LMMS makes sure help for Haitians is quicker and more accurate
The week of June 1st, the members of 900 households in Haiti at the Corail camp for Internally Displaced Persons had their first experience with Last Mile Mobile Solutions (LMMS) when they were registered and given their bar-coded and picture-identified ration cards. That Friday, over 680 households received non-food items and hygiene kits by using their new cards, while others still relied on paper records.
After World Vision proved LMMS’ worth in Kenya, Lethoso and Zimbabwe, it was felt that Haitians should also get the benefits of quicker processing, less waiting time, greater reporting accuracy, more efficient supply distribution and management, improved accountability and robust functionality in the field. The necessary equipment was donated and purchased, country-specific software was developed, and field staff were trained the week before implementing the system.
Initially, both the paper-based and the LMMS wireless digital systems were used simultaneously to continue testing the LMMS technology and to observe the differences between the two systems. And those differences have led to a decision to move to a fully automated approach that uses just the more efficient and less labour-intensive LMMS technology.
”It is clear that the manual system will become defunct soon!” Richard Lankas, IT Specialist, Last Mile Mobile Solutions (Food Program Management Group) confirmed. “The actual time savings between the two systems was hard to estimate this time, because beneficiaries with LMMS picture cards were all spread throughout the queue … first coming to the LMMS desk and then heading to the manual system. But it is evident that LMMS was a lot faster, because we ended up clogging the guys doing the manual bit. We had to slow down so that they could catch up.”
LMMS’s speed and efficiency has proven again that it helps to deliver effective results at the last mile. “The core set up and design of the system is very good. The heart of the system is the beneficiary, so it is designed to be very flexible about connecting the recipient with the items,” reports Sharon Boyle, Associate Director, Global Supply Chain Management. “I can see LMMS being used for any last mile distribution beyond food such as the non-food items we gave out here, emergency relief items, and even ‘activities’ like vaccinations or training.”
While setting up LMMS in Haiti was not without challenges, it also presented opportunities to push the boundaries to improve effectiveness and save costs. “Here at Corail, we tried having 6 devices ‘talking’ to one roaming server (i.e. laptop) at the same time.” According to Richard, “The hardware people have always warned us that using more than 3 devices at a time on one roaming server will cause the connection to deteriorate. But we pushed it to 8 mobile units and so far, all of them are able to sync data and send information queries without any communication problems … none whatsoever!”
Improvements continue to be made to software stability, checks and balances, as well as cross-program communication with the incorporation of UNSPSC (United Nations Standard Products and Services Code) in LMMS’ own item catalogue codes. Sharon felt that the immediate and ready access to data and reporting provided by LMMS was excellent. “This really addresses a major sore point in the supply chain and with our Multi-year Activity Program (MYA) reporting issues in Haiti. A little more tightening of a few loose joints and we can be ready to deploy anywhere.”
There is need for LMMS in all of the countries where World Vision is working at the last mile. With more funding, it will be possible to give even more beneficiaries efficient, effective and accurate assistance.
DF