1. CISCO Logistics Case Study/On-Site Visits Through Rethinking HTC Logistics
• OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR CISCO LOGISTICS based on my experience
from HTC Smartphones that was my attempt to implement an ERP client utility
• Operational improvements related to standing IT systems and leaving platforms
unaffected before implementing the next generation of ERP software packages
• Logistics Quota Automation for very specialized tasks, yet motivating people in
operations and logistics to excellence and compensating burdens
• System analysis and design in a changing world is important to decide
amongst several best-of-breed packages and or instead custom software
• Unscientific methods in inexact world - since people are not exact and often
vague - can lead to the hybrid approach by linking applications to an ERP, for
example SAP offers connectors to Microsoft's Visual Basic to make it easier to
link a Visual Basic application to SAP R/3
• I was following phases of a system development methodology: planning,
analysis, design, implementation of a PROTOTYPE and total cutover, no support
Ales Vymyslicky © June 2012, Newcastle upon Tyne, England

2. I. Automation of Cisco Logistics SSCD
operational processes by VBA macros
II. Cut Through Microsoft Licensing
Automation with a focus on internal processes:
1. Handling of Contact Customer Premium Exception
Hold, Unmanned Hold, No Routing and Multiple
Routing, Splitting Lines, Hypercare Restricted Hold in
Cisco SVO Resolve Tool by a VBA macro
2. Contacting Planning Team and Escalation Team just
by one click! (filling of templates)
3. Premium Dispatch (nearest depot macro)
4. Entitlement Function (entitlement algorithm)
www.infotech.com/research/ss/optimize-microsoft-licensing-agreements
Ales Vymyslicky © June 2012

3. How to get the most of our resource base?
↓We have the following software installed at each
workstation: IE and MS Office. We have standardized
B2B processes. We use a tier client/server architecture.
↓We do not need an access to the server side to make an
improvement
↓We should attempt to extend the current capability of
the client side without database or server involvement.
↓We just need to make use of IE HTML DOM (Document
Object Model), VBA compiler hosted by Excel or
Outlook, resource base, competences, know-how
Ales Vymyslicky ©

4. SWOT Analysis for Client-side Excel AutomationLocation of Factor TYPE OF FACTOR
Favorable Unfavorable
Internal Strengths
• tailored niche solution improving our
efficiency; e.g. 5 emails per hour
multiplied by 5 min per task by 24 hrs,
saves 10 hours per day globally
•Diversified geographical spread, so
we can distribute the macro to APAC,
NAM, LATAM, EMEAR teams
• robust logic will be valid even if we
changed a tool or design of a website
• data are normalized in tables,
relational databases
Weaknesses
• to renew Excel licence. If we decide not to
pay for Excel licence, then we can use
OpenOffice (free software). Then, we can still
employ VBA compiler hosted by MS Outlook.
Finally, the weakness would turn into another
competitive advantage.
• I do not need Excel for my work since I can
open AIT, AIM or Kuhne+Nagel reports in
OpenOffice
•Complicated to implement, a change of
business logic may be required to achieve the
total automation or just semi-automation
External Opportunities
• we can enhance an overall logistic
operational performance by altering a
current process, developing macros
• e.g. we can send out an
application/macro globally or we can
handle ‘contact customer’ hold
ourselves by leaving it running
overnight in a background or it can be
available at any agent's disposal
Threats
• change of a business process from outside-
in perspective (market driven change)
whereas I am developing something from
inside-out perspective
• a radical change of a structure of a web site
• transition to a newer version of Cisco tool
• someone works on the same problem as I,
so it needs to be discussed and looked at from
the top (redundancy)
Ales Vymyslicky ©

5. http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/mla/default.aspx?language=English&country=UK
Purchasing Outlook as a part of the whole MS
Office Professional 2010 bundle:
£ 33,897.50

6. Through online vendors:
£89.48 * quantity 50 = £4474
incl. VAT, incl. shipping
Through Microsoft store:
£119.99 * quantity 50 = £5999
incl. VAT, excl. shipping
Purchasing Outlook 2007 as a standalone
application:

7. 1.) I suggest that those who do not need MS Excel or MS Office 2010
bundle for their work open AIT, AIM logistic reports or Kuhne+Nagel
warehouse reports in OpenOffice (free software). So, there would be a
business need for MS Outlook and Internet Explorer solely. Only a
specialized group of employees needs full MS Office suite for their work,
those involved in continuous innovation, reporting …
Through online vendors:
£89.48 * quantity 50 = £4474
incl. VAT, incl. shipping
Through Microsoft store:
£119.99 * quantity 50 = £5999
incl. VAT, excl. shipping
£ 33,897.50
In this hypothetical example, a company
spent £ 33,897.50 – £ 4474 = £ 29423.5
Multiplied by 3 global theatres,
Gives : £ 90,000.00 per period.
2.) Any cross-application VBA macros can be hosted by MS Outlook or run
on another workstation equipped by Excel/Access licence.
Outlook 2007 as a standalone:
Ales Vymyslicky ©

8. Rethinking HTC Phones - A Black Box• HTC Customer Services Department, WDS, Xerox Company, also deals with B2C logistics, B2B third-party couriers and service
providers (authorised repair centre for the United Kingdom formerly based in Milton Keynes) similarly to Cisco Logistics B2B;
however, B2C bookings of couriers is fully automated through a CRM software module either WDS proprietary or SAP affiliated
• Agents acting for HTC customers authorise Return Material Authorisation, RMA requests, whenever a final HTC consumer sends
an e-mail and requests RMA under warranty or a cracked LCD panel to be replaced. I remember it had to be done via e-mail
communication. There were no standard web forms or normalized templates in 2011. First, asking for details (swapping hot
potatoes, email communication was too tardy, passing several avoidable stages in more days). Second, creating an RMA ticket in
a database. Last, confirming a serial number and IMEI number of a handset and booking a pick-up with a logistics company, i.e.
UPS. Moreover, some HTC advisors just replied to too many RMA requests by a simple e-mail template advising customers to
contact HTC once again by a mobile phone, or a spare phone belonging to someone else, because an original phone was
broken arising to emergency situations. I was suspicious with a respect to a lack of ownership of cases and number of contacts.
• Argument: BBC Watchdog was engaged - furious consumers in August 2011.
• Contradiction: The Police can seize a phone for 3 months – no one cares about emergency ---> WDS services are better than
Police services; maximum SLA, Service Level Agreement, was 4 weeks but it could be extended up to 3 months, sometimes
following track & trace procedures due to lost consignments
• However, it was faster and more convenient for HTC advisors, well not for a customer sometimes. However, customers had to
contact HTC twice with the same issue. The customer was told: “It cannot be done via email. Please call us.” Was WDS polite
more than the Government? I can still remember false promises. Do not give any false promise to anyone/customer that you
would phone back!
• Later, there was a dedicated E-mail Team established in WDS. The point is that people are different and some customers simply
do not like calling to a company and they prefer sending e-mails. Thus, a communication preference is also an important
psychological factor. It could be a matter of a personal preference (final consumers) but B2B situation can be improved by
issuing internal communication procedures. We need to educate customers, partners, clients or account managers about
advantages of using normalised communication procedures, templates, web forms, to communicate electronically, use IVR
technology, et cetera, TURNING EMERGENCY TO CONTINGENCY (spare phone):
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_voice_response www.tmcnet.com/channels/ivr-system
• My final point is duality of services. Customers are served only if HTC is served. Artificial Intelligence will go to serve customers
itself before customers ever contact services: pop-up windows on HTC web sites due to recognized activities, holographic
videos offering help under warranty before reaching customer services spontaneously
• Like a black box in a plane – a flight recorder - the same holds for super-smartphones - customer services know ahead of time
because there will be better indicators (gyroscopic, piezoelectric, moisture, GPS tracking for mitigating personal or business
risks, remote lock of a stolen phone through the HTC online web portal) inside smartphones
Ales Vymyslicky ©

9. Refurbishment Cycle – Cisco Logistics
There are many repetitive processes around this cycle, such as: 1.) Handling of Contact
Customer Premium Exception Hold – quite frequent task globally – my macro is ready now,
further Unmanned Hold, No Routing and Multiple Routing, Splitting Lines, Hypercare Restricted
Hold; 2.) Premium Dispatch (nearest depot macro); 3.) Entitlement Function can be formulated
based on Entitlement Keys in a contract (entitlement algorithm); 4.) Planning and Escalation
Teams macros

10. The solution for Cisco Logistics
• develop a computer program in VBA in Excel that we spent £90k
for, with some UI and public constants, that will be controlling the
following queues programmatically and constantly in a loop :
• Prm Gen: Premium Exception
• Premium Dispatch
• Std, Standard Theater
• The VBA Program will have to get a IE HTML DOM Tree-structure.
• The Document Object Model (DOM), the HTML DOM defines a
standard way for accessing and manipulating HTML documents.
Objects in the DOM tree may be addressed and manipulated by
using methods on the objects.
• There are many other improvement opportunities there (process
automation, e-mail creation, filling of templates, automation of
reporting)
• You need my know-how since external developer needs to be
trained in Cisco processes and would be expensive.
Ales Vymyslicky ©

11. How I see it from the bottom side
• e.g., there will be 10 Contact Customer holds in a
queue, a macro will read them to a memory, verify a
communication preference, send an SVO Status
request in one batch.(SVO = Service Order)
• We can drop out the subroutine II (see the next
slide) if we want to change a business logic just in
this case (thus to send an email for all ‘Contact
Customer’ holds).
• We will receive an e-mail confirmation as a
reference that a job has been done by a macro.
• All these emails will be sent out automatically. Holds
can be released by a macro too.
Ales Vymyslicky ©

12. Time - t
1. Unassigned holds (h0, h1 , h2 , h3 , ... hn)
2. Attributes from Cisco Case Kwery (communication preference, contact e-mail)
3. Assigned holds (IIIh0, IIIh1 , IIIh2 , IIIh3 , ... IIIhn)
4. Attributes from Cisco SVO Status (e.g. RMA, ETA, Ship-To, Part ID, F.E. ETA, F.E. name)
I - Reading Cisco SVO Resolve unassigned queue and
waiting for the 2nd and 3rd cycle, then accepting holds
III - Reading SR from email and Case Kwery attributes
IV – Reading holds in the assigned queue and send emails
II – query to Cisco SVO Status and waiting for email
V - Releasing the assigned holds from Cisco SVO Resolve
Ih0
Ih1
Ih2
Ih3
.
.
.
Ihn
t1 t1+τ tn tn+τ
Human
factor at
t1, t1+τ/3
is OK
IIh0
IIh1
IIh2
IIh3
.
.
.
IIhn
IIIh0
IIIh1
IIIh2
IIIh3
.
.
.
IIIhn
Vh0
Vh1
Vh2
Vh3
.
.
.
Vhn
Subroutines:
A procedure
will repeat
itself for each
subroutine…
RAM memory: {RMA}un,{RMA}asgn – dimension the variables as dynamic public variable arrays

13. Functional dependancy
We can handle some holds by VBA macro 24/7, especially, Contact Customer, Unmanned Hold,
No Routing, Multiple Routing if certain conditions are met (such as communication preference =
email, requested delivery time was set, FE ETA >= part ETA, no special instructions).

14. • We may have long-term goals but
• this could be a possible way in how we can
make immediate measurable improvements.
Thank you!
Ales Vymyslicky ©