Continuous Improvement at an East Bay Lab

The challenge

As business grew, an East Bay laboratory was seeing a spike in on demand calls from its customers, especially during the late afternoon rush hour. It was putting a significant strain on their courrier budget. They needed a solution that did not impact their customer's experience and that also reduced the cost per delivery.

The solution

Am-Tran evaluated where and when these calls were coming from and plotted them against the current route stops. Am-Tran then re-engineered the routes taking into account where and when the calls were coming from and the volume of calls from any given location. The final step was to work with the lab and specific key customers to install lockboxes that allowed customers to securely leave packages for after hours pickup. 

“Working with Ted at Am-Tran is a benefit to our company and clientele,” reports laboratory staff.

The proposed solution was an additional route that extended later into the evening, with an expectation that the number of costly on-demand jobs would be significantly reduced, and the overall courier spend would also go down.

Results

The results were immediate. Despite an overall increase in the number of pickups, in the first full month after implementing the additional route, the number of on-demand jobs was reduced 46%, and the overall courier spend was reduced by 36%.

“Working with Ted at Am-Tran is a benefit to our company and clientele,” reports laboratory staff. “Ted and I worked closely on a new route that ended up rolling out very smoothly while providing a cost savings benefit for our company. Ted is my go-to when there is a concern, need or just to bounce ideas. Ted has been a great partner in business and I am greatly looking forward to our relationship growing for the benefit of our companies!”