Boughey Distribution are one of the UK’s leading logistics providers to the food industry with particular experience and expertise in the ambient grocery sector. To improve customer service and digitalise existing paper-based proof of delivery processes, Boughey selected Rocket as their SAP partner to provide and implement a mobile proof of delivery solution that would work seamlessly with the Boughey SAP Business Suite (SAP ECC) ERP system and processes.

The Challenge

Boughey want to modernise and improve the existing in-cab and on the road processes for delivery management and proof of delivery across their B2B logistics services provision for their clients.
To achieve this the existing paper-based and administration intensive processes will be transformed through the introduction of a real-time mobile logistics management solution. The desired solution will be seamlessly integrated into the existing SAP Business Suite (SAP ECC) and be provided to all drivers by means of specialised in-cab mobile devices.
A specialist SAP partner able to implement a turnkey mobile proof of delivery solution into the existing Boughey SAP ECC landscape was required.

Working in collaboration with Barcode-IT, Rocket was selected for a combination of specialisation in SAP consulting and implementation services for supply chain and operationally intensive businesses and the Rocket Logics mobile Proof of Delivery solution for SAP which was selected over competitors for the ease of use, capability and lower cost to implement thanks to the standard SAP integration.

Furthermore, the project includes the evaluation and adoption of the SAP Digital Access licence structure. Adoption of this will allow significant license cost savings for the mobile workforce using Rocket Logics which has an SAP Digital Access approved architecture.

The Solution & Approach

Rocket Logics mobile proof of delivery (ePOD) and mobile logistics management is being deployed; taking advantage of the standard, real-time integration into SAP ECC, directly into the delivery document and standard document flow for ease of use to quickly enable Boughey Distribution with the following capabilities in their B2B logistics services:

• Electronic delivery manifest
• Mobile POD with photo and signature
• POD document generation (as PDF)
• Delivery exception management
• Automatic customer POD advice
• Customer portal POD information

Mobile Technology

It expected that approximately 100 drivers will be provided the Rocket Logics mobile POD solution utilising Datalogic Memor 10 handheld devices, running android operating system and optimised for in-cab and on the road use. Contract drivers will also be able to operate using Rocket Logics on their android smartphones.

Business Outcomes

• Process Automation – reduction of manual administration time and removal of paper intensive manual processes
• Customer Service - improve customer service in line with modern expectations, real time notification of proof of delivery with supporting document (signature, timestamp, photo)
• Automation of email updates to customer
• Proactive exception management with automatic notification to customer service team in case of POD exceptions (claused POD)
• Remove lag between delivery and invoicing process
• Enabling own fleet of vehicles/driver and outsourced/3PL drivers

Anticipated Project Outcomes

People

• Expected to save around 200 hours per week of manual paper administration
• Customer Service: Improvements through digital final mile experience for B2B commerce

Performance

• Process automation will improve cashflow by allowing invoicing 7 to 10 days sooner

Planet

• Project is expected to save around 4,000,000 sheets of paper annually; that’s around 400 trees and 40 million litres of water, not to mention the reduction in associated atmospheric pollutants (NO2, SO2 & CO2)

Supporting the optimisation of warehouse processes for a leading European foodservice business as part of a Digital transformation to SAP S/4HANA

Digital transformation to SAP S/4HANA and digital supply chain for a nationwide network of cash-and-carry and delivery service wholesale outlets, serving large and small-scale companies in the hospitality industry, leisure facilities, caterers, large-volume users, company restaurants, petrol stations, small and medium-sized enterprises, small retail businesses, and the institutional market.

The Challenge

Supporting the business strategy to continue scale-up and stabilise operating margins, the supply chain required an overhaul to overcome current challenges, introduce greater controls and move towards common ways of working in order to ensure more consistent output, productivity and predictability.

The Solution & Approach

Working as part of a wider SAP S/4HANA transformation project led by a global system integrator, Rocket are providing specialist supply chain operations and SAP digital supply chain software expertise to this project.

Updating the current supply chain solution will bring greater reliability and consistency to the customer supply and provide greater controls and management to the warehouses. However, this project impacts significant change across all areas:

Systems - moving to SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM).

Technology - moving to SAP HANA and modernisation of operational technology.

Operations - improvement and standardisation of business process and ways of working.

People - change management across multiple sites.

Acknowledging the Change Management challenges, the project is using an MVP (Minimal Viable Product) approach, first targeting the core requirements and mitigation of priority pain-points currently impacting the supply chain.

The MVP approach provides a short time to value without deviating from the longer-term strategic needs and supporting the SAP HANA roadmap.

SAP Extended Warehouse Management will be used. Running on SAP HANA this WMS will be deployed as a decentral architecture to the SAP S/4 HANA ERP system, ensuring scalability and responsiveness in the digital supply chain operations.

Creating an efficient mobile workforce is an essential aspect of the project. The supporting warehouse mobile infrastructure will be updated, including modern android based industrial mobile (RF) devices and printers allowing them to support new labels.

Other operational technology, such as the warehouse automation, will be addressed with alignment to standard SAP EWM business processes and greater integration of system and operational activities.

Accurate representation of the warehouse layout will drive up customer service by using layout-oriented processes and the creation of system driven work allocation.

Areas included in the MVP are:

• Goods receiving optimisation
• Replenishment planning and execution
• Quality inspection
• Mobile workforce
• Advanced outbound planning and execution
• TM integrated inbound and outbound processes
• Automation integration
• Batch management
• Intra-company warehouse transfers and sales

Managing Change Management is a key success criterion with a prioritisation of mitigating current pain points while building a platform for longer term capability supporting the SAP HANA roadmap.

Business Outcomes

Anticipated benefits of the approach and solution are:

• Greater process planning and management information and tools
• More consistent output, productivity and predictability from common ways of working across supply chain
• Optimised warehouse processes according to current business need
• Efficient mobile workforce
• Improved customer services from work prioritisation and a system-guided approach to task allocation to warehouse operatives
• Improved throughput with fully integrated third party automation
• MVP approach to streamline future rollouts within the company

An exciting project with a well-known premium fashion brand retail leader who are putting the User Experience (UX) and employee brand engagement at the heart of their digital supply chain values and operations.

A refreshing outlook from this forward-thinking business, that will bring many benefits to the business and workforce.

The Challenge

The business has a large mobile workforce across multiple worldwide locations, compounded by very seasonal demand requiring a significant contingent workforce during the peak periods.

As with every business, optimising operating processes for efficiency, accuracy and cost are central to this project. However, this project is taking a more cutting-edge approach with an appreciation of the additional workforce benefits to be gained from the creation of an enhanced UX implementation.

The project goals include:

• Creation of optimised warehouse mobile execution processes
• Alignment to company brand
• Optimised user experience to:
  • Accelerate on-boarding and minimise training time and cost
  • Increase clarity and ease of use
  • Provide greater user self-sufficiency
  • Align user behaviours and performance to company goals

The adopted solution needs to be robust, scalable, high performance and not add technical complexity.

The project is running as part of a wider program in which the business is undergoing a business systems and process transformation around the implementation of SAP S/4 HANA platform and as such needs to take advantage of the latest S/4 development techniques to drive up performance for the high throughput operation.

The Approach - Rocket Design & Operation Thinking Mobile UX Design Methodology

Selected as the specialist SAP mobility partner for all aspects of the mobile solution. Chosen for our Enterprise Mobility approach, methodology and know-how combined with our SAP EWM experience and turn-key mobility services and extensive innovation IP:

• Design, project management and implementation of SAP EWM Mobile Solution.
• Mobile UX design using the Rocket Design & Operation Thinking UX design methodology.
• Interactive prototyping using SAP Build.
• ‘Rocket Mobile’ high performance SAP Mobile UX framework.

Benefits of Approach

Using the Rocket Design & Operational Thinking UX Design Methodology puts the user at the centre of the design process to ensure the user persona and user experience is designed considering all the necessary aspects to ensure a robust, fit for purpose, high performance outcome.

The Solution

The overall solution is being built on the SAP Digital Supply Chain platform, Extended Warehouse Management (EWM), with the mobile execution.

• SAP EWM 9.5 on HANA - providing all warehouse process logic and data.
• SAP EWM Mobile Framework – providing the core mobile process structure and integration into EWM processes.
• SAP ITS (Internet Transaction Server) – the core SAP mobile architecture for on-premise / RF connected devices.
• Rocket Mobile – significantly enhancing the standard SAP EWM Mobile Framework within the SAP ITS architecture.
• Mobile Devices - running Rocket Mobile through SAP ITS and executing directly against SAP EWM.

The project includes optimisation and extension of standard EWM mobile transactions and the development of bespoke tailored mobile processes.

Mobile device selection and deployment will be carried out with the benefit of the Rocket mobile technology SAP provisioning library and SAP Digital Supply Chain mobile device validation program.

Benefits of Solution

The solution keeps the core SAP EWM application and technical architecture standard, ensuring ease of support, performance and compatibility with the SAP roadmap & release strategy.

The Rocket Mobile UX framework is built on SAP ITS mobile and keeps the solution 100% on-premise and without any middleware, while providing significant uplift to the standard capability and resulting benefits to the operation and mobile workforce:

• Improve productivity, clarity and ease of use.
• Faster user on-boarding & lower training costs.
• Higher adoption by meeting user expectation trends.
• Underpin new distribution centre mobile scenarios.
• Optimisation of UI to mobile device types (buttons, touch screen, scan/voice).
• User empowerment with rich value-add features.
• Strong employee brand engagement.
• Align design with any broader mobile / UI strategy.
• Easily apply corporate style guidelines & logos.

One of Europe's largest and fastest growing technology distribution and specialist service providers, needed to reduce overall freight cost per unit.

Rocket Consulting enabled transport process automation to speed up decision making and drive down cost per pallet.

The Challenge

To provide a transportation management platform to reduce logistics cost of supplying products from over 350 technology brands to a customer base of 22,850 retailers and resellers and improve decision making capability.

The Solution

A UK first for Rocket who, as a trusted SAP partner, has been approved to deploy the latest Ramp-up release of SAP Transportation Management (TM) 9.3 on HANA which will be used to automate and optimise package building, resource planning, carrier selection and freight costing. Real time access to logistics business intelligence and embedded analytics has been achieved thanks to SAP HANA and Smart Dashboards from Fiori.

Business Outcomes

• Transport process automation
• Moving away from time-consuming siloed manual processes and system
• Drive up vehicle fill rates
• Drive down cost per pallet
• Speed up decision making based on real-time business intelligence
• Running better and better decision making

Planned Go-Live

Q1 2021

One of Europe's largest and fastest growing technology distribution and specialist service providers needed to decrease their cost-to-serve and increase profitability.

Implementing SAP Extended Warehouse Management, Smart business and HANA Fiori, Rocket Consulting provided true operational excellence.

The Challenge

Rocket’s client required a tightly integrated logistics execution platform, supplying products from over 350 technology brands to a customer base of 22,850 retailers and resellers as part of a supply chain expansion programme. Key challenges include improving profitability of high-volume, low margin business.

The Solution

Another UK first for Rocket who, as a trusted SAP partner, has been approved to deploy the latest Ramp-up release of SAP Extended Warehouse Management on HANA. Extensive warehouse process optimisation, automation and mobilisation will form the foundation.
HANA will enable third party billing to significantly reduce third party logistics operational overheads, additionally, real time business intelligence and embedded analytics will improve visibility, traceability and operational management through Fiori’s Smart Dashboards.

Business Outcomes

• Reduce the logistics component of cost-to-serve
• Provide profitable customer services
• Simplify the management and profitability of third party logistics services
• Provide real-time business intelligence
• Speed up decision making and help to run a better operation overall
• Provide true operational excellence

Planned Go-Live

Q2 2021