Back
Volvo
Route copilot
that prioritizes
time, money & safety
Role
Product Design Intern
Team
Nikhita Mishra (Data Science Intern)
Keval Parekh (UX Research Intern)
Mario Santanilla (Product Design Intern)
Timeline
May - August 2023
I joined Volvo’s Innovation Lab in Mountain View, CA to work on the future of the Refuse (Garbage) Truck.
The Innovation Lab is a design oriented business team focused on expanding Volvo’s portfolio with key partners in the Bay Area, as well as developing internal projects that will drive the future of the company through incremental innovation.
With two other interns we worked on developing a project for Mack Trucks (Volvo subsidiary).
Summary
OVERVIEW
Frictionless communication
for a smooth operator
We built a route planning product that improves the operations of the refuse (garbage) industry. The robust system expands from the in-cabin to the back office in order to create a holistic fully integrated solution.
the truck
The refuse truck is the same as it was in the 90's!
Even though the refuse industry has a very tech forward culture and is always innovating on their operations, the truck’s in-cabin hasn’t been the case.
2021 Mack LR Electric
1995 Mack Model R
Same dashboard with
basic standard instruments.
No additional
infotainment to truck data
No visual aid sensors
connected to the chasis
Why this has happened
3 players build the truck. No communication
between them.
The OEM produces the chasis, a tier 1 company produces the body that stores the garbage and third parties provide the sensors that are attached to the truck.
Day to day operations
The blind leading the blind
The effect of a disconnected truck ripple into the day to day operations of the companies, resulting in an inefficient process.
“Everything is manual and slow, we get all paper work on a clipboard which is only seen by back office at the end of the day”
Jose Duarte - Driver
Driver Insights
Since routes are handed on paper, majority of drivers do them from memory.
Very slow and manual note taking is the standard procedure during the route.
Third party tools are not easy to access and produce cognitive overload.
Broken communication
Operations Insights
Back and force between multiple
tools and drivers.
Without real-time data the best solution is guessed.
Pen and paper is the tool use to join the dots between the multiple tools used.
“We talk to the driver during our check-ins at 10 AM and at 3 PM. In between we have to do changes, reroutings, new stops, everything!”
Jim Clayton - Operations Manager
Focusing to find a solution
3 players build the truck. No communication
between them.
In order to help Jim and Jose we had three main conclusions. Given how much I can share here, I am happy to share over a call a more in-depth on our findings and conclusions.
Real-time communication
It is crucial to enable a direct communication between truck and back office. One that is not invasive to the driver or demanding to the back office operators.
By enabling truck data to make decisions faster and more accurate we reduce the friction and back and forth by more than 80%.
Automate decision making
Incremental Innovation
Enable a plan in which Volvo will gradually integrate novel technology to update the in-cabin experience without adoption barriers and keeping costs low.
Outcome
Sneak peek
The refuse truck is the same as it was in the 90's!
Even though the refuse industry has a very tech forward culture and is always innovating on their operations, the truck’s in-cabin hasn’t been the case.
Live tracking the fleet
Now Jim is able to
track and assist the
trucks immediately.
An alert arrives!
What used to take Jim multiple hours, now is safely done in a brief moment.
A walk through the issue
Jim can now review any issue almost live and in a few steps take the actions needed.
Voila!
Jim is done with the issue, the system assigns the stop to the best route.
Driver's side
Jose receives an update alert in his infotainment of the stop added to his route.
my proudest moments
The refuse truck is the same as it was in the 90's!
Presenting to the company world-wide
We got to present the project to more than 140 employees world wide with multiple follow up meetings to have an impactful handoff.
Influencing the road ahead
Word spread out fast! We got Invited to expand from the presentation with the VP that is making the decisions for these innovations.
Volvo
Route copilot
that prioritizes
time, money and safety
Role
Product Design Intern
Team
Nikhita Mishra (Data Science Intern)
Keval Parekh (UX Research Intern)
Mario Santanilla (Product Design Intern)
Timeline
May - August 2023
I joined Volvo’s Innovation Lab in Mountain View, CA to work on the future of the Refuse (Garbage) Truck.
The Innovation Lab is a design oriented business team focused on expanding Volvo’s portfolio with key partners in the Bay Area, as well as developing internal projects that will drive the future of the company through incremental innovation.
With two other interns we worked on developing a project for Mack Trucks (Volvo subsidiary).
Summary
OVERVIEW
Frictionless communication
for a smooth operator
We built a route planning product that improves the operations of the refuse (garbage) industry. The robust system expands from the in-cabin to the back office in order to create a holistic fully integrated solution.
the truck
The refuse truck is the same
as it was in the 90's!
Even though the refuse industry has a very tech forward culture
and is always innovating on their operations,
the truck’s in-cabin hasn’t been the case.
2021 Mack LR Electric
1995 Mack Model R
Same dashboard with
basic standard instruments.
No additional
infotainment to truck data
No visual aid sensors
connected to the chasis
Why this has happened
3 players build the truck. No communication
between them
The OEM produces the chasis, a tier 1 company produces the body that stores the garbage and third parties provide the sensors that are attached to the truck.
Day to day operations
The blind leading the blind
The effect of a disconnected truck ripple into the day to day operations of the companies, resulting in an inefficient process.
“Everything is manual and slow, we get all paper work on a clipboard which is only seen by back office at the end of the day”
Jose Duarte - Driver
Driver Insights
Since routes are handed on paper, majority of drivers do them from memory.
Very slow and manual note taking is the standard procedure during the route.
Third party tools are not easy to access and produce cognitive overload.
Broken communication
Operations Insights
Back and force between multiple
tools and drivers.
Without real-time data the best solution is guessed.
Pen and paper is the tool use to join the dots between the multiple tools used.
“We talk to the driver during our check-ins at 10 AM and at 3 PM. In between we have to do changes, reroutings, new stops, everything!”
Jim Clayton - Operations Manager
Focusing to find a solution
3 players build the truck. No communication
between them
In order to help Jim and Jose we had three main conclusions. Given how much I can share here, I am happy to share over
a call a more in-depth on our findings and conclusions.
Real-time communication
It is crucial to enable a direct communication between truck and back office. One that is not invasive to the driver or demanding to the back office operators.
By enabling truck data to make decisions faster and more accurate we reduce the friction and back and forth by more than 80%.
Automate decision making
Incremental Innovation
Enable a plan in which Volvo will gradually integrate novel technology to update the in-cabin experience without adoption barriers and keeping costs low.
Sneak peek
A new memeber,
the perfect copilot to Jose and Jim
What used to take multiple hours between back and forth now is done
in a couple of steps. The system not only communicates Jim
and Jose but also automates a big portion of what the process was.
Live tracking the fleet
Now Jim is able to
track and assist the
trucks immediately.
An alert arrives!
What used to take Jim multiple hours, now is safely done in a brief moment.
A walk through the issue
Jim can now review any issue almost live and in a few steps take the actions needed.
Voila!
Jim is done with the issue, the system assigns the stop to the best route.
Driver's side
Jose receives an update alert in his infotainment of the stop added to his route.
my proudest moments
After three months at Volvo
Presenting to the company world-wide
We got to present the project to more than 140 employees world wide with multiple follow up meetings to have an impactful handoff.
🚀
Influencing the road ahead
Word spread out fast! We got Invited to expand from the presentation with the VP that is making the decisions for these innovations.
🛤️
💎
Volvo
Route copilot
that prioritizes
time, money and safety
Role
Product Design Intern
Team
Nikhita Mishra (Data Science Intern)
Keval Parekh (UX Research Intern)
Mario Santanilla (Product Design Intern)
Timeline
May - August 2023
I joined Volvo’s Innovation Lab in Mountain View, CA to work on the future of the Refuse (Garbage) Truck.
The Innovation Lab is a design oriented business team focused on expanding Volvo’s portfolio with key partners in the Bay Area, as well as developing internal projects that will drive the future of the company through incremental innovation.
With two other interns we worked on developing a project for Mack Trucks (Volvo subsidiary).
Context
OVERVIEW
Frictionless communication
for a smooth operator
We built a route planning product that improves the operations of the refuse (garbage) industry. The robust system expands from the in-cabin to the back office in order to create a holistic fully integrated solution.
the truck
The refuse truck is the same
as it was in the 90's!
Even though the refuse industry has a very tech forward culture
and is always innovating on their operations,
the truck’s in-cabin hasn’t been the case.
2021 Mack LR Electric
1995 Mack Model R
Same dashboard with
basic standard instruments.
No additional
infotainment to truck data
No visual aid sensors
connected to the chasis
Why this has happened
3 players build the truck.
No communication
between them
The OEM produces the chasis, a tier 1 company produces the body that stores the garbage and third parties provide the sensors that are attached to the truck.
“Everything is manual and slow, we get all paper work on a clipboard which is only seen by back office at the end of the day”
Jose Duarte - Driver
Driver Insights
Since routes are handed on paper, majority of drivers do them from memory.
Very slow and manual note taking is the standard procedure during the route.
Third party tools are not easy to access and produce cognitive overload.
Day to day operations
The blind leading the blind
The effect of a disconnected truck ripple into the day to day operations of the companies, resulting in an inefficient process.
Broken communication
Operations Insights
Back and force between multiple
tools and drivers.
Without real-time data the best solution is guessed.
Pen and paper is the tool use to join the dots between the multiple tools used.
“We talk to the driver during our check-ins at 10 AM and at 3 PM. In between we have to do changes, reroutings, new stops, everything!”
Jim Clayton - Operations Manager
Focusing to find a solution
A direct communication
aided by the truck
for smooth operation
In order to help Jim and Jose we had three main conclusions. Given how much I can share here, I am happy to share over
a call a more in-depth on our findings and conclusions.
Real-time communication
It is crucial to enable a direct communication between truck and back office. One that is not invasive to the driver or demanding to the back office operators.
By enabling truck data to make decisions faster and more accurate we reduce the friction and back and forth by more than 80%.
Automate decision making
Incremental Innovation
Enable a plan in which Volvo will gradually integrate novel technology to update the in-cabin experience without adoption barriers and keeping costs low.
Outcome
Sneak peek
A new memeber,
the perfect copilot to Jose and Jim
What used to take multiple hours between back and forth now is done
in a couple of steps. The system not only communicates Jim
and Jose but also automates a big portion of what the process was.
Live tracking the fleet
Now Jim is able to
track and assist the
trucks immediately.
An alert arrives!
What used to take Jim multiple hours, now is safely done in a brief moment.
A walk through the issue
Jim can now review any issue almost live and in a few steps take the actions needed.
Voila!
Jim is done with the issue, the system assigns the stop to the best route.
Driver's side
Jose receives an update alert in his infotainment of the stop added to his route.
my proudest moments
After three months at Volvo
Presenting to the company world-wide
We got to present the project to more than 140 employees world wide with multiple follow up meetings to have an impactful handoff.
🚀
Influencing the road ahead
Word spread out fast! We got Invited to expand from the presentation with the VP that is making the decisions for these innovations.
🛤️
💎