Chat is here!

You ask yourself: 
Why do they want a chat?
A chat? We already have whatsapp!

Well, for many things!

Chat is an informal form of communication but very effective and fast. Integrating business communications in the form of chat can be a great ally in terms of time and simplicity in communications.

We have a chat, but Hardman doesn’t want to be WhatsApp. Hardman’s chat is a mechanism for transferring information between users and capturing their attention in the form of a message on business concepts related to logistics operations. Therefore, chat must be understood as an extension of the information that we transmit to clients and suppliers of our logistics operations.

This is what sets us apart. We are used to writing messages to people, either directly or in a group. Hardman allows this but also allows writing to a route, a phase or an expedition. A last minute change, an exception, we can write it in the route chat. This will mean that all the people related to the route receive the notification as easily as any other platform.

Difference, I don’t care who receives it, interested people receive it, what’s more. The conversation is attached to the route so future discrepancies can always be contrasted.

Chat actors

You can obviously address people, users. They are represented by a green icon and you can search for them or link them using the @ symbol.

Each user has a personal signature, an alias. To contact someone just tell them your nickname and from there with @useralias you can write to them.

Remember that in the list of users you will only see the users close to you, from your own company. However you can write to whoever you want if you know their alias.

A group of people. They are represented by a blue icon. In this case you cannot link directly to groups, they must invite you. But inviting or creating a group is very easy.

If you are talking to the person @a and in one of the messages you mention the person @b then a group will be automatically created between @a, @b and yourself. The first message will be the group in which you mention @b.

A route. They are represented by a gray icon with the drawing of a truck.

It can be written to a route. To tell you an alternative collection schedule, an observation, and so on. The advantage? That people with access to the route also see the message.

That from the route the messages that have been written in the same are seen. And chat messages are part of the history of the route.

You can search for a route with #routekey. Apart from anywhere if you type #routekey in a message, this message is also written in the path.

A phase. They are represented by a gray icon with the drawing of a truck. Its identifying character is / (slash).

Remember that the phase is a “stop” within a route and is considered ancillary to the route. Writing in one phase is writing in the route as well.

A shipment. They are represented by a gray icon with the drawing of an arrow. Its identifying character is % (percentage)

Hardman as a repository of truth

Chat is part of the plan to make Hardman the most important and reliable data repository for logistics operations. Expressions like “I told you”, “we already commented”, etc.

Using slots

This article explains the operation model of the slot / upload / download reserve window

whitepapers-slots1

The slot screen display is divided into two parts:

The first indicates the temporary slot selection window. This temporary window represents the first and last moment of the optimal selection of slots.

If we consider a load that is not available for loading until 3 in the morning on 9/10/2021, in a warehouse that has an activity schedule from 5:00 to 17:00 the first time to make the serious load on 9/10/2021 at 5:00. Grabbing a slot before this time would be unproductive as we know the load will not be ready.

Also with the last moment, if we have to be at our destination at 19.00 and there is 4.30 away + download operation this last hour would be at 14.30.

Els colors tenen significat

Gray. This means that this window is not available. Not selectable. It will be visible according to the loader preferences but it is related that the number of available slots is 0.

Green. This means that this window is available. Remember that even if it is green at some point, it may be that during the time it is shown to you until the conditions are pressed it has changed and is no longer available.

Blue. Exchange with a load. It appears when we already have a load reserved in a time slot. It can appear next to a gray in the same strip or next to a green in the same strip. When you click, the two loads will exchange windows.

In the case of having the load A at 17:00 and the load B at 20:00 if we execute the change in any of them the A will happen at 20:00 and B vice versa.

Only the loads with which a first validation determines that they are interchangeable appear. Not all assignment rules are computed at the time of displaying the options so changes may be displayed which will then be rejected for not complying with one or both path loading rules.

The whole operation is performed in a single transaction therefore either the change can be made or nothing is done so no slot loss option occurs in any case.

Red. Obtaining the slot for another load. Appears when trying to reserve a slot for a slotless load. In this case obviously slots cannot be exchanged as one does not yet have them. But you can “steal” the slot from another of my loads.

In case of having the load A without slot and the load B at 20:00 if we execute the obtaining, it can only be done from A, A will acquire the slot at 20:00 and B will be without slot.

The whole operation is done in a single transaction so either you can get it done or nothing is done so no slot loss option occurs in any case.

Orange. Ultimate slot. They are usually not visible but when a load is already out of the temporary window for upload or download. The use is exactly the same as green, but the color allows you to remind the person booking that this load, with the current data does not allow you to reach your destination according to the commitments made in the delivery conditions.

Slots posteriors a les 24:00

Naturally a day goes from 0.00 to 24.00 (not inclusive). However, your charger may have a different distinction from the concept of day and that this for example is from 6:00 in the morning until 6:00 (not inclusive) the next day.

This makes the days go from 6:00 to +6: 00.

Therefore, when you see a date in a time window accompanied by an hour with the + symbol at the beginning, it means that it is above 24 hours.

In this case the window does not refer to 1:00 on the 9th (the night of the 8th to the 9th) but refers to the 1:00 on the 10th (the night of the 9th to the 10th).

To improve the compression of this at the bottom of the option and only for hours after 24:00 is shown the natural time of loading, in this case on 10/10/2021 between 1:00 and 2:00 (night from 9 to 10)

Label composition

This image shows the two existing label types (regardless of colors).

Exchange tags with another load:

Red or Blue, show the route code first, the date and time slot of the slot. Additionally, they may include the actual date and time in hours greater than 24 hours.

Slot tags:

Show the date and time slot of the slot.

They also include information on the state of use of the slots in the form a / b – c. on:

a represents the slots I can still occupy

b represents the number of slots it could occupy in total (I can occupy + occupied by mine)

c the number of free slots in this time slot

General concepts of slot reservation

  • The number of total slots in a time slot is not visible at any time
  • The number of slots available to me depends on the rules of quota, occupation, etc. Therefore there may be slots available but not accessible to me.
  • That I have a 50% quota does not mean that they are reserved for me, the quota only implies a maximum but does not imply that I will find them. Let’s imagine 10 slots with 20 providers, one of them has a 50% share and all the others have 5%. Each small provider can only access half a slot, which does not make sense, they are given only 1 but if everyone reserves their slot, obviously the largest has 1 left.
  • Why are so few slots of last resort shown? This is because we understand that the next appointment is being late, therefore as we show more later we are arriving so their number is limited