator exclaims, “It’s been heaven! We have up-to-theminute data we need to pinpoint the status of deliveries and build driver trips more efficiently and strategically. The analysis of invoices that used to take hours can now be done in a spreadsheet in minutes. Best of all, drivers are on the road earlier and can serve more customers in a day.”
 Clearly morale is high and fuels (pardon the pun) the success of OBTC, its continued deployment and builds anticipation for future capabilities and new efficiencies, all which directly and indirectly affects their most vital resource: THE CUSTOMER.
As demonstrated by Superior, mobility is not just a back office or pick up and delivery function.
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 Mobility Myth: Basic pickup and delivery status is sufficient.
 Basic pick-up and delivery as a primary customer service and business management tool is obsolete, especially for larger and more complex field force enterprises. Companies wanting to keep up with their peers need to hasten the decision making process and fast track to maintain their market position. Next generation technology has relegated cell phones to the proverbial Tomb.
Reality: Fleets need to invest in multiple aspects of mobility to remain competitive.
According the Aberdeen Study, fleet organizations report they are investigating comprehensive systems “that considers multiple improvement areas. Eight of 10 study participants have current, budgeted projects across two or more of the major fleet mobility areas.”
 Eight of ten is a healthy percentage; two of four is downright compelling. Both statistics resoundingly endorse mobility as beyond ‘nice to have’. Enslow summarizes pointedly, “Companies not taking advantage of these capabilities will be at a financial disadvantage.”
The good news is that comprehensive solutions are possible without the perceived logistical and fiscal headaches. Notice Enslow uses the term “invest”. TouchStar’s customers embrace “multiple aspects of mobility”; increased revenue, customer satisfaction; competitive agility; streamlining burdensome internal processes; eliminating paper. The dynamics of integrated programs, functionally and quantifiable benefits encapsulate the “comprehensive” and “multiple” features mobility offers, as well as the numerous benefits. The Return on Investment for comprehensive platforms far exceeds any static implementation.
 The study cites “Basic Driver Communication” and “Value Added Information Capture and Exchange” as two of four major fleet mobility areas, both readily available and of immediate priority.
Basic Drive Communications, defines Enslow, “includes capturing pick up and delivery status and communicating route plans. For most fleets these are must have capabilities that are essential to remain in business.”
Electronically capturing transaction detail at the time of delivery, dynamic dispatch, routing and accommodating emergency orders and customer issues tightly aggregates vehicle and workforce efficiency to customer service. Field workforces and fixed station employees seamlessly coordinate based on real time information and management has a clear snapshot for efficiency and Q & A improvements. Documenting and processing transactions electronically as they occur sharply reduces paper based processes, error margins and drastically impacts customer satisfaction and the corresponding bottom line.
 “Value Added Information Capture and Exchange can be used to improve customer service, enable the delivery of higher profit, value added activities and shorten payment lifecycles.” In sum, electronic signature capture.
Electronic signature capture is benefit rich, nearly paperless feature that provides a wide range of value added functionality: proof of delivery; on site invoicing; payment processing; eliminates billing errors and redundant administrative processes; accelerates payables with fewer invoice disputes while enhancing vendor integrity. The field and fixed workforce see greater production and can direct more time to handling customer issues as they occur.
Volatile commodities can fluctuate in price between order and delivery, especially fuel. One TouchStar customer depends on electronic signature to eliminate surprises, “Pricing is accurate for changes being updated overnight. It also eliminates errors when drivers extend tickets with taxes and fees”. Enslow makes clear another intrinsic value: “the ability to capture accessorial charges (and potentially receive real time customer approval of the extra charges)”.
 Fleet vision, dynamic driver and on premise workforce data exchange, bundled with electronic signature capture, are staple system requirements for TouchStar customers. A comprehensive mobility initiative sharpens the competitive edge, dulls customer disputes and administrative burdens while facilitating growth and sustainability. These, according to our customers, are the realties.
(Excerpts from The Top 4 Myths of Mobility reprinted with permission from The Aberdeen Group, an industry analyst company specializing in fact-based technology research for business and technology executives. For more information, please visit www. Aberdeen.com)
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 Jon Castley detailed to a gathering of executives at a breakfast workshop held in July at the Stamford Grand North Ryde that the TouchStar developed, Field Force Automation solution introduced to his organisation 10 years ago not only removed the manual data entry system on site & at head office but delivered a solution that exceeded their expectations.
Jon Castley is Origin’s National Scheduling Manager. Jon proudly mentioned that TouchStar and Origin are celebrating a successful 10 year business relationship. He said that the TouchStar solution improved scheduling and planning efficiencies by increasing the number of scheduled & unscheduled deliveries, improved efficiency of data flow & reduction in data & invoicing errors, invoicing onsite increased by 80% which reduced double-entry errors, increased cash flow and customer satisfaction was significantly heightened by such an improved level of service. Jon stated that the efficiencies introduced by the system have had a significant impact on the bottom-line and has been a hugely successful return on investment.
 Andrew Scarborough TouchStar’s Solutions Director and an industry veteran, explored TouchStar’s belief that ROI is only real when it is about your unique business needs not when it is a sales pitch. It should be the first step of the needs analysis before the decision and selection of technologies and technology partners.
 Jon Penn the Product Marketing Manager for Panasonic’s Toughbook range highlighted the Total Cost of Ownership of deploying Toughbooks in a field environment. The Toughbooks are built to handle extreme conditions. - Used worldwide by the Military, Utilities, Emergency Services and Heavy Industry, Toughbooks protect components that are most frequently damaged, resulting in maximum uptime and productivity at a lower total cost of ownership.
 We thank all who attended our Breakfast workshop and hope that everyone gained insight into how automation can be the best investment decision you can make.
A special thank you also to Panasonic who were our exclusive sponsor for the event.
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 In the past, I have mentioned Microsoft’s security improvements to Windows Mobile 5.0. This month I aim to delve a little deeper into the security improvements.
One of Microsoft’s main objectives with the latest operating system release has been to provide the various industry players a high level of granularity in terms of the control they have of the device. This allows mobile operators and enterprises to lock down a device so that only applications signed by with their authority are permitted to execute. Previously this security model was incubated in the SmartPhone platform and as of Windows Mobile 5.0 the majority of this model has been pushed to the PocketPC platform. This is an important enhancement now that PocketPC is increasingly used in phone enabled devices.
The Windows Mobile 5.0 security model focuses on a concept of trust which is enforced by cryptographic layering with digital certificates used to code sign applications. Applications are ultimately either unsigned or signed with privileged or unprivileged access to the device. Access restriction policies can be enforced by the OEM, a mobile operator, or a third party. Also, Microsoft will typically include trust for their application distribution program called Mobile2Market in all but the very strictest of configurations.
Recently a few updates have been supplied by Microsoft through various OEM’s (almost all now) which enable push e-mail and the ability for Microsoft Exchange to wipe a device remotely in the case that it is lost or stolen. Overall, with these improvements Windows Mobile devices can compete with and in some cases exceed RIM’s (Blackberry) e-mail functionality.
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World LP Gas Forum
October 17-20, 2006
Palmer House Hilton, Chicago
 The World LP Gas Forum travels to the United States in 2006 after recent years in Berlin and Shanghai. The 19th World Forum will be held from October 17 - 20, 2006, at the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, USA. The World LP Gas Forum is the only global event of its kind. Its cosmopolitan venues and international representation attracts more than 400 attendees and close to 1000 visitors. This year boasts a compelling new feature for the World Forum, the inaugural LP Gas Technology Conference. The Technology Conference will be run in conjunction with the World Forum. Sponsored by the World LP Gas Association and the Propane Education and Research Council, the Technology conference will bring together the best and brightest from the LP Gas industry to share best practice and innovations. TouchStar will be in Booths 31 and 32 and we look forward to seeing you in Chicago.
Please visit www.worldlpg.com for more information or contact Michel Murphy at TouchStar, 918.307.7175 or michel.murphy@touchstarsolutions.com
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Customer Service; Superior by 32% |
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Fleet Mobility Myth Busting |
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Field Force Automation - Business Opportunity not a technology cost |
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Tech Talk with David Thornley
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TouchStar Events |
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