Managing the flow of goods from order placement through warehousing to the customer sounds simple, but it's a complex task with many interdependencies. This was also the case for our Swarmitcustomer, whose core business is managing waste disposal materials, and who contacted us because they were still using Excel spreadsheets for their operations.
Eliminating Excel – a project experience report
We encountered nearly 20 different Excel files in total, one per location to be precise. While these systems had functioned very well for years, Excel is designed for entirely different purposes and consequently presented its share of challenges. Our client wanted to eliminate these. The goal was to standardize the workflow across all locations and enable collaborative and simultaneous case processing. Following a thorough evaluation and a project based on best practices, we were able to help the client digitize their processes using Jira – a powerful process management tool from Atlassian.
From order to delivery
In very simple terms, the business process looks like this: The warehouse or retailer (depending on where the order is received) creates an order, sends it to the dispatch department, which gathers all the necessary information and organizes the entire dispatching process. The ticket then goes back to the warehouse, where the transport is prepared and the ticket can be finalized once the truck has arrived and picked up the goods.
The corresponding ticket allows employees from the various affected departments and/or locations to communicate with each other. It was also important that photos of the truck, customs documents, and other formalities related to the case could be uploaded.
Employees have access to the orders they need for their respective tasks. Access control requires a more complex approach, as each location should only have access to orders relevant to it. Furthermore, the head office's dispatch department, the sales department, and management must be able to view all orders.
Getting things rolling with the team and the tool
Initially, the biggest hurdle was gaining acceptance from employees who had grown accustomed to a certain approach over many years and were sometimes less than enthusiastic about the change. Such a transformation requires not only flexibility and tolerance but also time for training, during which employees may not be able to work as efficiently. This is a point that, in our experience, surfaces in almost every project and should not be overlooked.
Through discussions with employees, we tried to get them on board early, foster acceptance, and gather their needs. Teams involved in the business process on a daily basis recognize where the problems lie and can highlight the points that are important to them. We supplemented this with training. Thanks to their feedback, we were able to quickly optimize and further develop the tool so that they can work even more effectively than before. Inclusion and listening are key here. A cart, metaphorically speaking, only starts rolling when all teams give it a push.
The journey continues
The project was such a success that the IT department and its processes, as well as the helpdesk, have also switched to Jira. Furthermore, the scheduling solution is being enhanced with a process for government audits of orders. A strategy board, which will allow management to organize and evaluate the relevant strategic goals for each location, is currently being developed. We also see potential in building an interface to the existing ERP system.
Jira offers all these possibilities and much more, which is why we gladly used it for this process automation.
Yvonne Sutter, Swarmit AG & Eveline Scala, Infometis AG
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