LTL Pickup & Delivery
Digitizing logistics for less-than-truckload operators.
Honeywell is a multinational company that produces commercial and consumer products, engineering services and aerospace systems.
Supply chain logistics and transportation is one of the global verticals supported by Honeywell. Within this vertical, less-than-truckload (LTL) delivery is a critical part. LTL companies, dispatchers, and drivers are responsible for delivering freight from warehouses to retail locations.
In 2015, the Honeywell Scanning & Mobility (HSM) group was developing a new Pickup & Delivery (P&D) system to meet the evolving needs of LTL delivery. A critical element of this system was an Android-based application designed to run on custom Honeywell CT50 mobile computers, which incorporate multiple scanners and sensors that allow delivery drivers to coordinate with dispatchers, scan packages, collect proof-of-delivery signatures, and more.
HSM approached Ben and his team at Clearform to assess the usability of the initial P&D application design, and provide design recommendations that could be implemented within 6 months before product launch. In addition, HSM requested that Clearform envision a practical, future concept P&D application to guide ongoing product development.
So what happened?
The Clearform team traveled to Cedar Rapids where Ben led a 2-day workshop with Honeywell teams to identify risks and opportunities, establish collaborative rapport with the engineering team, define success, and document a project plan. Unfortunately, no delivery drivers could be made available for usability testing.
Clearform conducted a heuristic analysis of the existing application to identify and prioritize usability issues that needed to be addressed ahead of the product release. These findings were used by two parallel track teams at Clearform — Blue Team focused on designing updates for the application in development, and Red Team focused on designing the future concept application.
USF Reddaway was one of the first and largest LTL companies to begin using the P&D application. Due to the praise and rapid adoption by drivers during the pilot deployment, it was rolled out across the fleet 6 weeks ahead of schedule. The P&D application continues to be used and enhanced today.
