Definition of problem
When we were brought in to the project, Holcim's logistics workflows suffered from a lack of transparency. The business processes were based on the experience and knowledge of the dispatchers and drivers and were not integrated into a modern IT system. Therefore, a lot of mutual trust was needed between the dispatchers and drivers. However, in reality this was not the case. For example, it often happened that clients had ordered goods but these never arrived. This caused the client's entire supply chain to fall behind schedule, which is highly unfavorable.
To track down the missing goods, the clients called the dispatchers. They then assured them over the phone that the goods were on their way, but they could not verify this in any system. There was no way to track where the goods were. Accordingly, they had to blindly assume that the goods were on their way and that there was no problem on the driver’s side. This unsettled and angered many clients.
Due to this non-transparent system, the dispatchers had to take a lot of unpleasant calls from clients and were therefore under enormous pressure.
