By Fiona Murphy
Frontend worked with one of the world’s leading electronics repair and service providers who deliver after-market solutions for some of the largest brands globally. From multiple geographical locations, they service millions of devices annually providing reverse logistics, repair & refurbishment and fulfilment activities across markets including computing, consumer electronics, connected devices, networking, telecommunications, robotics and MedTech.
With such diverse needs service lines were typically custom built for each customer, product and specific service requirement. The speed in which a line could be set-up was crucial, however, many of the systems supporting operator task flows were developed specifically for each line. This created significant workload for internal IT teams, increased implementation time & cost and didn’t leverage learnings for optimisation across multiple lines. On top of this, there was significant opportunity to improve operator efficiencies, decrease training, increase staff flexibility and provide management insight to track & adapt lines.
Frontend began by exploring a number of individual lines, identifying issues, work patterns, commonalities, integration of automation, etc. Based on this insight we improved operator efficiencies & productivity by creating UI’s that support tasks, consolidate systems & data, and decreased interactions. At the same time, we created a common framework for diverse lines to reduce implementation time & costs, increase operator flexibility and reduce training time. We designed a lo-code/no-code configurator that enabled line engineers to quickly deploy a service line using pre-developed modules. We also created UIs that provide insight for management to track and improve systems and processes on an ongoing basis allowing continuous evolution as business needs change.
Results:
- Common framework across operations in 3 continents
- Introduction of new product lines was reduced from several months to a few weeks
- 50% reduction in time to task for many workstations with a min 18% reduction on a whole line basis
- Structural approach optimises and reduces risk of introducing advanced technologies such as robotics, automated testing and machine vision.
- Greater workforce flexibility increasing business agility and improving employee satisfaction
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Our multidisciplinary software design team is based in our studio in Dublin, Ireland. Unlike most design consultancies, our research is conducted by professional researchers while our design team have over two decades of experience in complex systems, software programmes, usability, psychology, data visualisation, computer science and business process improvement. We engage with all stakeholders, understanding their environments and creating solutions that work at every touchpoint. Contact us to collaborate on your upcoming software project.