Auditing quality processes in transportation

How Ryder is saving over 3,900 working hours annually since automating their regular internal quality reviews.


"Many of our quality managers say that since using a handheld, they simply wouldn’t consider doing audits any other way,"
- Mary Amburgey,
Sr project Mgr, Quality Assurance

Case Study: UMT Audit Software for internal quality reviews in the transportation industry

Ryder, a well known provider of leading-edge transportation, logistics and supply chain management solutions, has been able to automate its regular internal quality reviews by integrating UMT Audit Software with its existing audit management system, resulting in productivity improvements in excess of 3,900 working hours annually.Challenge
Ryder’s Fleet Management Solutions division provides leasing, rental and programmed maintenance of trucks, tractors and trailers to commercial customers. The division’s Quality Assurance department routinely audits 850 locations across the United States and Canada to ensure that they are compliant with standard processes and procedures. The Quality Assurance department is comprised of a SVP, three Directors of Quality Assurance, two project managers, and 30 quality managers who perform a minimum of two audits a week.

While the team was satisfied with the existing quality assurance software, the process of manually collecting data was becoming tedious and time consuming. Most quality managers were recording their findings on a paper checklist and then having to spend their evenings re-entering their findings into the existing software. Handheld computers appeared to be the perfect solution to streamline this process, allowing the team to spend more value-added time in the field auditing and meeting with customers.

Solution
The Laubrass team worked with Ryder’s existing auditing software program (from JK Technologies) to integrate the use of a handheld computer with the same structure and feel of their existing program. Ryder’s Fleet Management standards assessment can now be easily downloaded onto a handheld computer using UMT Audit for quick and easy data entry.

Ryder’s quality managers can now efficiently perform their audit on the handheld and then simply upload the data back to their existing data base. “Many of our quality managers say that since using a handheld, they simply wouldn’t consider doing audits any other way,” says Mary Amburgey, Senior Project Manager, Quality Assurance.

Results
In the past five months this Quality Assurance team has performed 1145 audits and generated over 55,000 corrective actions as a result of these audits. “Using the handhelds has improved the auditing process in the field, freeing up the team’s time to interact with customers. Since the implementation, the quality managers have been able to add two customer visits per month to the program, which includes reviewing the customer’s fleet onsite. We are seeing happier, more productive employees with less turn over,” says Mary Amburgey.

Furthermore, the ability to easily upload data means that their reports are more readily available, and having standardized checklists and responses have resulted in more streamlined reports.

Amburgey estimates that the Company has gained back 3,952 hours annually in productivity improvement. “We are very pleased with the results of this project. We have no regrets, it has been very successful."