Meru Cabs - Information System Management

Description
This is a presentation describes about information system management by menu cabs.

Information Systems for Management

IT @ Meru Cabs

Meru Video

Agenda
• Brief introduction about Meru cabs • Meru?s business model • GPS/GPRS System at Meru

• ERP system at Meru
• Credit Card facility at Meru

• Future recommendations

About Meru Cabs
• Radio Cab Service • Fleet size ~ 4000 • Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore • Pioneers in technology adoption.

• Winner of NASSCOM – CNBC IT User
Award for 2008 and 2009

Business Model
• Entrepreneurial subscriber model
• Drivers pay a fixed daily fee • Earnings from fares go to drivers

• Cabs owned and maintained by Meru Cabs

IT Strategy @ Meru Cabs
• No business without technology
• Reaching out to the customers • Partnering with the best in business

Initial IT system
•Heterogeneous IT systems
• Built around a specific business problem
• Did not talk to each other

• Need for co-ordination between departments • No one to emulate
• Learning phase
• Conscious effort to not to start with an ERP system

Inside a cab
•Tamper proof digital fare
• Cab meters integrated with GPS system • Prevents over-charging

• Printed receipt

Inside a cab - Contd
• GPS Tracking device
• Real time tracking • Distance travelled • Location plotted on GIS map

•GPRS connectivity
• Communication between driver and control room

How IT works

Cab selection

Driver Information

Business Problems and Solutions
Problem
Allocating the „right? cab

Solution
GPS helps in identifying the „optimal? cab to service the customer

Maintaining driver?s discretion

Drivers have the control to bid or not to bid for a particular fare request

Fairness in bidding process

Bidding algorithm designed to allocate the nearest cab and among them the one which has made the least business for the day

Oracle ERP – Why?
• Integration of back office operations
• Better controls • Best practices • Long term

Business Problems and Solutions
Problem
Increasing productivity and service levels

Solution
Standardizing of processes using single integrated system (ERP)

Risk management and control

Built in controls (financial, operational), comprehensive reporting in ERP

Managing growing fleet and subscribers (drivers)

Oracle Enterprise Asset Management Supports condition bases maintenance strategies for assets

Oracle ERP – How?
•Top management commitment • Phased implementation

• Duration of the project – 9 months

Business Problems and Solutions
Problem
Employee readiness and buy-in for the new system

Solution
Consistent, frequent corporate communication and commitment to implement ERP. Making the right noises Phased implementation

Minimizing project risk

No precedent of similar implementation in travel industry in the country

Expertise of partners (Accenture)

What is ERP?
• ERP is an industry term for a multi-module application software • ERP helps a company manage the important parts of its business like sales, finance, HR, project management, manufacturing • The ERP products are the “back office” products

ERP

What is CRM all about?
Customer
Relationships

Customer Loyalty
Customer Satisfaction

Oracle E-Business Suite
E-Business Suite

ERP

CRM

Service Oriented Architecture
• The Oracle suite at Meru is based on a Service Oriented Architecture • With a SOA, organizations can easily extend and evolve their architectures instead of replacing existing investments

ERP adoption at Meru
• Currently using Oracle ERP: implementation partner – Accenture • Finance and HR modules went live in Nov 2009 • CRM by Siebel • Oracle Business Intelligence is under implementation

Applications of ERP Modules
• Enterprise Asset Management
• • • • Fleet management Driver subscription management Preventive maintenance scheduling Training scheduling for drivers

Oracle ERP – Employee Impact
•Training • Extensive employee training before going live • Hand holding and support post implementation • Pain Areas • Parallel systems • Reconciling both systems • Overtime work for employees

Siebel CRM
• Customer Analytics
• • • • Database of customers Details of earlier trips Complaint logging Action against erring drivers

Business Problems and Solutions
Business Problem – As the size of the fleet grows, management and monitoring becomes cumbersome IT Solution – Key performance indicators are generated by the ERP suite to monitor processes and work flows

Business Problems and Solutions
Business Problem – As the size of the fleet grows so do the customers. How does one manage all the customer data? IT Solution – Siebel CRM gathers all the customer data into one location. Data analysis becomes much more easier.

Business Problems and Solutions
Business Problem – As the business develops, some modules may need to be shelved and some may need to be added. Does one need to buy a new software? IT Solution – Service oriented architecture allows Meru to modify the ERP design as per requirement

Credit card billing
• 6 months to test

• Not a single problem after rollout
• Phased rollout

• Mumbai biggest market, hence targeted last
• Merchant Banker – Axis Bank

Customer centricity
• Tamper proof digitized meters • Printed receipts

• Database of customers

Feedback
• SMS after every trip • Driver complaints/grievances

• Third party customer satisfaction survey

The road ahead
• • • • • • • • Continuous improvement of existing systems New initiatives such as speed alarms Introducing pay phones in the cab DTV and international radio Automatic door locking for added security Automatic distress signal sender On board hi-speed internet connectivity Toll free phone connectivity to the Meru office

Sample Video of Speed Alarm

Concluding Statement
“ Technology does not drive change: it enables change ”



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