Mabey Hire - Driver App
Client
Mabey Hire
Services
Software DevelopmentLaravel DevelopmentAPIs & Integrations
Discipline
Construction
Equipment Hire
Location
UK & Europe
See how we built an app from the ground up to transform how Mabey Hire handled communications, job processing, stock deliveries and pick up. Our solution seamlessly integrates with other systems Mabey Hire uses to handle the processing of their hire requests. What we built enabled the driver to confidently deliver equipment to customers.
See how we built an app from the ground up to transform how Mabey Hire handled communications, job processing, stock deliveries and pick up. Our solution seamlessly integrates with other systems Mabey Hire uses to handle the processing of their hire requests. What we built enabled the driver to confidently deliver equipment to customers.
Project Overview
After having digitised many of Mabey Hire’s processes, other areas stood out as being inefficient with the manual, paper-led exercises that dictated them. One of these processes was in the hire yard. The delivery and pick-up process, by which the Mabey Hire delivery team would take equipment from depots across the country and deliver them to all the customers’ operations nationwide, as well as pick up equipment that was no longer needed by the customer.
By removing the paperwork and introducing technology for each process, including the delivery and pick-up phases, there were many opportunities to automate, streamline and improve the quality of service provided in this area of the business.
Delivery and return of equipment is a very important direct touch point with the customer, so it was imperative to ensure it was an efficient, professional service.
Our Approach
Project Discovery
Our approach to delivering an app that drivers could utilise whilst out on deliveries had an emphasis on understanding the users’ requirements - that of the delivery driver, as well as the system requirements of their business. We utilised our years of experience in working with their systems, alongside workshops and continually asking “why?” to understand the business requirements.
We were aware from the beginning that we had a unique set of users - the delivery drivers. To get into their shoes and truly understand the requirements of the product, we initially carried out interviews with the drivers and went one step further with a fully operational prototype that they could test and give feedback on, to ensure we were building it right.
What we identified
| The Problem | The Solution |
|---|---|
| The app would sometimes need to operate offline for deliveries to areas with low signal, and still communicate all data points to the central system. | We went for an approach that involved cookies that could store any actions taken whilst offline, that would then send information off when back online. This concept, although simple in principle, requires understanding how the system should respond to actions offline, so determining what was front end and back end logic was crucial. |
| We identified that there needed to be a way to mitigate and resolve any potential disagreements between drivers and customers over equipment quantities and conditions (which, when flagged after would have no evidence to determine who was correct). | We resolved this by building a stage in the delivery process whereby the driver was prompted to take photos before progressing. Photo evidence then provided a platform for investigation should any issues arise and served as proof of condition and quantity to resolve disagreements. |
| The drivers currently were operating with paper, then operations teams were required to digitalise every action logged. | The driver app we built seamlessly connected with other systems via a middleware API that we built to handle requests and data transfers between systems. This enabled instant updates to the system, allowing for support from other teams when necessary and, more importantly, no physical paper trail or potential for human error. |
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The Project Goals
Establishing clear goals is essential in any project, as it guides decision-making and keeps the team focused on desired outcomes. The primary goals we established for building a solution for drivers’ processes for Mabey Hire were:
| Improve customer satisfaction | Bring a service to the customer that was more efficient, consistent and allowed for human interaction with trust and without pressure. |
| Connect to central systems | Ensure that key actions and reports required of a delivery driver are centralised in a hassle-free, low cost way. |
| Reduce human errors | Digitise the delivery service so that there are no dependencies on physical paper, reducing the likelihood of human error. |
| Create Opportunities for Analytics | Document the key points in the process of delivery, so that analysis can be undertaken, leading to improvements in the process. |
Gathering an in-depth understanding
In our robust requirements gathering stage, quite early on, we noticed the uniqueness of the role the users of this app had, especially when compared to the experience throughout the rest of Mabey Hire. In order to truly understand their requirements, we would need to bridge the gap with a robust, flexible prototype that they could critique.
The prototype we built, based on interviews with the end users, was fully functioning such that we could ensure low-tech knowledge users could test it in real-life scenarios. This allowed us to fine-tune the prototype, which then served as part of the specification for the developers.
The success of this early planning and design phase led to a successful launch day with very minimal bug fixes and zero extra feature requests. The app was also well-liked amongst users, reporting their preference for this new system.
Technical Solution
Our approach to delivering an app that drivers could utilise whilst out on deliveries had an emphasis on understanding the users’ requirements - that of the delivery driver, as well as the system requirements of their business. We utilised our years of experience in working with their systems, alongside workshops and continually asking “why?” to understand the business requirements.
We were aware from the beginning that we had a unique set of users - the delivery drivers. To get into their shoes and truly understand the requirements of the product, we initially carried out interviews with the drivers and went one step further with a fully operational prototype they could test and give feedback on, to ensure we were building it right.
The Results
95%
reduction in paper usage.
100%
uptake from users
0
feature requests post-launch
Project Summary
We took the lead in discovering the requirements from the beginning and, used this coupled with our expertise in the entire software development cycle to understand the problem in its entirety then deliver a solution that fit perfectly into the business’ tech stack as well as the drivers’ cabins.
A little bit more work initially led to the perfect rollout and execution, demonstrated by the 100% uptake and zero feature requests for the first year (and counting).
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