Stuart, FL: NuCO2, the largest nationwide supplier of bulk carbon dioxide (CO2 ) products for carbonated beverages to the foodservice and hospitality industries, has reported significant benefits from a new mobile/wireless route service and delivery solution from Zebra Technologies Corp., Vernon Hills, IL, and Symbol Technologies, Holtsville, NY. The announcement is further evidence of an increasing reliance on Zebra's rugged portable and wireless printers in mobile route accounting and direct store delivery applications.
NuCO2 serves more than 100,000 hospitality customers, including restaurants, convenience store chains, movie theaters, theme parks and sports venues, across the United States. NuCO2 contracted Compsee Solutions Group of Mt. Gilead, NC, a systems integrator, to help it transition from its legacy route accounting system to a more reliable and automated mobile solution.
Specifically, NuCO2 needed a corporate-wide solution that would enable its entire field force to complete delivery and customer service calls more quickly and accurately. Compsee Solutions Group developed a best-of-breed, Bluetooth-enabled system comprised of third-party software, Symbol Technologies’ rugged MC9000 mobile computers, and compact, rugged RW 420 mobile/wireless printers from Zebra Technologies.
According to Ron Starnes, NuCO2’s field liaison, the mobile solution has yielded major business process improvements. “For one thing, we have experienced increased system reliability and uptime,” he notes. “Our route representatives make 20 to 25 stops per day, and the elapsed time between their transactions in the field and data entry into our central information system has been reduced from up to 12 days to just 24 hours. This has increased the speed of problem resolution, while enabling us to improve customer service. We also were impressed by the ruggedness and professional print quality of the Zebra printer.”
Bob Danahy, director of Zebra’s global mobile and wireless business, adds: “Rugged construction was a key factor in our development of the RW 420 thermal printer. We knew it needed to be tough enough to withstand the bumps, drops and extreme weather experienced by mobile workers, and we’re proud that it meets those expectations. Our work with NuCO2 is an excellent example of how Zebra’s mobile applications help customers in many industries—from beverages to utilities—address their route and direct store delivery needs.”
Today, NuCO2’s delivery drivers use the new system to measure CO2 deliveries, input data for uploading into the central business system, and issue customer receipts—all on demand at the point of delivery.
The CO2 tank filling process has become much easier because 95 percent of the data can be populated simply by using the Symbol MC9000 mobile computer to scan the barcode on the tank or fill box, or based on customer data from the corporate routing system.
NuCO2 field service technicians also use the system to document new installations and service calls.
In both applications, Compsee’s solution, with Zebra-Symbol mobile/wireless technology, has increased field force efficiency and productivity, eliminated redundant data entry, and improved the speed and responsiveness of NuCO2’s overall customer service.
“With the internal efficiencies gained from our route/delivery solution and decreased down-time thanks to the durability of the mobile devices, NuCO2 is able to achieve higher customer satisfaction, higher existing customer retention rates and increased new business for our organization,” Starnes says.
