The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted organisations of all shapes and sizes to focus on digital transformation like never before. Supporting remote workers will continue to be a challenge as we move further into 2021, and having greater hidden visibility of where assets are and how they are performing will be a crucial way of guiding operational investments for businesses that want to survive and thrive in modern society.
“The resulting acceleration [is] nothing short of miraculous, albeit necessary. Organisations [have had] to take some big dramatic steps – and in some cases a leap of faith – to make their businesses work in the most difficult circumstances. The reward is that the benefits will stretch well beyond the pandemic,” said Dr Stefan Sigg, CPO at Software AG.
Below, we have summarised three examples of excellent operational transformation. Suppose you want to make changes and adopt anything from tablets for digitalised menus, through tags for warehouse pallets, to mobile solutions for field workers. In that case, we encourage you to read the examples below and contact our team – we have sector-specific experts who can cater to your needs.
1. Manufacturing – ASICS
2. Healthcare – Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
3. Public Sector (Blue Light) – Leicestershire Police
ASICS Boosts Efficiencies In European Warehouses Using Mobile Computers And Scanners
ASICS Europe is a subsidiary of ASICS Corporation, a leading designer and manufacturer of running shoes. They are paving the way with production, distribution, and marketing processes, embracing cutting-edge technology to improve operations and pivoting towards one-of-a-kind virtual product launches.
The Problem:
Having launched an updated Warehouse Management System, Asics Europe wanted to refresh their Zebra Workabout devices and simplify their operations by using one device to manage their complete spectrum of tasks. They wanted to future-proof their operations and boost their overall efficiencies.
The Solution:
Asics’ European factories adopted Zebra Technologies’ TC8000 mobile computers to manage warehouse processes, including goods inbound, stock movements, stock counts, replenishments, picking, goods outbound, and returns processing. The long-range scanners are used on forklifts, while on-foot pickers use the short-range scanners.
Outcome:
On average, workers across the warehouse picking 800 SKUs during a shift and scanning the location, item, and trolley for each SKU – in total, around 2400 scans – saved up to an hour per shift, equating to a 10% increase in productivity. Paper-based processes have been automated, and real-time visibility has been improved.
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (CUH) Streamlines Theatre Inventory Management Using RFID
Addenbrookes Hospital – part of the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (CUH) – was one of the first NHS trusts in the UK to introduce GS1 standards for tracking medical devices. One of their most significant projects involved streamlining theatre inventory management by introducing an RFID-tagged, consumption-led inventory management system.
The Problem:
With a high volume of stock being held at the theatre level, resources were tying up capital and taking up space. None of this stock was being tracked; there needed to be more visibility of how much stock was being used, and the inventory system relied on theatre staff to manually report and log the use of inventory. It was time-consuming and gave rise to human errors.
The Solution:
CUH became the first hospital in the UK to introduce a central theatre kitting service. Now, they can prepare around 100 to 120 daily kits for elective procedures, plus 50 for emergency and contingency kits. All equipment that theatre staff require for a specific procedure is collated in a patient-specific tote box containing a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag to allow its unique identification. With this system in place, CUH can now accurately capture the cost of each operation and simultaneously enable clinical staff to focus on patient care.
Outcome:
By creating a leaner, consumption-led system for theatre inventory management, CUH could reduce their store rooms from three to just one while bringing their cost-per-case down by 2.5 and 7.4% in the specialties where the solution was first deployed. Transactional activities could also be transferred to procurement teams and automated elsewhere. This led to a 69% drop in manual purchase orders across the theatre’s directorate.
Leicestershire Police Enable Patrolling Officers With Continuous Data Connectivity
Leicestershire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Leicestershire and Rutland in England. Like many police forces within the UK and Europe, Leicestershire police are constantly trying to improve connectivity to patrolling officers out in the field.
The Problem:
With officers on patrol being failed by connections whenever the signal dropped below 3G, they struggled to carry out routine jobs, access 999 emergency systems, report, and all the Home Office software. They needed a solution to improve connectivity over 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, ADSL, and 4G to give mobile users reliable access to applications and data and enable officers to communicate with London and conduct complete crime investigations.
The Solution:
Leicestershire Police deployed a traffic optimization and mobile VPN solution to their entire workforce, stretching across their laptops and tablets, allowing officers to complete reports and update incidents in their vehicles between calls without returning to the station. With a single software solution, they benefited from a seamless user experience over any network connection.
The Outcome:
With the help of NetMotion Software, all officers and staff are now fully mobile-enabled.
They have virtually eliminated dropped connections and glitches, even in poor network conditions, and improved officer presence in the field because more work can be done away from the station. As little as a one-person IT department maintains NetMotion for their 4,000+ users and has significantly decreased connection-related support calls and trouble tickets to IT through such a rollout.
How Can I Replicate Such Success?
If you wish to explore solutions for your business, visit our Contact Us page and email us. One of our sector-specific experts will reach out to discuss any problems you might have or any technologies you seek to deploy. And if we don’t offer the solutions you are looking for, we will likely know someone who does.n
