Starting with 1994-model ordering, the only way a driver in Hewlett-Packard's (H-P) Western Region will be able to order a new car is by telephone.

The goal is to minimize the amount of paperwork associated with the submission of new vehicle orders by drivers, which, as a consequence, will increase their productivity, says Craig Kundrotas, Western region fleet manager for H-P, who manages 1,800 vehicles dispersed among 30 locations in the Western United States.

The way this will be accomplished is through the use of a modified version of the company's existing voice mail system. Employees eligible to receive a new 1994-model company car will call a designated telephone number that will place them directly into the fleet department's voice mail system. Once in voice mail, the callers will be greeted by a recorded message asking them to state their employee number, the branch where they work, the color desired for the replacement vehicle and their first and second model choices. (Hewlett-Packard provides its drivers with only three model choices, each equipped identically.) Also, the recording will ask whether the caller wishes to buy their present company vehicle. Currently, 30 percent of H-P's fleet is sold to employees.

If an employee does not wish to order a replacement vehicle by voice mail, the recording will instruct them to press 0 on their touch-tone phone to talk with someone in the fleet department. Even if this option is taken, the vehicle order will still be required to be placed over the phone.

Setting the Stage

Prior to employees placing vehicle orders into the fleet department's voice mail system, the H-P Western region fleet department will mail each driver information on the types of models they are eligible to select and a series of swatches from which to select a vehicle color.

Once a vehicle order is placed, Cindy Crystal, the region fleet administrator, will fill out a pre-printed card verifying that the information provided in the voice mail recording was accurate. Once verified, this card will be mailed to the driver through the internal H-P mail system (within a week of the telephone order) confirming the vehicle and color selected, plus the anticipated date of vehicle delivery. The fleet department telephone number will be printed on the card should drivers have any additional questions regarding their order.

If an employee does not place a vehicle order by the designated deadline date, the fleet department will automatically order them a replacement vehicle.

"If we haven't heard from a driver by a particular time, we order them a white vehicle with blue interior," says Kundrotas. In the 1993-model year, 50 replacement vehicles were ordered this way.

The voice mail vehicle orders will be entered into the fleet department's computer database containing all driver records.

"We will find the driver's name and input their first and second choice of vehicle," says Kundrotas. Once this is completed, the data will be transmitted to H-P's corporate office for transmission to the vehicle manufacturer.

For 1995-model ordering, H-P is working on developing an interactive system to electronically transfer recorded driver orders from voice mail to the Western region's fleet department's order database for direct transmission to H-P's corporate fleet department's vehicle ordering database. "This will make it a truly paperless system," says Kundrotas.

Re-Engineering the Process

H-P first began testing paperless driver ordering with 1993 models, when it asked drivers to use the company's internal electronic mail system (E-mail) to place orders for their replacement vehicles. A diagram of the vehicle ordering form was programmed into the E-mail system, which appeared on an employee's computer screen.

Prior to E-mail ordering, each driver was mailed a packet containing information on the vehicles they could select, along with swatches to select the vehicle color.

"Drivers liked this because they could take the swatches home to their significant other," says Kundrotas.

Once the driver selected the model and color, it was entered into their computer and transmitted by electronic mail to the fleet department. No paperwork or forms were required," says Kundrotas.

The E-mail ordering system was successful in reducing cycle time and it was paperless, says Kundrotas. However, many H-P drivers are off-site for extended periods, sometimes making it difficult for them to access the company's electronic mail system. To accommodate these individuals, the concept of using a voice mail ordering system was developed for testing with 1994-model ordering.

The fleet department's voice mail system was modified by H-P's internal telecommunications department to accommodate the 1,800 vehicle orders it expects to receive during the one-month vehicle ordering period.

Automation and EDI Have Saved R.J. Reynolds $800,000 Annually

Larry Giddens, director, fleet operations, for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in Winston-Salem, NC, is working with PHH FleetAmerica to implement electronic data interchange (EDI) for vehicle ordering.

Previous, R.J. Reynolds mailed paper packets to drivers when it was time to select new vehicles. The cost per order was $75. Drivers were given three to four weeks to make a selection and return the paperwork to the division office, where it was typed and mailed to the home office in Winston-Salem, NC. There it was manually processed and sent to the leasing company. The leasing company had to key the information into the system before the vehicles were ordered from the manufacturer.

To simplify and accelerate the pace of the ordering process, R.J. Reynolds switched to an automated system, which requires only 17 keystrokes by field sales office personnel to order a vehicle. The vehicle order is transmitted online to the R.J. Reynolds home office where the system automatically validates, by job code,  which the employee is eligible for the type of vehicle ordered. As orders are approved, they are printed and sent to the leasing company, where it is re-keyed.

In order to completely automate the system, R.J. Reynolds and PHH FleetAmerica are implementing EDI, which will allow the information to be electronically transferred from one company to the other. Once the orders are transmitted, a document receipt is printed for the sending company, acknowledging the order was received. When PHH FleetAmerica release orders to the vehicle manufacturer, a purchase order is transmitted to the sending company.

Fleet operations automation and EDI efforts will reduce the cost of an order to approximately 95 cents. "We estimate that we have saved $800,000 annually on paper, postage, labor, forms, and files," says Giddens.

The department's enhancements, development and implementation has cost R.J. Reynolds $75,000. Other benefits of automation have been quicker data transmission and increased accuracy because less people re-key the information.

Giddens hopes that once the EDI system is perfected, it will become an industry standard. "EDI would allow all companies to have the same standard. Once we're up and running with PHH FleetAmerica, we plan to turn it over to NAFA and let them be the driving force behind it," says Giddens.