Leading Edge
Award Winning Mobility Solution Provides MIS with Real Time Advantage
Company background
Market Intelligence Services (MIS) is a wholly
owned subsidiary of the Processed Vegetable Growers Association. Based in
Louth, Lincolnshire they have over ten years experience monitoring retail
prices. MIS produce numerous weekly reports that offer a snap shot of the
retail prices at the major supermarkets, convenience stores and discounters
around the country.
Using a manual paper based collection process,
MIS invested significant amounts of time and labour in compiling the correct
questionnaires for each of the required data collection jobs. It also had to
ensure that these reached the right data collection agent in the post. This
labour intensive process took a whole working day to complete. Then, each
agent would be required to carry out various data collection jobs across
multiple retailers and product lines. A separate paper questionnaire had to
be produced for each job.
The agent would visit the appropriate retailer
to manually complete the questionnaires. Completed questionnaires were then
faxed back to MIS. The newly collected information would be manually typed
in to update the legacy MIS system. This data would be cleaned and
reformatted to enable production of each individual customer’s report. The
finished reports in Excel spreadsheet format were then emailed to the
customer.
The Business Need
MIS wanted to improve the quality and range of
products it offered its clients. Analysis of the market place had led them
to realize that whereas in the past they had concentrated on recording price
and country of origin, there were now many other points of information that
were valuable to their clients. These included such things as sell by dates,
packaging type, and space allocation. Delivering that information to them in
a faster, more up to date format was critical. In addition the system was to
provide easy trend analysis of the data. Another overall business need was
to improve the efficiency and speed of collecting and distributing the vast
quantities of data collected each week. MIS also wanted to improve the
accuracy of the data while reducing the administrative burden and associated
postage costs.
A further aim of this
project was the elimination of paper usage. MIS were becoming increasingly
aware of the environmental impact of its paper consumption.
The
Solution
The solution was built
using a combination of the latest Microsoft .NET and Windows Mobile
technologies, Microsoft SQL 2005 and Anglia’s own suite of .NET development
tools and applications. The solution consisted of 3 phases:
Phase I – This involved
the design and development of a powerful Administration Console at the core
of the solution. This configured the parameters that define each data
collection job. It also configured and maintained the captured data while
also managing the customer account and subscription information. The
Administration Console also performed the role of a customer relationship
management system. This handled all of the engagement interactions with the
customer. It included logging all of the customers’ activities while
engaging with the web site which could be viewed by MIS administrative
staff. The Console also gathers information on stores while also assigning
store groups to them. It also facilitates the collection of manual data
posted directly to the system.
Fig 1: The Admin Console
Phase II – This involved the design and development of a state of the art
easy to use mobile application. It was designed to be used by non IT
literate personnel. This provided the data collecting agents with an
electronic questionnaire on a handheld device which was used to physically
capture the information. The mobile solution is then used to electronically
transmit the data to the Administrative Console. This automatically updates
the MIS database without further intervention by MIS staff.
Fig 2: Mobile Device Main
Menu Screen
Fig 3: Data Collection Screen
on the Mobile Device
As a communications
device, the mobile application can also be used to transmit messages between
MIS and the data collection agents. It is also used to capture information
on new products such as prepared foods. Messages can also be sent between
collectors to alert to stock levels or special promotions, speeding up
communications while reducing telephone costs.
Fig 4: Messages screen
Phase III - A Web
Application to generate reports and enable customers to login and view any
reports to which they have subscribed.
Fig 5: Web view of MIS
generated customer report
The Implementation
Anglia undertook a solution model exercise before any development work was
started. The aim of the solution model is for both parties to clearly
understand the scope of the proposed project. The deliverable from this
exercise is a documented blue print for the project together with budgets
and timescales.
The project was
implemented using a three phased approach; the admin back office, the mobile
data collection application and the web interface. This gradual approach
consisted of an iterative development phase using application prototypes as
proof of concepts. Involving users in the design phase in this way assisted
in gaining user buy in to the solution. It also shortened the training cycle
as users became familiar with the system concepts during the testing phase.
A key part of the
deployment was the availability of a unique set of sophisticated application
development aids. Over the past four years, Anglia has invested in the
creation of a suite of re-useable .NET development tools. These are designed
to reduce the deployment time and cost of advanced mobile solutions.
Anglia’s Drizzle
Technology (DT) was used to enable the synchronisation of data captured on
the mobile devices with the central database. DT’s store & forward
functionality enables data capture to continue even when the loss of mobile
network coverage means that the link to the database is not available.
Anglia’s DataMaker
technology was used to rapidly replicate the required data repository on the
mobile devices. This automatically matches the tables of the central MIS
database to allow seamless synchronisation of the captured data.
Anglia’s AutoUpdate
technology is used to automatically roll out any software updates to the
handheld devices without the need for the devices to be returned to base.
The
Benefits
Implementing this
sophisticated mobile solution has provided MIS with a significant range of
business benefits. These include:
The ability to quickly
capture any relevant points of data in store, and ensure that the data can
be processed and available to the clients in a much shorter time frame. It
also enables MIS to make it a more “live” system, by monitoring information
throughout the week, rather than just taking a snapshot on a Monday.
The time to capture and
analyse the data has been greatly reduced. Whereas previously the arrival of
the completed questionnaires caused massive workload peaks, staff now only
have to verify and correct a small proportion of data prior to releasing to
the core system. This has enabled personnel to focus on enhancing client
service while improving staff morale.
Automating the
production of the questionnaires has significantly reduced administration
costs. It has also eliminated transcription errors leading to improved
accuracy of the reporting aspect.
Apart from significantly
reducing stationery and postage costs, the replacement of vast quantities
paper by electronic means has enabled MIS to become more environmentally
friendly. This was an important factor as the company wished to reduce its
carbon footprint.
As the data store
builds, the analytical tools available through the SQL reporting services
enable the company to accurately analyse industry trends. This will prove an
invaluable service to their customers thus improving client service and
loyalty.
The success of the
project means that MIS are ideally placed to extend the system to meet other
data capture opportunities.
One unplanned gain was
that the system provides a useful performance evaluation mechanism on its
data collecting agents.
Business development
manager David Tebbutt said: “Investing in this innovative solution has
provided us with a significant commercial advantage in our chosen market. We
are delighted to have found the ideal partner to work with on this project.
We spent a lot of time looking at what it is now possible to do with the new
technology and the opportunities are very exciting. Our state of the art
system will enable us to offer a much improved and more comprehensive
service to both new and existing subscribers.”
Hardware & Software
Microsoft .NET Framework
Microsoft® Windows Mobile®
Microsoft® SQL Server 2005
Microsoft® Reporting Services
Microsoft® Windows® Small Business Server
Microsoft® Visual Studio®
Services
Build and assemble PCs and Server hardware
Develop Custom Software
Install and Configure Hardware and Platform Software
Manage IT Implementation Project
Provide Post Implementation Support
For Further information contact:
Anglia Business Solutions Ltd
Harston Mill
Harston
Cambridge
CB22 7GG
UK
Tel: +44 (0)1223 873400
Fax: +44 (0)1223 873401
Email: linkfresh@angliabs.com