“The Magellan Program, through the use of smartphones and other technology, has or will empower all employees,no matter what work they perform, to become part of the greater company’s ‘thought network’,” Barron says.
“Each person is now like a node in our network.” The company is also seeing significant gains in supply chain efficiency related to Magellan and the smartphone deployment, he says.
For instance, smartphones help speed up the purchase order process, because in the past a specific person or group of people needed to be onsite to approve orders. Now the approvers can be practically anywhere with cellular coverage. The company’s supply chain buyers can also visit warehouses to work with the people who actually order parts, leading to faster order times, and more proactive supply chain management overall. In just one year, the time it takes to close purchasing and procurement deals decreased by more than 65 percent.
Also, inventory levels were reduced by more than $8 million dollars since the Magellan Program began.