BT ACHIEVES SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMISATION WITH HELP...

23 October 2009, 9:21am

BT ACHIEVES SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMISATION WITH HELP FROM SKILLWEB

BT has optimised its supply chain operation with help from mobile solutions provider Skillweb to achieve significant cost savings and a reduction in carbon emissions. Utilising a transport management solution developed and supported by Skillweb, BT has been able to restructure its operational infrastructure over the past 6 months to reduce its transport fleet operation used to supply 27,000 service engineers with parts by over 25 per cent and remove six sites from its depot network.

Skillweb has worked with BT Supply Chain Services (BT SCS) since 2002 to develop the comprehensive transport management solution. The system, known internally as BT TraX, provides complete visibility of the movement of goods through the supply chain and has processed more than 100 million collections and deliveries to date with over one billion tracking events. This historical data has enabled BT SCS to analyse the delivery needs of its internal customers such as BT Openreach and BT Payphones to identify potential operating efficiencies and streamline the supply chain infrastructure.

BT TraX uses Intermec mobile computers that are operated by over 150 delivery drivers and around 80 depot teams to manage and track the goods as they move from the warehouse or collection point through the trunk network for onward delivery to each engineer. The solution enables BT SCS to better control the movement of over 20,000 parts per day to ensure that its 27,000 engineers are supplied with the right parts at the right time.

By providing visibility of the planning and distribution of parts through the UK and Northern Ireland and improving communications to the engineer via automated text messages and e-mails, Skillweb has helped BT SCS to monitor the impact of the changes on productivity and adjust transport operations accordingly.

Julie Fisher, Head of Supply Chain Projects at BT commented: “Our business goal was to analyse the delivery needs of our customers, so we could adapt our supply chain to offer a more cost-effective and lower carbon footprint solution. BT TraX is vital to our ability to understand how our operation functions and Skillweb’s partnership approach ensures that they work as an integrated part of our team, providing valuable technical support and helping apply technology to benefit our business.”

Paul Ridden, Managing Director of Skillweb said: “The vast amounts of information generated through BT TraX in the past seven years has enabled BT to analyse vital operational data to make informed business decisions regarding the restructure of their transport operation and manage the overall change process.

BT’s major challenge was maintaining the right balance of responsiveness and cost effectiveness within its delivery process. With a mix of parts requiring next-day delivery and larger volumes with a lower priority status, we have worked closely with the company to create a transport structure to service the needs of engineers in the field in the most timely and efficient manner.

We are proud of how our systems have allowed BT to take control of its transport fleet and make it work effectively for the business”

www.skillweb.com

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