comprehensive delivery system for urban homes in india Vanessa Horig | FID sem 7 | System Design Guide : P Ramakrishna Rao
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
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foreword After spending 10 weeks on this project, and it being my last project at NID, I feel it is one of my better works. It is close to my heart and I wish it is understood by everybody who reads this document. I have put a lot of effort into both the project as well as the document, and I hope it is appropriately perceived by all.
acknowledgements I would like to thank the city of Pune, where I grew up, without which I would never have come across this idea for the system. I would also like to thank my guide, P Ramakrishna Rao, for recognising the potential in this project and encouraging me to develop it. My parents for their support, Ginger for the happiness he gives me, Khyati for all the help with the website and document, Parashar for listening, feedback and giving me gyaan, and Meha for the company in the studio. Thank you!
Š Vanessa Horig, National Institute of Design, 2013 2
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
contents contents
foreword | 2 acknowledgements | 2 contents | 3 the brief | 4
the approach | 5
3 problems | 6 existing services | 7 initial ideas | 10
what is a service? | 11
an indian home | 13 defining the service | 15 the customer | 17
geographic factors | 21
delivery process | 18
wards | 22 product diversity | 23
registration | 24 employees | 25 delivery kit & van | 27 pick up to delivery | 28
finances | 30 troubleshooting | 31 the future | 32 the website | 33
bibliography | 41 afterword | 42
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
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the brief To design a comprehensive delivery service that caters to the needs of Urban Indian households. The service should meet the demands of hectic, urban lifestyles of professionals in Indian metros and be of assistance in matters related to procurement of household goods.
final deliverables • •
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A resolved service structure and business proposal inclusive of details and variables. Website interface that assists in the customerservice relationship.
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
the approach
System design, is the epitome of a broad outlook, and of thinking about the tiniest of details, even if it may lie outside ones comfort zone. It is about addressing a key issue in such a broad way that it affects activities that may only lie on its periphery. What has to be understood and implemented is that all things are in some way interlinked, no matter how insignificant, and that when you try to alter one of them, there is a huge line of small and large dominoes behind it. Even before we started thinking of solutions and problems though, each one of us had a few ideas and impressions of what this “system” really was. To me, a newbie in this area of design, system design was the linking of various aspects that comprehensively come together to form the system. This entailed wholesome solutions via the interlinking and interdependence of various factors. For smooth functioning this had to be logical and systematical, and the cause and effect relationship obviously played a huge role. A few existing systems that came to mind were a ticketing system, the digestive system, a storage system or the system of garbage disposal.
At an administrative level, systems could be divided into public or private sectors. Public sector systems like railways, public transport, gas, electricity and water, communication like telephone, post and internet, etc. However as economies mature, the government opens up public sector enterprises to the private sector as well. This has led to the rise of private taxis and buses for public transport, Adani and Reliance venturing into gas pipelines and electricity, private sector courier and cell phone and internet service providers. public sector
private sector
railway
air transport
public transport
private taxis and buses
gas
adani gas pipelines
electricity
reliance electricity
water
water tankers
telephone, internet
private cell phone providers
post
courier services
Some public sector enterprises have found parallel replacements in the private sector as well. These may be more efficient and effective but this comes at a price. They are more expensive, and less flexible. Thus these private sector replacements are not effective for the society as a whole, as they are not beneficial for the common man and the lower strata of society. On the other hand, these private sector replacements attract the upper strata of society, which in turn reduces the burden on public sector services, helping them to be improve their service, and be more efficient for the rest of society. With this understanding, I went ahead and made a list of the various sectors and areas where a system could be developed. Different areas of the economy and society could have different problems and thus a number of different approaches could be implemented to solve these problems.
• • • • • • • • • • •
the approach
System design in context to NID is a course that has a huge expectation from students. Being in 4th year, we have garnered enough experience and knowledge not only in NID, but also as a human being, to be able to think outside our immediate surroundings and look to the world outside our 4 walls. As a designer, as a servant of the humanity, we must be able to think about the issues that others, who may be million kilometres away or who may have a very different lifestyle and culture, may have. And once these have been recognised, we should have the capability of being able to solve them, using this garnered wisdom. Dedicating 10 weeks in a semester to one course indicates the importance and the expectations from a course like this.
transport communication consumables electricity , gas, water
emergency services : police, fire, ambulance health care sanitation recreation and welfare nourishment and food infrastructure finance
Looking for problems in daily life is sometimes much tougher than expected. These problems have to be significant enough to be able to design a complete system around them. More importantly, these need to be relevant to the changing needs of society. I decided to look for problems from my own surroundings. Certain experiences or issues stay imprinted in ones memory longer than others. System design seemed to be a perfect opportunity to try and deal with these problems. Since they come from personal experiences, there is enough data to research on, and the consumer study is easier to do. Also, trying to solve these problems would give me a personal closure to the inconveniences caused. I made a rough list of ideas that came to mind. Out of that list I narrowed down to 3 problems, that were discussed in class.
• • • • • • •
interlinking of designers pet bottle management mobile connectivity for the elderly interlinking of home delivery systems printer cartridge replacement pedestrian safety in traffic traffic junction management
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
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3 problems
3 problems •
pet bottle management
PET bottles in India are just thrown away once the product has been consumed. They are in no way segregated or treated as separate waste. Doing so would make recycling them much easier, thus decreasing the amount of PET produced on a daily basis. My approach would be to develop a system similar to one that exists abroad, where consumers pay a small deposit while purchasing the bottle which will be returned to them when they return the bottle after consumption. This will ensure that bottles are segregated at the source and they can be easily recycled. After going on exchange to Germany for 4 months, I noticed many interesting and effective systems for waste disposal in the west. Disposal of PET bottles was one such system. On purchase of a commodity, be it a beverage or other food stuff, a deposit for the bottle is included in the price, which is reimbursed to the customer once he returns the bottle. This deposit, which is only a few cents, is an incentive for the customer to safely and correctly dispose these bottles. This makes it easier to recycle the PET and reduces the harmful effects of not recycling plastic. The amount of money one gets back when one returns a considerable amount of bottles is quite satisfying. The reason I thought of this was because even in a tiny community like NID, on a daily basis a huge amount of PET bottles is disposed of, but these are thrown into the trash can, from where they go into the unsegregated waste, which gets burnt or goes into landfill, wasting precious PET and a huge amount of money that could have been earned from recycling it.
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•
pedestrian and cyclist safety in indian traffic
Although a lot has been done to try and solve the problems of Indian traffic, the safety and convenience of the lower end of the pyramid, the pedestrians and cyclists has been ignored. So although one is ready to walk or cycle a short distance, many people prefer not to do so, due to the conditions they need to face on the way. Thus looking at the Indian traffic system from their POV would be part of my approach to this project. Looking at safer roads, and a pedestrian-centric traffic system would be a part of this. Living in Ahmedabad for the past 4 years, I have not had the convenience of a personal mode of transport as I would have had at home. This meant that I had to use auto rickshaws to commute within the city. Often if my destination is close by I prefer to save a few bucks and walk instead. In most cases, there has not been a footpath to walk on, making walking on the road a life hazard. Purchasing a cycle to travel to close by places has crossed my mind often, however the traffic conditions are not conducive to cycling, and very often one hears of mishaps with cyclists who have been run over by buses or other vehicles. The weaker members of traffic have not been thought about much in India, and my approach would be to make it safer for them, thus encouraging citizens to walk or cycle rather than using automobiles.
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
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interlinking of home delivery systems
Delivery services to home that have existed since a number of years have not advanced with changing technology and society. Doodhwalas, paperwalas and dhobis have been visiting households all over India, and making the lives of millions of people easier. My idea is to interlink these 3 functions via a third party system. This will ensure that one salesperson comes to your home and you can take care of 3 services at once. This would reduce the number of hours one spends with these men, and will be convenient in today’s world when all household members are at work. Even if one does work from home, it would reduce the number of times one is disturbed. Also developing a system via sms or an android app where one could specify how much milk, or which newspaper or magazine one wanted the next day would be part of the system. Being from Pune, I have witnessed the growth of a new community of people, vis. the young IT and automotive professionals. These people have unforgiving work hours, during which they make a tidy sum of money. However this leaves them with little time to engage in extracurricular activities or even basic chores like shopping for groceries. Activities that have to be done on a daily basis like buying newspapers and milk, seem to be almost impossible. Developing a delivery system that incorporates 3 basic home delivery systems, milk, newspaper and laundry, was the basic idea here. After discussing with faculty and classmates, I decided to move forward with this topic. Although not a typical ‘problem-solving’ system, I found that it was a relevant idea, and was a different and interesting approach to system design. My guide also said it had a lot of potential.
existing services existing services
Once I had decided to continue work on the home delivery system, the question was how to move forward? I decided to study the 3 services individually and understand them separately, before I could attempt to link them. I wanted to understand the relationship between pick-up and distribution of goods, and how they went from the delivery man to the consumer.
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milk dairy
•
customer
newspaperman
customer
customer
laundry
newspaper distributor
•
milkman
laundry laundry
Here I realised that the milk and newspaper distribution and delivery system was pretty similar with 3 parties involved and the process having a one-directional path. However in the case of a laundry system, generally there were only 2 major parties involved and the process was cyclical. I decided to speak to a people who were already providing these services to customers and understand the details of each. I spoke to the laundry woman who comes to our hostel to pick up clothes from students and faculty about how she manages her business, and what her activities are like. I also spoke to a laundry that does not deliver home to see the difference in how they functioned. I then spoke to the dealer of the Amul shop in the NID campus to understand how the milk is delivered to dairies. Through him I got in touch with a milkman and spoke to him about how he delivers the milk to homes. I read a case study the IIMA students had done on newspaper delivery to understand how that takes place.
Mind map depicting the 3 services and their history, variables and factors.
In each of the 3 cases, since the commodity to be delivered was different it had different implications and aspects related to storage and delivery. This meant that each
process was slightly different even though they essentially had the same basis. Even the people who carried out these functions, will thus be different in nature and character.
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
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existing services
existing services
Sketches depicting what a typical ‘dhobi’ , ‘doodhwala’ and ‘paperwala’ might look like.
I did the above sketches while trying to understand the different characters that the 3 delivery men might have. Above are 3 typical depictions of the 3 professions as I imagined them. Keeping in mind these differences and similarities, and trying to incorporate my new realisations along with the old ones I decided to make a new, comprehensive mind map.
Mind map illustrating the differences and similarities of the 3 services; the commodity, delivery mode, the process, etc
This mind map included points such as the variables of each commodity like the size, weight and structure, whether it was solid or liquid, made of paper or cloth. Whether it had to be kept in cold storage or had to be kept dry. This helped to determine the volatility of the commodity, how fragile / sensitive it was and how much care it needed. 8
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
Once I had studied the individual services, I moved forward to browse the internet to look for existent delivery services in India and abroad that came close to the idea I had in my mind.
existing services existing services
I found a number of home delivery services on the internet, mainly in England, Ireland and the USA. These varied from laundry services for students in cities, to fresh farm produce in the countryside near Dublin. I studied their systems and garnered new ideas that could be implemented in the Indian context as well. Ideas such as a barcode for identification of customers and a laundry basket for delivery and pick up of laundry were some of the concepts that I carried forward to my system as well. A zero contact system that was most convenient for customers was another idea that I liked. Dividing the city into various sectors to make organisation and delivery easier was an idea that I found on the internet. websites
• • •
www.baus-systems.com
www.mylazybones.com
www.laundrybutlers.com
A software developed by HyeTech Technology explains the process of laundry pick up, cleaning and delivery.
Dividing the city into per day delivery sectors - laundrybutlers.com
Dhulaai, a laundry system that operates Pune and a few other metros in India, which I also subscribed to at home, became an inspiration to me. Many a times we had faced problems like lost laundry, or late deliveries, or the delivery boy coming at inconvenient times or not having enough change. These were a few mistakes I was sure I
did not want my service to have. I thus tried to think of methods to avoid these issues. Having done my internet research, I made a mind map where I noted down ideas that I could implement for the 3 services separately.
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
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initial ideas
initial ideas convenience. There could be a pop up for certain magazines and periodicals that are not available every day. And there could be a method to order for a certain magazine on a particular day. The app could also provide a means to stop or cancel subscription for a certain duration of time. Complaints about crumpled, or wet, or the wrong newspaper delivered could be reported to the office. I thought about the idea of including a raddi pick up service with the newspaper delivery. After reading up about newspaper delivery services, I learnt that newspaper vendors receive a 50 paise commission per newspaper so that they can make profit by selling at MRP. I also realised that many magazines are delivered by post which might hamper my service. Although not physically perishable, news gets old very fast and thus newspapers are a highly perishable commodity. Delivery run lists are organized lists of the order in which the delivery boy needs to deliver the goods and what he needs to deliver where.
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laundry
Laundry can be segregated based on various factors and each laundry implements a different system depending on what suits them best.
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milk
I realised that there are a number of kinds of milk that the customer would want to have a choice of. Since milk is a perishable commodity, it needs to be stored in a cool
quantity
•
service
•
Mind map with initial ideas and concepts to improve the 3 basic services.
I tried first looking for innovations in each service and then trying to incorporate these ideas, if valid enough, to all 3 services.
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environment, or else once it is taken out of cold storage, it has to be delivered to the customer quickly. Generally milk delivery takes place in the morning as customers prefer drinking fresh milk with breakfast.
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newspaper
With the growth in smart phone usage today, I had thought of developing an android application for customer
10 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
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kg,pieces wash, ironing, dry cleaning type of clothing pants, suits, jeans,etc special instructions
Clothes could be tracked via an app or the bill number to reduce anxiety. There could be a barcode reader for easy identification. A laundry basket for delivery and pick up of laundry per household. A pick up system from outside the door, to make the service hassle free to the customers was another idea.
what is a service ? what is a service ?
Since my system would be delivering the needed products to customers, it was therefore a service. I decided to do a little bit of research about what a service exactly is, and what its various characteristics are.
MARKET • • •
services
products
business services communication construction and engineering
• • • • • • • •
distribution education environment finance health tourism recreation transport
services are by and large activities or a series of activities rather than things.
Thus services are intangible. They take place in the interaction between the customer and the service provider, which means that services are produced and consumed simultaneously. The customer has a role to play in the production process as the services are provided, in response to the problems of customers, as a solution. - Services Marketing : An Indian approach
Mind map depicting all that I learnt from the journal by the Havard Business Review
I also read a journal on service management by the Harvard Business Review. It was really helpful and gave me a number of insights. the 3 stages for setting up a service
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segment the market and design services to exactly meet the need of the consumer
• •
research and study the need of the consumer set the customers expectations to the right level
It is better to concentrate on 1 task and do it well. Word of mouth is the best publicity. The service should have a strict and clear business strategy relating to the kind of customer group one wants to cater to. There should be a balance between too much and too little service. The service must isolate the consumer group that is relatively homogenous and can be served at a profit. The range of products should be in accordance with the consumer economic status. The amount and quality of service is directly proportionate to the price of the service.
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
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what is a service ?
what is a service ? The customer should bear part of the load of the service. Honouring loyal customers increases happiness and efficiency. Customers should have realistic expectations and the service should not try and project unrealistic abilities. However the service should strive to exceed these expectations. Keeping old customers can add up to 100% of profit and adding new ones only 5%. Timely and appropriate redressal of complaints leads to loyal and convinced customers.
the service guarantee should be :
Employee satisfaction is just as important. They ensure that the service runs smoothly. They should be trained to make their own decisions. This will empower them.
After reading these 2 papers on services, I felt like I had a better, if not complete picture of services in the business context. I could now move forward and start designing the details of my service.
• • • • •
unconditional easy to understand and communicate meaningful easy (and painless) to enforce easy and quick to collect on
- Service Management, Harvard Business Review
The Quality wheel of the service as defined by Harvard Business Review
12 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
an indian home need choice quality perishability seasonal per piece variety packaged competition fluctuation human factor luxury
I then converted this information into tabular form so that I could analyse and understand it better. For maximum profit, I preferred that the good / service was needed on a daily basis and that it was not seasonal. A higher choice of goods made it more attractive to customers. There should be a definite quality assurance since the customer must be sure that he will get what he orders for. For easy handling of goods perishability also played an important role in their selection. Since I wanted the delivery men to have zero or low contact with the customers for higher convenience to the customers, it meant that the per piece variety had to be nill. The good had to be packaged so that it was easier to transport and deliver to the customer. There should be ample competition, so that the customer had enough goods to choose from. Fluctuation and the human factor were also a negative characteristics. And finally I preferred it if the good was not a luxury so the customer group would be larger.
Mind map depicting all the possible goods and services an Indian Home could need.
During discussions, my guide felt that I should expand my options for delivery possibilities to homes and not restrict myself to only milk, newspapers and laundry. Thus I made a mind map on what goods an Indian home could need, and what the nature of these commodities was. These goods ranged from perishable goods like fruits
and vegetables to monthly shopped goods like groceries and cosmetics to emergency goods like medicines. I broadly divided the needs into goods and services. I used various variables to define these goods and services in order to determine which ones I could include in my system.
In the end, although milk, newspaper and laundry were not the perfect goods to be delivered, they fulfilled maximum criteria. I could have included groceries as well, but I realised it was better to set up a strong service with fewer goods initially, and the service could always expand later.
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 13
an indian home
• • • • • • • • • • •
an indian home
an indian home An Indian Home Commodity
Service
Need
Choice
Quality
Perishability
Seasonal
Per piece Variety
Packaged
Competition
Fluctuation
Human factor
Luxury
Competition from Difference in quality
other brands
Volatile or
Low - one yr, High -
Availability
within the same brand
Sold loose or
selling the same
constant, Price &
Whether human
few days
throughout the yr
and article
packaged
article
Availability
error plays a role
Luxury or not
How many types of Something you buy
Performance of
How often does one
the same article are
work or duties
need to buy it again
available
Quality assurance
Assurance by 1
Groceries
Monthly
Low
brand
Low
N
N
Y
Low
N
N
N
2
Fruits
Weekly
High
N
High
Y
Y
N
Depends
Y
N
N
3
Vegetables
Weekly
High
N Assurance by
High
Y
Y
N
Low
Y
N
N
4
Milk
Daily
Low
brand Assurance by
High
N
N
Y
High
N
N
N
5
Eggs & Meat
Weekly
Low
brand
High
Y
N
Y
High
N
N
N
High, but brand
Assurance by
6
Consumables
Low
N
N
Y
High
N
N
Y
Cosmetics & Monthly
loyalty exists
brand Assurance by
7
LPG Gas
Monthly
Low
brand Assurance by
Low
N
N
Y
Low
Y
N
N
8
Newspapers
Daily
High
brand
High
N
N
N
High
N
N
N
treating
High, but brand
Assurance by
sickness
loyalty exists
High
N
N
Y
High
N
N
N
brand
Low
Y, changes
N
Y
High
N
N
Y
N
Low
N
NA
NA
Low
Y
Y
Y
Emergency / Monthly for 9
Medicines
brand Assurance by
10
Clothing
Variable
High
Daily
Low
Cleaning & Cooking 11
(Maids)
Assurance by 12
Laundry
Weekly
Low
brand
Low
Y
NA
NA
Low
Y
Y
Y
Alternate days
Low
N
High
Y
NA
NA
Low
Y
Y
Y
Daily
Low
N
Low
N
NA
NA
Low
Y
Y
Y
Emergency
Low
Not qualified
Low
N
NA
NA
Low
Y
Y
Y
Daily / 13
Garbage Gardner /
14
Driver Maintenance
15
Electrician)
(Plumber,
Table containing an organised view of the goods and services required by an Indian home along with various factors and characteristics. Highlighted fields are the final choices to include in my system.
14 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
defining the service
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choice of goods
Since a large amount of goods is available in the market, it is necessary to be able to provide customers with that range when one is delivering the goods. For services like laundry that differ from shop to shop, customers should be given the choice of which laundry they wish to get their clothes cleaned from. However this should not be too vast and must be within certain limits of the service conditions.
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delivery kit
While reading up on other existing services abroad I came across this concept of having a delivery kit per household. This would be good storage method for the goods during deliveries, especially if the goods are going to be left outside the house, and will act as a permanent marker of the service in their homes. It could also act as an organisational element in the functioning of the service.
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Initial thoughts on what the system could be; Aims and Objectives
Once I had learnt about the basics of services and I had decided what I wanted to deliver, it was time to define what exactly the service would be and what its characteristics would be. How would my new system design be different from others that already existed? I put down my thoughts on paper in the form of a mind map.
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digital organisation
As I had mentioned earlier, I wanted my service to be at par with new technologies and thus wanted to make most of the organisation and administration digital. This meant having digital databases of customers and making full use of the computer for carrying on the processes. The customers information would be added to the sys-
single delivery man
The whole concept of integrating the 3 services meant that only 1 single delivery man would bring the goods to the home. This makes it easier to administer the whole delivery process, but also reduces the number of times the customers are troubled per day. The delivery man will then not be termed as a milk- or laundryman but barely as a delivery man who caters to all the needs of the customer. Also repetitive contact with the same delivery man over time will increase the level of trust and efficiency.
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 15
defining the service
tem as soon as he chose to subscribe to the delivery service and each customer thus gets his own customer code for easy identification. This meant that each customers past orders and remarks could be saved so that one could refer to it at a later stage. Developing an app or a website so that the customers could have easy access to their information. Online payment via credit and debit card would be another digital innovation to be included.
defining the service
defining the service •
zero to low contact with customer
Although the number of people coming to the customers house has been reduced to a single delivery man, the idea of the service is to just place the goods at the doorstep of the customer, who are then free to choose when they wish to pick it up. Thus developing a system where there is zero to low contact between the delivery men and the customers would aid in this aspect. The delivery kit would be extremely helpful for this purpose. It would ensure that the goods are stored safely and hygienically till the customer brings the kit inside the home. This sort of an interaction between the 2 parties however makes it necessary for there to be an efficient and correct delivery of goods, so that the customer is assured that whatever has been delivered to his door step is what he asked for. There can be no method to cross check like in other kinds of to-home deliveries. The delivery men must be so efficient that there will be, in fact, no need to cross check the delivery made. These expectations of the customer must therefore be clear to the delivery man. On the other hand, the customer must be aware of the fact that if the delivery kit is not kept outside the door the night before, there will be no delivery of goods.
•
smaller wards. Each delivery man would then be responsible for one such ward. As the number of customers per ward increases, the wards could be further broken down into smaller ones. Each ward would therefore have at least one distributor of the kind of goods that were to be delivered to customers. This meant that the delivery boy would not have to drive all over the city in order to pick up the needed goods.
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aim of the service to provide reliable and efficient delivery of desired goods to the customer’s doorstep.
redesign of delivery van
For a modern service for like this to function well, a number of things need to work together. Since it is a delivery system, a mode of delivery is extremely important. And for being able to transport goods through a metropolitan city, a vehicle is a must. Thus redesigning a van that will be able to store the delivery kits and the goods safely and hygienically was another thought. The design should be economical and ergonomic and should benefit the delivery man in making faster and efficient deliveries.
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division of the city into smaller wards
For easy administration and delivery, I had thought that it made sense to divide any city geographically into 16 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
the customer
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middle - upper class professionals and executives hectic working hours age group - 24-60 years bachelors / families
character sketch
Mayank Kapoor, 36 yrs old, is vice president of a successful marketing firm. He lives on the 6th floor of a building in a posh locale of Mumbai, with his wife and 7 yr old son. His wife is owner and manager of a boutique. Although both have a hectic work life from 9 am to 7 pm, they enjoy their 15 minutes of family breakfast on the balcony before they all leave the house. This would be incomplete without a hot cup of coffee and the latest newspaper. Wearing clean and neatly ironed clothes is a must for the working couple as well as their school going son. After they return from work, they would rather spend the time with their son, rather than go shopping. Thus they prefer to have fresh milk,the newspaper and laundry delivered to them every morning.
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The target customer group
•
the customer group
The customer group would be professionals from various sectors in the industry with 9-6 jobs, who do not have the will or time to go do their shopping after work. They prefer to come home and relax or pursue a hobby. They appreciate the value of efficiency and are willing to pay a price for a competent service. They appreciate the reliabil-
customer needs
This customer group requires quick and easy solutions for daily activities so that they can concentrate on doing their jobs properly. Due to their hectic lives, whatever leisure time they have would rather be spent relaxing and recovering, rather than fighting with traffic and dealing with shopkeepers. Reliability and efficiency are becoming more important as Indian companies have started doing business with firms abroad, and India needs to match up with the world. Professionals cannot afford trivial problems at home to jeopardize their professional lives. ity and safety that the service provides. These customers enjoy a cup of hot, fresh coffee with their daily newspaper and wish to wear professionally laundered clothes to work. They wish to avoid the unnecessary hassle of dealing with shopkeepers for basic necessities like milk, newspapers, laundry or groceries.
• • • • •
convenience quick and easy reliable clean and secure quality
• • • • •
doorstep service hassle-free
tension-free healthy and nutritious modern
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 17
the customer
• • • •
the delivery process
the delivery process •
•
• •
•
•
• •
• Process map showing how the customer orders his goods, how they are collected and then delivered to him.
Once the structure and customers of the service was determined, it was time to determine how this service would actually work. I thus made a process map in order to understand and depict what I had in mind. • •
The night before the goods are to be delivered, the customer has to log on the website, or use the
android app to access the website so that he can place his order. There will be a cut-off time after which orders will not be accepted anymore. At this point, I had determined that to be 12 midnight. For example, customer A orders 2 litres of Amul milk, 2 copies of the Times of India, one copy of Outlook magazine and 2 kgs of rice. He also wants
18 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
his laundry to be picked up the next day. Once the cut-off time of 12 midnight has passed, a server in the head office automatically generates order lists per ward of that particular city. These lists are then sent to the respective delivery men, who are responsible for that ward, on their company provided tablet. The delivery man then picks up the delivery van from the depot and starts picking up goods. He goes to the dairy and picks up commodities according to the list. In this case, he will also pick up the 2l of Amul milk ordered by customer A. The delivery man then goes to the grocer and picks up commodities according to the list. Here, he will pick up 2 kgs of rice for customer A. In case customers ask for a certain item from a particular shop, the delivery man needs to visit both of them. He will then also visit the newspaper vendor and pick up the necessary newspapers and magazines. He will pick up 2 copies of the Times of India and an Outlook magazine for customer A. The delivery man then drives to the laundry and picks up the clothes that are ready to be delivered. Once all the goods have been collected, he drives to the customers’ houses and delivers the goods. At customer A’s house he will pick up dirty laundry as requested. At the end of his shift, the delivery man will drive back to the laundry and drop off the dirty laundry he collected on his delivery drive.
I had thought about this process before I decided to only deliver milk, newspapers and laundry. Thus groceries are still included in this process. Also I later realised that it made more sense for the delivery boy to go to the laundry only once. I modified the process accordingly.
the delivery process
•
•
•
•
I thought that this is a lovely way to start one’s day, with fresh milk for coffee, the most up-to-date news and a clean and ironed shirt to wear to work.
Process map showing how the customer experiences the delivery process
Once I had the basic structure of the process laid out, I started figuring out how it would work from the customer’s point of view (POV). The process map I made, was done in such a way so as to make the process seem extremely simple to any customer who may read it, which in fact it was. It could therefore also serve as an advertising tool, if made a little more graphical.
•
•
The night before the delivery is to take place, the customer has to keep the delivery kit with the dirty laundry in front of his / her doorstep. This could be done just before locking the front door and will hardly take 2 minutes. Since its late at night, there will be no people going in or coming out of the building or society, and
It was at this point in my process that I thought about calling the service “Bonjour”, the french word for good morning. Bon jour as 2 separate words mean a good day, which is what I hope this service will make every day for its customers. Also since the customer group, is well educated I think that they will have at least come across this word once, and will understand its significance.
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 19
the delivery process
•
thus there is no chance of theft of those clothes. Also nobody will trip over the delivery kit that is kept in front of the door. Once the customers lie down in bed after a long and tiring day, all they need to do is use their laptop, tablet or smart phone to use the website or app. They can then choose which newspaper they wish to read tomorrow, what milk they would like to drink and whether they want their laundry to be picked up. This whole process would not take more than 5 minutes. The next morning after a good night’s sleep, the customers walk to their front door with the rising of the sun. They open it to find the delivery kit. The talented and efficient group of delivery men have put together exactly what the customer had asked for : clean laundry, the daily newspaper and fresh milk. Even better, the dirty laundry that they kept in front of the door at night has disappeared and will be returned, clean and ironed, in 2 days.
the delivery process
the delivery process • •
•
and newspaper distributors and pick up the required goods. These goods are then delivered to the houses that have ordered them from that particular ward. The laundry is also picked up, and once all the deliveries are done, the dirty laundry is driven to the laundry in that area. The clean laundry that needs to be delivered the next day is also picked up at the same time. This is a modification I made to my initial draft of the system. The laundry is then stored in the delivery kits, which are left in the delivery van, overnight. This ensures that the delivery man needs to drive to the laundry only once. Also, compared to dairies and newspaper vendors, laundries do not open so early in the morning, thus picking up laundry early in the morning would not be possible. Once this whole process is complete, the delivery vans are driven back to the head office depot and parked. The delivery men then need to report back to the office and report any problems or issues. Also paperwork needs to be filled out before they leave for home.
This modified delivery system made more sense to me, and is more efficient and streamlined. I then further went into various details of the system. Process map showing the delivery process from the service provider’s POV.
Once it was clear how the customer would experience the delivery system, I went ahead to describe how the service provider would make this possible. •
The customers place their orders till 2 am via the website or app and they are registered by the server at the head office.
•
• •
This server then generates order lists per ward and sends them to the respective delivery boys who are in charge of that ward. These lists then appear on their company provided tablets. The delivery men then pick up their respective vans and drive to their ward. In their ward, they drive to the affiliated dairies
20 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
geographic factors
New Delhi
New Delhi
Jaipur
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Kolkotta
Indore
Mumbai
Pune
jaipur lucknow kanpur
• • • •
nagpur indore thane bhopal
Bhopal
Kolkotta
As India develops, and certain cities show the potential for the service to run well, it may be implemented there too.
Nagpur
Thane Pune Hyderabad
Hyderabad
Bangalore
surat
Lucknow
Kanpur
Surat Mumbai
• • • •
Chennai
Bangalore
Chennai
Starting with 8 cities in India, the service could expand to operate in 16 cities over time.
After deciding who the customer group was that I wanted to cater to, I started thinking about which urban cities I could find the maximum number of customers in. India has an ever growing urban population. According to the latest census in 2011, more than 30% of Indians live in urban areas. By 2030, 40% of India’s population is expected to be urban. I chose the first set of 8 cities, based on numerous factors. They are the most populous urban agglomerates in India, and will thus have the largest customer group. Also since the customers have long working hours, I chose
cities that have growing industries like IT and automobile such as Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore. They are also economic hot spots with a lot of money exchanging hands daily. These urban cities also have a large population of working couples with busy, hectic lives, and they are affluent enough to be able to afford the service. Thus I created the first list of 8 cities.
• • • •
new delhi ahmedabad kolkotta mumbai
• • • •
pune hyderabad bangalore chennai
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 21
geographic factors
Once the service is well established in these cities, it can expand to start operating in other cities as well.
wards
wards This will ensure that not too many wards are present in one city, since after a point it may lead to confusion and chaos. As shown in the map alongside, there may be cases where certain wards have to be split faster than others. Here, on the left bank of river Sabarmati, wards Bodakdev and Paldi have a faster growing customer group than the others, leading to their division into the wards Bodakdev and Satellite, and Paldi and Vasna respectively. Also, since the concentration of customers is higher in the Satellite area, Satellite ward is smaller than Bodakdev ward. Wards are divided according to the number of customers. Each ward will have at least one local dairy, newspaper vendor and laundry from which the delivery man can pick up goods. He may also pick up goods from shops outside the ward if there are none present in the ward, or if it is not very time consuming and he can still finish his deliveries within the allotted time frame. Division of the city into wards, and the addition of new wards as the customer group grows.
I got the idea of dividing the city into a number of wards to make delivery and distribution easier from a website called laundrybutlers.com, while looking up existing delivery systems abroad. The main aim of doing so is making organisation of customers, delivery runs and distribution of goods easier.
Ahmedabad, is divided into wards according to the number of customers. This is due to time constraints and the fact that each delivery van can hold only a certain number of delivery kits. Thus if there are more than 35 house holds in a ward, a different deliver man will be needed to deliver the goods.
According to laundrybutlers.com, a laundry service in San Antonio, USA, the city is divided into various wards according to the delivery day, since they deliver and pick up laundry only once a week per household. However, since my delivery service aimed at delivering goods on a daily basis, I had to modify this system slightly.
In this way, existing wards will keep getting divided into smaller ones according to the rise in the number of customers. At all times, there must be only 35 house holds per ward.
According to my system, a city, in this case let’s say
If the number of employees is increasing too rapidly, and if the time constraints are maintained, new, larger vans could replace the smaller ones if profit is high enough.
22 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
product diversity
India is a diverse nation, with a number of different religions, cultures and languages. That is a reason why I felt that the business approach might differ slightly from city to city, and it is a plus point if the service could adapt to these changes. Just as there is a diversity of people in India, there is also a diversity of products to cater to the variety of needs. I realised this when I was going through a list of milk and newspaper brands that I could offer the customers who would avail of the service.
•
sity for milk in India. The top dairy brands in India are:
• • • • • • • •
•
amul - gujarat
nestle - swiss multinational sudha - bihar
Some popular newspapers and magazines in India are:
mother dairy - delhi
gokul - kolhapur, maharashtra
govardhan - manchar, maharashtra verka - punjab
vijaya - andhra pradesh
newspaper
The advent of newspapers and magazines came with the need for increase in communication and the basic want of awareness. It is a means of spreading a message and making ones opinion public.
milk
In earlier times, milk was locally delivered by a milk man who had collected the milk from farms with cattle from the area. With urbanisation came the emergence of dairies in cities that started producing other milk products to sell. Some of these smaller dairies have become successful and are big names in certain areas on India today. However, none of them is big enough to be able to cater to the whole of India. Amul is a huge brand in Gujarat, and their products are found in many neighbouring states as well. However, in some places, local brands still have a stronghold, and this does not let Amul establish itself there. The amount of milk products that Amul produces daily might also not be enough for the whole of India. Amul has now started exporting its goods to foreign markets as well. In many cities like Pune, local brands like Chitale and Katraj are strong contenders in the milk market. Similarly for other regions and cities in India. Thus there is a product diver-
magazine that deals with wildlife and nature, or Elle and Femina that deal with fashion, celebrities and entertainment. Thus their customer group is varied and sparse in comparison to newspapers. However due to the richness of magazines, they are preferred by a number of people.
Due to the diversity of languages, and local governments in India, there has been an emergence of local newspapers and periodicals that cater to a specific target group. This means there is a large variety of newspapers in India, even though all of them may not be understood by the whole population.
• • • • • • • • • • • •
dainik jagran - hindi hindustan - hindi
times of india - english lokmat - marathi
malayala manorama - malayalam daily tanthi - tamil
tehelka - news weekly
the week - news weekly
frontline - current affairs fortnightly outlook - news weekly
femina - women’s fortnightly
sanctuary asia - monthly environmental news magazine
Keeping this in mind, it is extremely important to factor in this diversity when operating a service in India. Pricing, budgeting and other issues will differ from city to city. Thus, city managers need to have the insight and intuition to be able to realise what’s best for their city.
Alternatively there are newspapers like the Times of India, which cater to the larger english speaking population of India. There are also newspapers that cater to specific topics like the Economic times. These might not interest the whole population. Magazines on the other hand are not published daily, but at specific time intervals, generally a fortnight or a month. This gives them time to review the news they want to publish and thus the news is more concentrated. As in newspapers, there are regional magazines or magazines that deal with specific topics like National Geographic Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 23
product diversity
Milk and newspaper are commodity deliveries compared to the delivery and pick up of laundry which is at the ground level a service. This meant that I had to decide on which products my service was going to deliver and which it was not.
registration
registration •
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•
•
Mind map depicting the registration process, customer ID and certain conditions.
The above mind map talks about one of the most important aspects of the whole service, the registration of the customer and the initial tasks before the service can begin. •
The customer can register by logging onto the website or by downloading the android app.
•
•
They must enter details like name, address and phone number. Here the address is extremely vital as it determines which ward the customer is included in, and which delivery man will cater to them. A customer ID is then generated for further reference by the service provider as well as the
24 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
•
•
customer. The customer must also enter a password for future log in purposes. Once the server has accepted the customer registration, they are provided with 2 delivery kits, one for pick up and another for delivery, in case they wish to avail of the laundry services. If the customer only wishes to avail of the milk and newspaper delivery service, they are provided with a single delivery kit that is kept with them. These delivery kits will not be picked up by the delivery man, he will only place the goods into the kit every morning. If the customer wishes to avail of the laundry service at a later point however, he must pay Rs. 300. Also, if the amount of laundry is too much to fit into 1 kit, the customer is required to buy another kit for Rs. 200. The service provider maintains the authority on how many clothes may fit into 1 delivery kit. However, if a customer gives his laundry for pick up on a regular basis, there are few chances that he will require an extra kit. Each kit is labelled with the customer’s details, so that the kits are not interchanged and the customer gets the desired goods. The QR code on the label can be used by the delivery man for quick access to the customer details. The customer can also scan the QR code for direct access to the log in page. It is the customer’s responsibility to keep the delivery kit outside their door every night, without which delivery shall not take place. In this way, the service provider can provide flawless service from the very next day after registration. In case of internet failure or unavailability, orders can be placed via sms, but they have to be sent in a particular format that the server can process, which may be complicated for the customer.
employees
NEW DELHI
MUMBAI
AHMEDABAD
PUNE
KOLKOTTA
CHENNAI
and smart decision taker and a problem solver. He has a number of employees under him, who are interlinked and function cohesively. He must therefore be authoritative, have control over his subordinates and employees. While reporting back to the Head office, he must be ready to suggest innovations in the business structure for his city, if the need arises.
• CITY MANAGER
DELIVERY MEN
A
B
C
WARD SECRETARIES
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
NEGOTIATORS
•
D A
B
C
D
Organisation and hierarchy of employees.
For the service to function smoothly, among many other things, employees of the business play a huge role. The above mind map explains the hierarchy and organisation of the employees within the system. There will be one single manager who will supervise the functioning of the system in all cities across India. The service will also have a head office with further employees who will keep track of their counter parts in all the cities.
•
city manager
Each city is an subordinate unit, that is controlled by the India head office. There is a city head office in every city in India where the service operates. The city manager supervises the functioning of that unit. He is the representative of that city and should be polite, well spoken, cordial and must know the local language. The manager should be ready to take responsibility for problems and mishaps that take place in his city. He must be a quick
delivery men
The delivery men are the most vital employees of the system. They must be punctual, organised in their actions, clean and hygienic. They must be responsible employees and work well under pressure. They should be capable drivers, and technology friendly in order to operate computers and tablets. They have to be literate and capable of doing paperwork, and collection and input of data. They should know the local language and city well, and must be capable of dealing with local vendors and distributors. customer complaints
The employees who are part of the customer complaints unit must be well spoken, cordial and ready to listen to angry, complaining customers. They should be able to reassure customers over the phone, and deal with their problems as far as possible over the phone. Customer complaints employees must be able to feed the problem into the system and try and seek quick redressal for the same. They must make sure to push for timely resolution of the problem if other parties are involved. They should be organized and technology friendly to operate the computer. Customer complaints employees are linked with the delivery boys and ward secretaries so that they can pass on complaints from customers.
•
ward secretaries
Just like delivery boys, there are ward secretaries for each ward. They are responsible for their respective wards and keep track of the orders, deliveries and customers of
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 25
employees
INDIA MANAGER
employees
employees their ward. Complaints from customers from their ward are forwarded to them so that they can keep a check on solving it along with the customer complaints unit. They are in constant contact with their respective delivery men and are responsible for guiding them in the deliveries. They must be organized and should know all the details about their ward, like special circumstances or needs, and all the customers they are responsible for. They are also in charge of maintaining records or pick up and delivery of goods in that ward. The delivery man helps them do that at the end of his shift. They should be well versed in using computers and entering data.
•
negotiators
Negotiators are those employees who talk to and deal with the local suppliers of the goods in that city. They should know the local language and could be from management, marketing or PR backgrounds. The must be good at mediating with vendors and shop owners. The system makes a part of its profit by obtaining discounts and commissions from distributors. The negotiators are responsible in making deals that are most beneficial for the business.
26 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
the delivery kit & van
I tried experimenting with the placement of goods within the delivery kit, by having 3 partitions next to each other. However I realised this would be a waste of space, and the T-shaped division made the most sense. As more kinds of goods are added to the delivery service, a personalized delivery kit may be needed. Then came the issue of how the delivery kits would be stored and transported in the van so that the goods are not damaged. I chose a Maruti Omni Cargo as the vehicle for my delivery van and researched a little bit about its dimensions and cargo capacity.
•
maruti omni cargo (petrol)
Sketches showing details about the delivery kit.
A very important tool of the delivery system is the delivery kit. It helps the delivery boy organize, store and deliver the goods to the right customer. It also makes transportation of the goods from the distributor to the customer easier.
a typical laundry basket with a few modifications. It is slightly larger than folded laundry, and I thought I would make use of the extra space so as to make it as optimum as possible. The approximate dimensions of a typical laundry basket are 58 x 38 x 24 cms.
The delivery kit I had in mind basically looks like
A T-shaped plastic division that fits snugly could be
The advertisement image showing a fruit and vegetable delivery man.
price : 2.23 lakhs
milage : 12.15 kmpl
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 27
the delivery kit & van
inserted to make 3 divisions in the existing delivery kit : one for laundry and the 2 smaller ones for milk and newspaper.
the delivery kit & van
the delivery kit & van glance that he has only delivery kits from his ward in this van.
Dimensions of a Maruti Omni Cargo van from the brochure.
It can hold 3 delivery kits lengthwise, 3 breadthwise and another 4 height wise. This meant that a total of 36 delivery kits could fit per van. There could be 3 vertical perforated metal partitions that are connected to the roof and floor of the van. These could then have 4 horizontal members where the delivery kits would be hung from lengthwise (refer to image). This would leave enough gap in between 2 kits insuring safe transportation of goods. 3 delivery kits would fit one behind each other on 1 shelf, and the delivery man would have to remove the first 2 to get at the last one. However, if the delivery man is well organised and efficient, he will arrange the kits in such a way so that he knows exactly where which kit is, and there will be no inconvenience caused. The milk kept in the delivery kits might start dripping water onto the kits below during transportation due to condensation of water, causing newspaper and laundry to get wet. Thus I thought it was more sensible to have one of the lowermost kits to be dedicated to milk and the delivery man can just add the pouches before the kits are delivered. Each delivery kit will have a sticker on both narrow sides with details such as the customer name, address, ward and personal QR code. This will help in quick and easy identification of the delivery kit and reduce confusion and mishaps during deliveries. The ward name will be printed in bold so that the delivery man knows at one
The QR code will be helpful to both the delivery man and the customer. The delivery man can scan it using his tablet phone for quick access to that particular customer’s order for that day. This will make filling the delivery kits easier. On the other hand, customers can scan this with their tablets for a direct link to their log in pages. This will speed up the ordering process.
•
qr code
A QR code is a matrix bar code made up of small black squares.
QR code stands for quick response code and has been gaining popularity in organisation and quick access situations. It was first used in the Japanese automobile industry. Its applications include product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, general marketing, etc. It can be read by any device with a camera. It also be used for log in purposes or direct access to website URLs.
28 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
pick up to delivery
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•
• • • •
•
•
Explanation of how goods are picked up, organised and then delivered.
I still had not figured out how the delivery man would pick up and organise the goods before he delivered them to the customer. I made another story board to explain this process.
• •
•
At 4 30 am, the delivery man arrives at the shop of the distributor in his ward. If he chooses to drive to
the milkman first, he will pick up newspapers later before he drives to deliver the goods. The delivery van contains all the delivery kits of customers who have ordered for goods on that day. The orders for that day have been sent to the delivery man’s tablet and he can access them on the go. He can also feed in certain remarks about a
certain delivery or good. By scanning to the QR code on the front of each kit, he can immediately access the order for that customer and knows exactly what goods need to go inside each kit. He does not need to refer to a long list and look for each customer. By 5 am all the delivery kits have been filled with that customer’s desired goods with the help of the QR code and tablet. They are then reloaded into the van according to the delivery route that has been generated according to the houses that the delivery man has to visit. Between 6 and 7 am all deliveries take place. The delivery kits with the desired goods are delivered to the customer’s doorstep. Delivery kits with dirty laundry are picked up and are loaded into the delivery van. Once the deliveries are complete, the delivery van is only full of dirty laundry, and the delivery man drives to the laundry to drop it off. He also picks up the cleaned laundry that needs to be delivered the next day. These stay in the delivery van overnight. Since the laundry packs the clothes in newspaper, they do not get soiled or damp. The van is then driven back to the head office, and the delivery man needs to take care of a little paperwork and report back to his ward secretary.
In this way, delivery takes places before 7 am to all households in the ward, and customers can wake up to find the goods waiting at the doorstep.
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 29
pick up to delivery
•
finances
finances The aim of any business is to earn income by offering a service or product in exchange for money from customers. In my business model, I too had to think about this factor in order to make it holistic. Before thinking about how to generate the income, I made a list of what all factors would need money:
• • • • • •
employee salary
• •
telephone bills
• •
van purchase and maintenance petrol for the van electricity charges internet charges technological equipment : telephones, computers, delivery men’s tablets.
•
delivery charges
A minimal delivery price will be charged per customer for the effort the service takes to pick up and deliver goods to them. This amount needs to be so negligent that the customer feels that it is definitely worth it to pay that amount rather than to go out and buy the needed goods. Also, it should be proportionately less compared to the price of the goods delivered. I approximately calculated this sum based on the number of delivery kits per van, the distance the delivery van needs to travel per delivery, the milage of a Maruti Omni Cargo van and the price of petrol. This sum may fluctuate later. •
infrastructure : office space, furniture, stationery, paper, etc
advertising and publicity
35 delivery kits per van which travels 25 kms everyday, (inclusive of goods pick up) with milage of 12.15 kmpl, and petrol price is Rs. 84.4 / litre.
profit
The amount of money needed by all these factors will constantly be fluctuating. Some of them like vans and office space would be a one time capital investment. Others such as employee salary, computers and tablets would be constantly on a rise as the business grows. The next issue was how to generate this money. I thought of various ideas and narrowed down to those that were possible and were fair from the customer’s POV so as not to seem as if the service were exploiting its clients. The aim was to make the customers believe that they are getting a service without much extra payment. This will attract customers and help the business grow. Thus money could be generated by the following means:
In such a way I calculated that in order to cover the per day cost of Rs. 170, the delivery charge per customer should be Rs 4.85 which I rounded off to Rs. 5. Thus per ward per day, only from delivery charges, the business will make a profit of Rs. 80. I feel that Rs. 5 is really a very small amount that one needs to pay for getting goods at ones doorstep.
•
discounts from distributors
Since there are designated vendors per ward, the negotiators could mediate on discounts that they would give the service. The service would be purchasing goods on a regular basis from them, giving them an assurance of steady income flow. Also, the minimum number of items would be 35 which is a considerable amount. Distributors purchase goods at whole sale prices, and can thus afford to give the service minimal discounts per sale.
These goods are then sold to the customers at MRP who are ready to purchase it at that price. Thus per sale, the service makes a minimal profit.
•
delivery kits
When a customer registers for the service, he provided with 1 complimentary delivery kit (only milk, newspaper) or 2 complimentary delivery kits (also laundry) so that the delivery process can begin. However, a deposit of Rs. 300 per kit is charged. This ensures that the customer takes good care of the delivery kit when it is in his possession, and can be reused for another customer, incase they wish to quit the service. Also, if a customer wishes to avail of the laundry service at a later point of time, he is charged Rs. 300 additionally. If a customer is in need of an extra delivery kit, due to excessive laundry he will need to pay a charge of Rs. 200. The deposit per delivery kit ensures that the service has a capital at the beginning so that it can start operating. If a customer wants to avail of laundry service later, or needs an extra delivery kit for laundry, it means that they occupy an extra storage space in the van, which reduces the number of households per van. Thus this price needs to be incurred in the form of additional charges. The price for such a delivery kit is approximately Rs. 280. The service will buy these in wholesale, thus reducing the price. However adding the plastic partition will incure a slight price. Thus charging Rs. 300 is reasonable, and gives the service a minimal profit.
•
service tax
Because the business is providing the customers with a service, 12.36% of service tax is charged on the prices of the goods. This increases the profit considerably. In this way, the business generates income for itself.
30 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
troubleshooting
I have tried to list down all the possible problems and looked for feasible solutions to them. Some of them are preventive measures. In some cases these solutions might need minor modifications to the business model. However, I have not included them in the business model as of now, because one needs to decide how relevant they are, which is only possible once the service functions for a while.
•
delivery van
Problems :
• Breakdown • Punctured wheel • Out of petrol • Accident • Shortage of vans Solutions : Delivery van issues may be solved by having a maintenance contract with a local garage, which does monthly servicing for the delivery vans. There could be a schedule for filling petrol in the vans that delivery boys must stick to. Drivers can also be trained to perform simple repairs like changing a punctured wheel themselves. In the earlier phases of the service, the vans could be rented. Once the service has established itself, the business could get vans of its own. A few extra vans per city could be kept to temporarily replace vans that have a problem.
•
delivery boys / employees
Problems :
• Unwell • Skips work • Gets fired • Shortage of staff Solutions : The business could have staff that is available to make last minute deliveries. These could be
employees working in another sector, who could jump in for a delivery boy. There could also be part time employees who act as delivery men when needed. As the business grows, regular job fairs could be held, where job interviews are conducted to add people to the workforce.
•
•
electricity / internet / server failure
Problems :
goods
Problems :
• Unavailability of desired goods • Stale or spoilt goods • Goods getting spoilt during delivery Solutions : The service must have reliable dealers who are responsible and will always have enough stock. The service agreement must make it clear to customers that the company is not responsible for shortage of goods in the market. The company could have tie ups with market experts who can warn the service about possible shortages. The customers can then be notified of the same.
•
report this to their ward secretaries on time so that alternative routes could be figured out. A clause in the service agreement could mention that if certain areas are completely inaccessible the service will be discontinued.
• Website error • Server breakdown • Delivery boy tablet malfunction Solutions : Orders could be sent in via SMS and each ward secretary could make manual lists of the orders and give it to the delivery boy. Each delivery boy could have a hard copy as back up along with the list on the tablet. This will avoid mishaps during the delivery.
floods / natural calamities
Problems :
• Flooded roads • Heavy rains • Riots • Unrest in the city • Bandhs Solutions : The service agreement can have a clause stating that the company is not responsible for irregularities during uncontrollable situations. Disaster management for situations like heavy rain could be implemented as life must go on.
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infrastructure
Problems :
• •
Roads - Construction, Renovation, Spoilt roads Inaccessibility to certain areas
Solutions : Customers living in that area would realise when certain problems arise in their locality. They could Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 31
troubleshooting
Like with anything we endeavour to do our day to day lives, there are obstacles in businesses as well. These problems need to be addressed quickly for the smooth functioning and continuation of the service.
the future
the future While planning the functioning of the delivery system, I felt like I was the manager of this business. As the creator of this service, even if it is hypothetical, I hope that if is implemented, it will be well received by the public and will be a success. Naturally, I started thinking about what the future had in store for this service.
• • •
•
Promotion and advertising via google, facebook, twitter, etc will help publicise the service. Flyers can be inserted in newspapers to help boost its popularity. A video advertisement can be made and played on TV and youtube. There are certain factors that will increase and others that will decrease. Following is a comparison of the same.
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more
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• • • • •
Profit Customers Employees Delivery vans / Bigger vans Larger / modified delivery kits Wards (smaller and concentrated) Distributors Established and trusted dealers will provide guaranteed goods, and will be accustomed to the functioning of the service. Cities in India Infrastructure Efficiency Experience Better website
• •
Complaints Mishaps Van problems Troubleshooting Delivery charge as customers will be living closer together and the distance each van needs to travel will reduce, thus reducing petrol usage. Fewer mishaps with goods as trusted dealers will be established Fewer civic problems as cities and public infrastructure develop.
With the growth of the service, the business can afford to introduce new features and goods to enhance the customer experience. There will be an expansion of the services offered to customers. These goods will however still have to maintain the earlier conditions to maintain the quality and aims of the service. Thus goods like fruits and vegetables cannot be added as they have a high choice factor and do not fit into the zero contact objective of the service. Goods that can be included in the future could be:
• • • • •
of employment more efficient and will give the workers a job guarantee. Their salaries can also be decided by the company, so as to avoid exploitation by customers and a fair work experience.
less
• • • • •
As the business grows, certain factors like customers, delivery terms and goods that can be delivered will change. This is however only possible if existing customers stay satisfied and spread the word about the service to their friends and colleagues. The service must therefore strive to maintain loyal and satisfied customers.
Android app Data collected Publicity
bread and eggs raddi (old newspapers) pick up groceries cosmetics man power
Have a workforce of manpower like maids, gardeners, drivers, etc who are associated with the service and are fed into a database. There could be a preliminary interview and training to guarantee the quality of work they will provide. Their references can be forwarded to customers in need of household assistance. It will make the system
32 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
In this way, the service can grow to include a number of different aspects and become a trusted household name in Urban Indian homes.
the website
I designed screen shots and transitions of how I imagined the website to function. Here I thought of mainly the customer’s POV, both existing and potential ones, and how they would view and use the website. Having never designed a website before, I familiarised myself with the topic by reading a few books and looking up existing websites online. ‘The web designer’s 101 most important decisions’, a book found in the KMC, was one of the most helpful tools I had in this process. It explained the various parts of a website and how to design these to be most legible and clear. I learnt about navigation, colour, icons, fonts, images, background images, etc.
mine from graphic design, Khyati Trehan helped me. We sat together and decided on the fonts, layout and tabs of the website. Once the basic layout and home page were done, I continued working on the website following the same language. bonjour your perfect day at work begins at home!
The name of the service and the catchphrase. I chose this catchphrase because the service is aimed at professionals, to whom work is an important part of their life. This slogan emphasises their life at home as well as work, and says that this service will make both aspects perfect by beginning the day with the service.
site. Existing customers can then log in and place their order directly from this page, or new customers who wish to register can do so too from the ‘register’ link. Customers who scan their QR code with their tablets are sent directly to the log in page to save time. If visitors wish to know more about the service, they can click ‘click here’ and are brought to the home page.
The home page with the updated map of cities where the service operates.
The welcome page. An initial flowchart of the structure of the website
I began designing the website by making a basic flowchart of the different functions and pages that the website should have and then made a few sketches for the layout. I organised the various data into what would appear as links and what the customer had to choose from or where he had to enter data of his own. For the final look and feel of the website, a friend of
The welcome page is the first page of the website that customers would come to. Thus it had to explain what the service was about and give a feel of what it aimed to do. I therefore chose this background image of a sunrise in the city. I hoped that customers would get attracted to the serenity and peace that it showed. The catchphrase as well as a short explanation, ‘We strive to serve you even before you begin your day, and hope that it will end just as well’, is also present for new visitors to get attracted to visit the
Once on the home page, visitors have a lot of options. They are presented with a map of India with all the cities where the service operates. They are asked to click on their city to know all the services that are offered there. There are also a number of tabs above.
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services
In this tab, viewers can choose their city from a drop down menu and then view the available services offered. They can also click on the individual tabs and find out details of what kinds of milk, newspapers, etc can be
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 33
the website
The website was the final aspect of my project that brought the whole service together and gave me a holistic look on what I had developed over the past 7 weeks.
the website
the website delivered to their homes.
experience, (hopefully positive), would be helpful in gaining the trust of prospective customers. Reading reviews of products and softwares online has become very popular these days, and I felt a tab on the service website would be beneficial. These testimonials have been divided according to the city as the service may differ slightly from city to city. Viewers who wish to see how efficient the service is in their own city can do so easily. Its also helps to judge where the service is more successful.
• The list of milk varieties available for delivery in Ahmedabad.
For example, if a viewer who wishes to see what milk varieties are available for delivery, he will see the above page. Here, he can see various factors like the logo of the brand for easy recognising, the brand of milk, the kind and finally the price per litre. Similarly for newspapers and laundry. In the laundry page, he can also see the services they provide and in which area it lies. In this way, every visitor will know exactly whether the service can meet his needs or not.
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help
The help tab deals with various issues that a typical user might not refer to. However, topics like Complaints, Privacy statements, Legal information and Contact us are essential to any website. Existing customers can refer to the Complaints tab in order to lodge a complaint they might have with the service, and thus it is essential for the smooth functioning of the service.
Zoomed in view of the customer tab and time segment.
Once log in is done, the tabs Log in and Register are replaced with the customer’s drop down menu of various options that are available only to logged in customers. This includes options like Order, Payment, Track order, Testimonial, Profile and Log out.
about
The about tab talks about what exactly the service aims to provide to customers. Various sub-tabs such as Our motto, Our guarantee, Terms of service and Copyright exist where viewers can understand all they need to know, including technicalities, about the service.
•
customer testimonials
A service such as this depends a lot in customer approval and word of mouth. I thought a section on the website that allowed existing customers to share their
where he stays, the home page will display special offers that are existent in his ward. This could include freebees with purchase of certain goods, or discounts on certain goods. Laundries would be encouraged to have special offers to boost sales. The customer can in this way, get the most of the service by availing of certain offers and discounts. This might lead to customers ordering for additional goods, only because they are tempted by the discount, leading to an increase in orders and therefore sales.
Special offers for existing customers.
Once an existing customer has logged in, he is directed to a slightly different home page. Since the service knows
34 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
Above this, there is the time segment. This displays the current time on all pages. Logged in customers are also shown the time left till that day’s cut off time, reminding them to order before time runs out.
the website
Customers are then shown a summary of their order along with the prices and delivery charges and can then confirm their order.
helped me compile my whole service into one comprehensive system. The design of the website is very clean and professional looking at the moment. However, I feel that a better website could be designed by a professional that exudes a feeling of warmth, reliability and comfort, which is what I want my service to stand for. Images of the service in function could help to enhance the connection between viewers and the website. Additionally, an android app on the same lines would also be developed for people with smart phones and tablets.
The ‘order’ page
When customers choose to order they are directed to this page. Here they can choose what kind, and quantity of milk and newspaper they wish to be delivered the next day. The price is automatically displayed so that the customers have a rough idea of how much it will cost. If they wish to order multiple kinds of one commodity, they can click the ‘add’ button and choose another kind of milk or newspaper. Laundry pick up might not be necessary everyday for smaller households. Thus customers have an option to choose whether pick up should take place. If it is not needed, the delivery man need not carry an extra delivery kit with him. The goods can just be added to the delivery kit kept outside the door. Similarly for customers who have not availed of the laundry service at all. Certain clothes may need special instructions and thus there is a window for such cases. These instructions are then forwarded to the respective laundry. In this way, customers can afford to give clothes that might need special care. If there are multiple laundries in that customer’s ward, they have the choice of choosing one. Here the price
• • •
fonts used : vag rounded & georgia software used : adobe indesign cs5 images used : google.com
The payment page with detailed costs per day.
Payment for the service can take place online or via a delivery man who comes to pick up the money at a scheduled time. This time is according to the customer’s convenience. An existing customer can access his payment page after logging in. Here all the days since his past payment are displayed along with the per day charges. The details button reveals details of what all the customer had delivered to his place. An additional 12.36% service tax is charged on the sum of all the goods for that period. The customer can then choose whether to pay by card, or schedule a pick up time with a delivery boy. Once payment is done, all dues are cleared and this page starts filling up with new orders. The website is my final deliverable in this course and Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 35
the website
is not indicated and will be credited to that day’s account once the clothes have been cleaned.
the website
the website 1
2
3
1. The welcome page : It contains the name of the service, the catchphrase and a short explanation about the service. There are also log in and register links. 2. The log in page : Existing customers can access their profile and place orders once they log in. The QR code scanning brings them straight to this page.
3. The register page : Potential customers who wish to avail of the service need to feed in the required data so as to be entered into the system. 4. The home page : Here visitors can learn more about what the service has to offer. It has tabs like Services, About, Customer testimonials and Help.
36 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
4
the website 5
7
5. Services tab : Once a viewer clicks on the services tab, he is asked to choose the city he lives in, so that the website can give him appropriate information. 6. Kinds of milk deliverable in Ahmedabad : The viewer has chosen to view what kinds of milk can be delivered to him. Here he can see the brand with the logo, the kind of milk, and the price per litre. 7. Kinds of newspapers deliverable in Ahmedabad : Here the viewer can view the kinds of newspapers available for delivery in
Ahmedabad. He can view the brand with logo, the kind of newspaper it is, and the price per issue. Some newspapers have special Sunday issues which cost more. The price of this is given in brackets. 8. Laundry service available in Ahmedabad : On this page, the viewer can view the laundries that are part of the service and which one lies close to his house. It also shows the name along with logo of the laundry, the services available and the price for each
8
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 37
the website
6
the website
the website 9
10
11
12
1. The about tab : It has all teh information about the service that a visitor would need to know. It contains sub-tabs like Our motto, Our guarantee, Terms of service and Copyright. 2. The customer testimonials tab : Here readers can read testimonials about the service by existing customers. They are organised according to the city. 3. The help tab : This tab has technical information and contains tabs like Complaints, Privacy statement, Legal Information and Contact us, that can assist the viewer. 4. Special offers : Once a customer has logged in, according to which ward he lives in, he can view special offers for that week. These could include discounts, freebies or special services. 5. The profile drop down : Once a user has logged in, this drop down menu appears to display further links like Order, Payment, Track order, Testimonial, Profile and Log out. 13
38 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
the website 14
16
6. Placing an order : The customer can choose which brand and what kind of newspaper and milk he wishes for the next day. He can click the add button to add multiple orders for the same commodity. He can also choose whether he wants laundry pick up and the laundry and give special instructions for clothes that need special instructions. 7. Order confirmation : Once the order has been placed, the customer is asked to review his order so that there are no mistakes.
8. Order summary : An order summary with the prices and total cost is displayed before the customer confirms the order. 9. Thank you for the order : Here the customer gets assured that the order has been received and that the goods will be delivered to him as promised. He is also thanked for the order.
17
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 39
the website
15
the website
the website 18
1. Payment page : An existing customer can pay his dues on the payment tab. Here he is shown a list for all the orders he has placed since the last date of payment. He can click on the ‘details’ button to find out the details for each order. An additional service tax of 12.36% is charged. The customer can pay online or can pay the delivery boy.
2. The end page : Once the customer has logged out, he can see a page very similar to the welcome page. The service thanks him and wishes him a nice day! The customer can also re-enter the site by logging in or registering.
40 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design
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bibliography bibliography
books
websites
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www.baus-systems.com
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www.mylazybones.com
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www.laundrybutlers.com
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google.com
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google.com/images
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realtimeboard.com
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bestwebgallery.com
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googlewebfonts.com
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www.marutisuzuki.com/omni
system design for human interaction
Andrew P. Sage New York, IEEE Press, 1990
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services marketing
ICFAI Hyderabad, ICFAI center for management research
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services marketing : an indian perspective
Ravi Shanker New Delhi, Excel Books
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how to market professional design services
Gerre L. Jones New York, Mc Graw Hill, 1970
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services management
Harvard Business Review Boston, harvard Business School Press, 1990
Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design 41
afterword System design has been a great learning experience for me. My brief allowed me to explore new vistas like management and business, and thus I understood how design can be integrated with other fields. I enjoyed the mind mapping aspects of the project, and I hope that the service is well received by all. I believe that the system is a very practical and I wish it becomes a reality one day. I have high aspirations for this project.
Š Vanessa Horig, National Institute of Design, 2013 42 Vanessa Horig | FID semester 7 | System Design | Guide: P Ramakrishna Rao | National Institute of Design