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Multi-Disciplinary Projects Direct-to-Home vegetable distribution service D2H Procedures Revision 1 Date: 16th December 2004 Author: S. Mukherjee 1 Society for Appropriate Rural Technology for Sustainability (ARTS) Regd.Office—P6: Cluster 2, Purbachal, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 097, INDIA. Tel: +91(33)2335 9812 Mobile: +91 94330 19821 e-mail: info@sankalpacmfs.org D2H Procedures Background: The Direct-to-Home vegetable distribution service (D2H) is a home delivery system designed to make available high quality, domestic and essential goods and services at a competitive price right at your doorstep. • In the first phase, delivery of fresh fruits & vegetables on pre-order basis will be launched in Salt Lake area. • In the next phase, cleaned, processed and packed grocery items including spices under our in-house brand name of ‘ARTS’ will be launched. • Finally, a wide range of high quality personal hygiene & household maintenance products from our village-based industries (including spirulina, handmade soap, handicrafts and such household item) will be made available at the customers’ doorstep. We believe that our prices shall be between 10% to 20% lower than the prevailing prices in the vegetable markets in the Salt lake area. We invite you to click here for the ‘Price Comparison’ page, which is updated daily and which compares our prices with records of market prices in the last 30 days. Description of D2H system: The basic approach and philosophy of D2H is summarized in the above caption, which represents the initial WebPage of the enterprise. The main components of the enterprise are discussed in the following pages: A. Customers The D2H system begins and ends with our customers. The customer is an integral member of the D2H family, and will not be viewed as an external member. The first step is to compile a database of customers, who are willing to become members of the D2H model. As a member, their rights and responsibilities of customers are: 1. They can place orders on D2H (for next day onward delivery), latest by 4:00pm on the day preceding the desired date of delivery: a. verbally by telephone (to [CUSTOMER SERVICE]); b. written order slips (to be given to the Delivery Boy or hand delivered to [CUSTOMER SERVICE]); c. by e-mail (mailto: [CUSTOMER SERVICE]) 2. There are no restrictions on the quantities of vegetables that they can order, although there will be discrete units and there will be incentives for placing larger order quantities; for each line item, the customer’s order will comprise: a. Item description – as vividly as possible; b. Item code number (members will be provided with a list of vegetables and corresponding item codes) – recommended, to eliminate mistakes; c. Quantity of each item, using the correct unit of measurement unit (i.e. pieces, 250 gm steps, or kilo, etc.; in order to do this correctly, it is necessary to provide each member with a master chart of items showing the standard measurement units and item codes; d. Special instructions/suggestions, if any, that the customer may request be entertained by the D2H system. Multi-Disciplinary Projects Direct-to-Home vegetable distribution service D2H Procedures Revision 1 Date: 16th December 2004 Author: S. Mukherjee 2 Society for Appropriate Rural Technology for Sustainability (ARTS) Regd.Office—P6: Cluster 2, Purbachal, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 097, INDIA. Tel: +91(33)2335 9812 Mobile: +91 94330 19821 e-mail: info@sankalpacmfs.org 3. The customer may also choose from a selection of standard baskets, which will comprise of a pre-selected type and quantity of vegetables; for example, “Basket 01” may comprise of the following: a. 1 kg of potatoes; b. 500 gm of onions; c. 1 Medium-sized Cauliflower; d. 250 gm of carrots e. 500 gm of tomatoes f. 100 gm of chilly A total of about 10 different baskets will be available for selection; this will make it easier to place orders and arrange for delivery with accuracy and quality. 4. There is no credit facility; customers will have to buy coupons (see Annexure 1 for a sample which specifies the minimum information required) in steps of Rs.20, to cover the “Customer Bill” that they will be presented by the delivery boy. The excess amount, if any, will be automatically carried forward in our computer-based accounting system, and will be applied towards the next delivery to that particular customer, whenever that may be. For example, if the bill presented is for Rs.25, the customer will be presented with two (2) coupons of total value Rs.40, which the customer is obliged to purchase in full and take delivery of the contents of the tray, and the remainder of Rs.15 will carry forward to the next delivery date. 5. Repeated failure to pay for the correct number of coupons presented will open the possibility of deleting the customer’s membership. 6. The customer is expected to take care that the order placed with D2H is correct, by quoting the correct item number AND make the correct description of the order, to eliminate possibility of errors in order taking, and of delivery. 7. The customer may report any discrepancy between order and supply, or quality of materials, to the ‘Customer Service Representative’: a. Verbally by telephone (to [customer service]); b. Written complaints, either on plain paper or using the “Customer Complaint Form” (to be given to the Delivery Person or hand delivered to [CUSTOMER SERVICE]) (see Annexure 2 for a sample which specifies the minimum information required); c. By e-mail (mailto: [CUSTOMER SERVICE]) 8. The customer is encouraged to make suggestions for improvements in D2H system, which will be entered into the computer database under ‘Customer Suggestions’. B. Delivery Persons The delivery persons are the most visible link between D2H and customers, and therefore have a very special place in the organization. The workflow of the delivery persons may be described as follows: 1. Report for duty at the local distribution center by 6:00 am. 2. He/she should be well behaved and pleasantly attired, so that the customer gets a “good impression” of D2H standards. 3. He/she shall: a. Take charge of the delivery trays allotted to him/her, and ensure that he/she carries adequate numbers of “Customer Complaint Form” at all times; b. Ensure that each tray has a valid delivery slip and the correct number of coupons to cover the amount (considering carry forward computations, which will be specified on the “Customer Bill” - see Annexure 3 for a sample which specifies the minimum information required), and ensure that he/she knows the location of the customer address; Multi-Disciplinary Projects Direct-to-Home vegetable distribution service D2H Procedures Revision 1 Date: 16th December 2004 Author: S. Mukherjee 3 Society for Appropriate Rural Technology for Sustainability (ARTS) Regd.Office—P6: Cluster 2, Purbachal, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 097, INDIA. Tel: +91(33)2335 9812 Mobile: +91 94330 19821 e-mail: info@sankalpacmfs.org c. Deliver the contents of the tray to the designated customer address specified on the “Customer Bill”; all deliveries should be completed by 8:00 am normally, by 9:00am at the latest; d. Deliver the coupons to the customer and collect the correct amount of money from the customer as specified in the “Customer Bill”; e. If there are any disputes between orders placed and delivered, or in the computations, he/she will give the customer a “Customer Complaint Form” to be filled in by the customer and collected by him/her for dispute resolution at [CUSTOMER SERVICE], or patiently fill up the “Customer Complaint Form” if the customer is unable to do so; f. Return the empty trays to the local distribution center on completion of deliveries, and hand over the money collected and complaint forms (if any) to the designated representative of D2H; g. Collect his daily salary from the designated representative of D2H, and sign a daily register as a receipt of payment made, before leaving for the day. C. Processing Center The Processing Center at [CUSTOMER SERVICE] is the brains of the entire operation. It will ideally be manned on a 24-hour/3-shift basis, essentially to collect orders during the daytime, and to process the vegetables at night, for delivery the next day starting at 6:00am. The essential steps are: 1. Starting from 9:00am to 4:00pm, the ‘Customer Service Representative’ (CSR), working under the guidance and instructions of [Service Manager] - who will be responsible for operating the ‘Processing Center’ – will perform the following functions: a. Receive telephone calls and accept order slips courteously, directly from Members and Delivery Persons, and record/transfer the orders received directly into the computer-based ‘Daily Order Register’ (DOR) (see Annexure 4 for a sample format which specifies the minimum information required) for delivery orders for the next morning, ensuring correctness of entry (there should be a way to check for the accuracy of this step; for instance, introduce a checksum of total quantity between order book and computer entry) b. Periodically check for e-mails (say, every 90 minutes); repeat Step a) for e-mail orders c. Periodically (say, every 90 minutes) telephone [D2H Manager] (see Section 1.4: ‘Vegetables’ for his role), or his designated representative at Payradanga, and communicate the order situation, so that [D2H Manager] has an idea about the scale of purchases to be made that evening, and be able to plan ahead, accordingly. If needed, the DOR will be e-mailed or faxed to [D2H Manager]. d. Enter the customer complaints in the “Customer Complaints Register” (CCR) (see Annexure 5 for a sample format which specifies the minimum information required) database, whenever a ‘Customer Complaint Form’ or suggestion (which will be filed and entered into the “Customer Suggestions List” (CSL) (see Annexure 6 for a sample format which specifies the minimum information required) is given to him, and take whatever remedial measures he/she can take on their own on the spot if competent to do so; whatever problems they cannot handle on their own will be transmitted to [D2H Manager] and [Service Manager], who will decide on the remedial measures to be taken. 2. Exactly at 4:00pm, the CSR will close the order booking for deliveries the next day, although order taking for any other day in the future will be entertained. 3. The computer program will then automatically compute the “Vegetable Purchase Order” (VPO) for that date, which will define the different types and aggregated quantity of vegetables required for delivery the next morning (see Annexure 7 for a sample which specifies the minimum information required); the CSR will printout this VPO and convey the Multi-Disciplinary Projects Direct-to-Home vegetable distribution service D2H Procedures Revision 1 Date: 16th December 2004 Author: S. Mukherjee 4 Society for Appropriate Rural Technology for Sustainability (ARTS) Regd.Office—P6: Cluster 2, Purbachal, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 097, INDIA. Tel: +91(33)2335 9812 Mobile: +91 94330 19821 e-mail: info@sankalpacmfs.org final procurement quantities to [D2H Manager], or his designated representative at Payradanga, so that vegetable procurement can commence from about 7:00pm onwards, in the following ways: a. Telephone the contents of the VPR to [D2H Manager]’s office at Payradanga – Tel No: [D2H Village Tel No.] b. E-mail the VPO (destination e-mail to be finalized soon) c. Fax the VPO to [D2H Manager] (destination Fax no. to be finalized soon) 4. The CSR will then printout two copies of the consolidated “Customer Delivery Order” (CDO) using continuous feed sheets, that will list in detail the orders placed by each customer; one will be filed for reference and the other one will be transmitted to [Service Manager] latest by 7:00pm, so that he can plan the program for the packaging team later in the evening (see Annexure 2 for a sample which specifies the minimum information required). 5. [Service Manager] will then arrange to collect the consignment of vegetables that are downloaded from Ultadanga Station, and arrange to bring them to [CUSTOMER SERVICE], between 8:00pm and 10:00pm. 6. [Service Manager] and his team at [CUSTOMER SERVICE] will then: a. Clean and make a preliminary segregation of the vegetables, according to the provisions of the CDO; b. Once the vegetables received from Payradanga are reconciled with the CDO and transferred into individual trays at [CUSTOMER SERVICE]: i. [Service Manager] will cut his copy of the CDO into strips and affix them to the relevant individual trays that will be delivered to the designated customer the next morning ii. Any missing quantities and corrections will be hand-written onto these slips by [Service Manager] and his packaging team members, and simultaneously recorded into the master copy iii. The final and corrected ‘master copy’ of the CDO will then be transmitted to the CSR at about 4:00am, who will (a) enter the final corrections for the imminent morning delivery into the computer database, (b) issue the corresponding coupon numbers, (c) print out the final “Customer Bill” and the relevant number of Coupon(s), which will be transmitted to [Service Manager] and his team to be affixed to the individual trays, ensuring correctness and removal of the redundant CDO strip. iv. Generally, complete all operations prior to delivery. 7. The Delivery Persons will start to assemble at [CUSTOMER SERVICE] from 5:30am, and will take charge of their trays and final destinations, under the instructions of [Service Manager]. 8. The Delivery Persons will complete their deliveries (see Section 1.2 for details), and deliver the following to the CSR, latest by 9:00 am: a. The money received from customers, which the CSR will reconcile with the final CDO, and enter the money received; the computer system should raise flags in the “Daily Delivery Report” (DDR) (see Annexure 9 for a sample format which specifies the minimum information required) if there is a discrepancy between money received and coupons issued to that particular Delivery Person. b. Any CCFs and ustpmer suggestions received, which the CCR will enter into the database, accordingly. 9. When all deliveries are complete, the Daily Delivery Report will be printed and sent to [Service Manager] & e-mailed to [D2H Manager]. Multi-Disciplinary Projects Direct-to-Home vegetable distribution service D2H Procedures Revision 1 Date: 16th December 2004 Author: S. Mukherjee 5 Society for Appropriate Rural Technology for Sustainability (ARTS) Regd.Office—P6: Cluster 2, Purbachal, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 097, INDIA. Tel: +91(33)2335 9812 Mobile: +91 94330 19821 e-mail: info@sankalpacmfs.org D. Vegetables If customers are the most important stakeholders, then the vegetables are the most important product. The vegetable procurement program will be coordinated by [D2H Manager], from his base at Payradanga, and will be based on the “Vegetable Purchase Order” (VPO) (see Section 1.3.3). The procurement will begin at about 7:00pm and the consignment will be delivered to Ultadanga Station between 9:00pm and 11:00pm. [D2H Manager] will mark his copy of the VPO with the actual procurement position by hand, and return it with the consignment to [Service Manager] at [CUSTOMER SERVICE]. E. Other Products Other products, such as spirulina, handmade soap, handicrafts and other domestic products will be developed after the successful implementation of the vegetable distribution service. [Available on request] Annexure 1: “Coupons” Annexure 2: “Customer Complaint Form” (CCF) Annexure 3: “Customer Bill” (CB) Annexure 4: “Daily Order Register” (DOR) m Annexure 5: “Customer Complaints Register” (CCR) Annexure 6: “Customer Suggestions List” (CSL) Annexure 7: “Vegetable Purchase Order” (VPO) Annexure 8: “Customer Delivery Order” (CDO) Annexure 9: “Daily Delivery Report” (DDR)
