![]() LCE software now provides local branches with real-time visibility into the time sensitivity of orders, order status, and technician routing. We care about our drivers and their well-being and want them to go home safely to their families every day.”Ĭapacity planning, driver schedules, and delivery management has also been improved. “We’re working very hard to instill a culture of safety. The company also hired recruiters to assist general managers with sourcing and hiring new technicians. Feedback from the survey was incorporated into plans for comprehensive upgrades and improvements.Ĭompensation reviews, which, according to Willmunder, were overdue, resulted in specific strategies for various markets, such as higher salaries where recruitment and retention were difficult. Some of the findings were surprising-such as technicians feeling that in-cab technology was more distracting than helpful. In addition to scheduling, compensation, and recognition, questions covered topics like road safety, personal protective and lifting equipment, and in-cab technology. To verify its findings, the DriveWise team surveyed its 950 delivery technicians across 48 states. At a brainstorming session, participants from human resources, safety and risk management, logistics/operations, training and development, fleet, transportation safety management, and the Logistics Center of Excellence dispatching center (LCE), reviewed the available data and identified the major areas that needed improvement. In response, Willmunder helped launch DriveWise, a cross-functional corporate initiative to improve delivery technicians’ experience and patients’ quality of service. “Because local branches could no longer schedule or adjust deliveries, technicians were putting in more hours to complete the additional deliveries.” “Our delivery technicians were struggling to make the time necessary to properly set up equipment and instruct patients in its use while still meeting their delivery windows,” Willmunder says. ![]() This perfect storm made Kate Willmunder, vice president of employee relations and HR compliance, and other executives acutely aware of how widespread these concerns had become. Issues began to accumulate as customers posted negative reviews online about deliveries arriving very late at night delivery technicians expressed dissatisfaction with schedules and overtime turnover rates increased recruiting became more difficult vehicle collisions were increasing and overtime was at an all-time high-averaging 485 hours per driver annually in 2017-a total of about $5,000 per driver. This was because the company had transitioned to centralized customer service and dispatching functions that ultimately resulted in an influx of same-day deliveries that local branches could no longer reschedule or reprioritize. Business volume increased at the same time that health insurance providers were demanding shorter time frames for deliveries. As with most areas of healthcare, however, ongoing industry changes were impacting company operations. Apria Healthcare’s home delivery of medical and respiratory equipment fills an important role in enabling its patients to improve their quality of life.
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