The Hindu Business Line : Missing no moment in the chain

Ask people why they're late, and likely nine out of 10 will blame it on something or someone - bad roads, the driver of the pick-up car who came late, traffic jams, what-have-you.

But if you are a business process outsourcing (BPO) player who has to pick up and drop hundreds of employees in different shifts everyday, you can't waste time trading blame.

You can spend it more usefully by adopting global positioning system or GPS technology, says Bannari Infotech.

BPOs find this technology useful because their offices work round-the-clock and employees need to be picked up and dropped off after work at irregular hours.

A BPO with 300 vehicles may have 240 trip sheets.

To key this data and approve the information could be a mind-boggling task.

The logistics manager probably spends all his time analysing the data and approving the trip sheet.

Imagine a BPO with a headcount of 5,000 or more.

There is probably more chaos than what meets the eye, in just transporting employees to the place of work and back.

The company has to ensure employee security, provide different types of vehicles, map the route and maximum fill-factor. All this adds to the complexity in the planning process.

"Incidentally, a majority of BPOs do not own cabs and sub-contract this service.

They are forced to depend on a third-party for tracking and have no clue as to who is commuting in which vehicle. Some companies pick up their staff as in a bus stop.

Here again, they have no idea as to how many have abstained from work for the day or who, for that matter, is missing, before they reach the destination," says Arvinth, Vice-President, Bannari Infotech.

Digitised road map

Considering the huge potential and the gap in servicing this space, Bannari Infotech started the exercise by setting up its own data logging facility.

To track vehicles in real time, a digitised road map is essential in a GPS-based transportation system.

The data generated by the GPS helps locate the vehicle.

This data will have to be positioned on a map of the area for analysis. By superimposing the readings on the map, the receiver continuously records its co-ordinates at regular intervals.

It can be monitored from a remote location through software that helps interface between the information system and the GPS.

Bannari Infotech, claims Arvinth, has the `best map' for at least two cities.

Claiming that neither the Government nor the District Administration had an update on the city layout, he says, `there is no standard numbering (of door numbers). So the only entity who is knowledgeable is the friendly-neighbourhood postman."

"We have to concede to limitations. If the fundamentals are not in place, no routing or trip sheets will serve the purpose. For BPOs, it is not the cost of transportation, but the timing that is very critical.

Odd shift timings, poor understanding of the route, a slight and inadvertent delay by one or more passengers commuting by the same vehicle leads to a chain hold-up.

Invariably, the employee blames the driver for being late, for the hold-up, and there is no technique to verify the contention," says Arvinth.

Pilot project

The company has just completed a pilot for a renowned BPO.

According to Arvinth, the BPO has, since the implementation of the pilot phase of this project, registered a 30 per cent drop in employee transportation cost.

The adoption of GPS technology is growing in India.

While BPOs are realising its potential now, early users have been companies in the transportation business.

GPS technology helps them to track vehicles and ensure timely delivery of goods and services.

The Coimbatore Corporation has installed GPS safety devices in its garbage collection vehicles to keep track of the routes they use.

lnr@thehindu.co.in

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