Proof of condition — it’s been around for decades and serves to verify the integrity of everything from material goods to heavy equipment and myriad assets in between. A paper process from the beginning, it has been accompanied by photographs, rubber stamps, and signatures along the way.
Still, hard to believe that a quarter way through the 21st century, with ubiquitous mobile device options, so many of these processes continue to reside on clipboards. And this paperwork can take hours, days or more to move from point of documentation to a recipient who can act on information reported within.
Even in the best of cases, an inspection sheet walked from a loading dock to a warehouse managers office or a logistics dispatcher will take a few minutes – — minutes that could mean the subject of said documentation has changed custody or even left the facility for its next stop in the supply chain.
Discover the savings
With supply chain costs continuing to rise, where can operations teams find savings by moving away from these paper documents to digital forms?
Proof of Condition: Time and money are lost when damaged goods arrive at the loading dock and given that over 10% of all unit loads have some degree of damage when they arrive at the DC, those real costs add up fast. The inverse is equally true, so avoiding chargebacks by documenting product/pallets were delivered in good condition protects shipper integrity and mitigates risk of fraudulent returns at each step along the chain.
Pre-trip Inspections: Performing a pre-trip inspection is not only prudent, but often required. However, it’s only as good any actions taken from the inspection. If that paper inspection is only reviewed after the vehicle has left the yard, costly breakdowns or roadside inspections could shut down deliveries – — and therefore revenue.
Safety Inspections: These come in a variety of flavors – — from the forklift or pallet jack inspection at the start of a work shift, to documenting injury incidents or near-misses, these are essential to worker safety, and also may be required documentation that needs to be readily available for audit.
Digitally transform the experience (and savings!)
Above are just a few common areas where operations teams benefit from moving to digital forms. Some, and I point to the Proof of Condition documentation as the example, offer an immediate opportunity to measure the value in financial terms. Avoiding chargebacks is a clear way to help the bottom line.
In other cases, the savings are more cost-avoidance. When a pre-trip inspection identifies risk, and that risk is addressed before the vehicle leaves the dock, goods are delivered on time and fines (or worse) are avoided. The same can also be said about ensuring work equipment is in good operating condition before a worker is put in danger.
Take a look at this infographic (and share it with your team) for further proof of where digitizing documentation offers savings. Then, explore a process consultation with your Ivanti Wavelink supply chain partner to get started with digital forms. Within the Velocity platform, workflows can include Velocity Forms as a required step of the process – — such as forcing completion of a proof of condition statement, including photos, as part of the incoming inspection process when goods roll off the truck onto the loading dock.
Closing the gap between documentation completion and document action is a key reason to trash paper and move to digital forms. Information is routed to the appropriate recipients for review in a timely, relevant and actionable manner – — essential to controlling costs in operations when every second counts.
