In many organisations, managing tools like hand held terminals or mobile printers in a busy distribution centre can cause problems.
The Unipart team at Nuneaton used various approaches to the problem such as using paper-based forms, “sign in / sign out” procedures or online spreadsheets to create an audit trail. Despite this technical support teams still found they were spending time locating equipment that had been used and returned to the wrong area. The cost of maintaining these electronic tools was around £19k a year based on the time it took to reconfigure and restore devices once used.
Looking at the problem through a digital lens led the team to consider a cloud based system that worked with specialist lockers. The software enable the technical support team to have full visibility of the use of the devices and their condition upon return. It also provides operators with the ability to record any problems with the asset electronically on to the locker.
A month after the start of the deployment, the system is working well and the team are expecting to achieve a return on investment within a year. In addition, damage to devices has reduced by 40%.