Reducing Administrative Costs Through Wireless Automation

The client is a major passenger rail operator running nationwide rail service reaching over 500 stations in 46 states, carrying almost 90,000 guests per day across more than 22,000 miles of rail. Food quality is part of that service, so a dedicated health compliance form is completed for each of its dining cars. Producing compliance reports used to depend on receiving those forms by fax and entering the same data a second time by hand. i3solutions replaced that step with wireless process automation: a Health Compliance form built for touch-enabled handheld devices, which an Inspector completes in the field and sends securely by the operator’s email to a selected distribution list, with another form going directly to the reporting database so compliance data reaches reporting and data management systems without being retyped. The operator saw cost and time savings as soon as the system was in place, along with better reporting efficiency, higher Inspector productivity, and greater accuracy in capturing information.

The client is a major passenger rail operator providing nationwide rail service to over 500 stations in 46 states. They boast a ridership of almost 90,000 guests per day, traveling on rails stretching more than 22,000 miles. Keeping a large customer based satisfied requires total quality in all areas, to include quality of food products. In order to track health compliance of meals served to passengers, the operator utilizes a dedicated health compliance form completed for each of their dining cars.

In order to generate reports on compliance, the existing system required the receipt of faxed reports and the double entry of data manually. The operator realized by automating this process and using wireless devices, they could increase reporting efficiency and save on administrative cost. They partnered with i3solutions, a trusted leader in wireless solutions known for saving time and reducing costs.

How did the operator track dining car health compliance before this system?

A dedicated health compliance form was completed for each dining car. To generate reports on compliance, the existing system required the receipt of faxed reports and the double entry of the same data by hand.

How does an Inspector file a health compliance form now?

On a handheld mobile device. The Health Compliance form i3solutions developed is optimized for touch-enabled handheld devices, and the completed form is transmitted securely by the operator’s email to a selected distribution list, with another form going directly to the reporting database. The devices also give inspectors real-time access to corporate and personal information management (PIM) applications.

What changed for the operator after the process was automated?

The operator saw cost and time savings as soon as the system was implemented. Removing the faxing and the double entry of data lowered administrative cost, reports are produced in real time rather than after the paperwork arrives, information is captured more accurately, and Inspector productivity went up.

If your field staff still completes forms on paper and someone downstream retypes the same data to produce a report, the cost of that second entry stays invisible until somebody counts it. A first conversation covers which forms are in play, where the data has to land, and what it would take to capture it once on a mobile device instead. You leave with a written view of how the process runs today and the before-and-after your committee will ask for when it wants to see where the administrative savings come from. Start the conversation