Golden State Overnight Manages Application Updates and Tracks Mobile Assets with Wavelink Software

Regional carrier improves driver efficiency and customer satisfaction in priority overnight delivery service

Time truly is money for Golden State Overnight (GSO), a majority of its packages have a 10:30 AM next day delivery standard. For a company that handles over 8 million packages a year, every improvement in on-time delivery has a very real impact on revenues—and on customer satisfaction.

“Reliable service is what wins you business each day,” says Allan Chandler, Director of Technology in GSO’s Alameda, Calif., headquarters. A regional focus is one key to success: by only servicing California, Nevada and Arizona, GSO’s customers enjoy later pickups, earlier deliveries and lower rates compared to the national carriers. Another key to success resides inside the mobile computers carried by every GSO driver: software. With so few carriers in the overnight business, off-the-shelf software simply isn’t available. Thus, like FedEx and UPS, GSO develops all of the applications that support its core business of package pick-up and delivery.

The primary piece of field operations software is called GSO MobileConnect, an evolving application that gives drivers scanning and routing tools and captures real time proof-of-delivery (POD) information. In the past, the only way to update MobileConnect was to pull a mobile unit out of service, plug it into a cradle and download the latest version. Today, GSO is using Wavelink Avalanche? to push out new versions of MobileConnect via Wi-Fi in all 22 of its distribution centers (DCs). Whenever an update is available, the central Avalanche server downloads it to the device, the device installs the update, and the driver is ready to roll—in less than five minutes.

Saving Time, Cutting Costs and Boosting Revenues

In GSO’s largest facilities, the day starts with 80 drivers loading their trucks with dozens of packages. The scene was especially frantic when drivers had to hand-check paper manifests and reconcile every package. In those days, loading took about 45 minutes per vehicle.

The automation of this process has evolved and GSO is currently using over 800 Symbol MC9063 mobile computers to track and manage loading and delivery. Each MC9063 communicates via Wi-Fi in the DC and over the Sprint WAN in the field.

When a driver logs in each morning, their MC9063 uses the Wi-Fi link to receive any software updates and also download package and routing information. Once the driver begins loading their vehicle, they scan each package and the MobileConnect screen flashes green if the parcel is on the correct route and flashes red if not. It can also alert the driver to the location of any expected parcels haven’t been scanned.

All of this takes about 10 minutes, getting packages on their way 35 minutes sooner than was possible with paper manifests. Saving time helps GSO reduce its labor costs: it employs over 1000 drivers who are paid an hourly rate plus incentives based on performance. Faster loading also helps boost revenues by getting more packages delivered on time every day.

Defining and Deploying the Solution

For several years, GSO has relied on Dale Hetherington of Creative Concepts, Foothill Ranch CA: for solution consultation and system integration. As GSO expanded both its use of mobile computers and the capabilities of Mobile Connect, Chandler’s team began searching for tools to automate the software update process. Creative Concept’s assessed GSO’s needs and recommended a combination of Symbol hardware and Wavelink software. After a pilot test that grew to 50 devices in four facilities, GSO knew it had the right solution.

To deploy the current configuration, Creative Concepts assisted GSO by receiving the devices from Symbol, loading the Avalanche client, configuring the software and even charging the batteries. At GSO, as soon as each MC9063 was powered up it appeared on the Avalanche server console.

Managing Software Pilot Tests

In the first three months of field use, GSO was able to roll out six software updates. “When you scope an application, you have most of the requirements up front,” says Chandler. “However, once the software gets into the field, you become aware of changes that will make it better.”

As GSO continues to add new functionality to MobileConnect, its development team can easily manage pilot tests. “The nice thing about Avalanche is we can update specific devices,” explains Chandler. “If we want to pilot new functionality with 10 routes in a certain region, our operations team tells us which drivers, we use Avalanche to select the target devices, and each one is updated when it returns to the DC.”

From that, the developers gather feedback, modify the application as needed, and gradually expand the pilot to more devices. Once they have everything worked out, the server in Alameda can start updating every mobile computer across all 22 facilities.

Tracking Mobile Assets

In the past, keeping track of millions of dollars worth of equipment traveling all over three Western states was a big challenge. Today, GSO uses Avalanche to keep tabs on all 800 units. Says Chandler, “Every time a device comes into a DC, we know where it is. As soon as it connects to the network, we can drill down and see how long it has been since it last communicated with our central Avalanche server.”

GSO also knows where each device is supposed to be. If one has gone too long without connecting to the server, the technology team can contact the operations group in a particular facility and initiate a search for the wayward device. If the device cannot be located, a “kill” signal can be sent through Avalanche to make the unit inoperable to protect against unauthorized use.

Staying Focused on Development

Chandler uses the word “busy” to describe a week in the life of his 14-person development team. The group is currently working on three major mobile projects. One is the addition of digital signature capture to MobileConnect, which will be deployed early in October of 2006. Another is the automatic upload of driver payroll data that is currently entered manually. The third is real time acquisition of information such as actual vehicle location and the interval time between deliveries—key pieces of data that will help GSO increase the efficiency of every delivery route.

Avalanche is also making Chandler’s team more efficient: “We appreciate Avalanche because it allows us to focus on application development rather than infrastructure. Our mobile developers can focus on exactly that—mobile development—without worrying about how the software propagates out to the devices.”