By:

Carlos Bertizlian

Rita Sylvia

Jennifer Wright

• Andrew Langston is president and founder of Quickbiz, a bicycle and car deliver company with 90 employees in Seattle, Washington.

• Quickbiz is a very professional, established, and well respected company used by attorneys, pharmacies, art galleries, and many other businesses.

• It all began during college. • Andrew competed in the cycling club’s races at Eastern University. • A friend told him that he worked part time for a local bicycle delivery

service, so Andrew decided to sign up too. • That was how he learned the ropes of the messenger delivery business. • After graduation, Andrew had moved back to Seattle, his hometown,

and started Quickbiz in the early 1990’s. • It was the best way he could think of to combine his love of cycling with

the need to earn a living.

SISCULTUREUNIQUEKAIZAN

TECHNOLOGY

DATABASE SECURITY TECHNOLOGYBALANCE TIME

EQUIPMENT BREAKDOWNWORKING CONDITIONS

TECHNOLOGY IT CHANGING FROM MICROSOFT ACCESS TO ORACLE EXPANDING TO OTHER AREAS EXPANDING TO OTHER BUSINESS, I.E. ATTORNEYS SELLING COMPANY IN NEAR FUTURE

WEATHERLOCAL COMPETITIONNATIONAL COMPANIES I.E. UPS, USPS, FEDEXHIGH TURNOVERCITY TRAFFIC

Fast, reliable, professional & quality oriented Reasonable rates without compromise!

Routes Services:• Bank deposits•Dental/Medical•Entertainment• Hotels•Legal•Mail services•Payroll•Real Estate•Retail

From small packages to large cargoAsk about our VIP services!

WWW.QUICKBIZ.COM123 MAIN STREET AVE

SEATTLE, WA 98115

A cell phone representative recommended using a wireless card that messengers could use to upload delivery information directly to the company’s database. This was a great way to reduce time which in turn reduced cost. In addition, Quickbiz could reduce overhead by getting input from all employees, turning all lights off when not in use, using VoIP phone service, recycling all paper waste, and buying used equipment that is in very good condition.

1. Start from the end deliverables and works backwards2. Uses questions to understand key project features for each task done by the

messengers3. Creates the logistic network automatically as part of the process4. Accurately predict task duration5. Creates Tasks which are exactly the right size for the specific project.

Kayla Brown, an IT consultant helped Andrew see he needed to us a more powerful database management system (DBMS). Andrew’s commitment to innovation was important and Kayla Brown helped respected this sense of identity/brand and mission. When Kayla Brown used data-mining software to find BI for the company, she was able to show the strengths and weakness of the company, allowing Andrew to align tasks to optimize performance. Another example of transformation lead is the co commitment to company success. Leslie Chen’s suggestion to create and intranet so that messengers could upload delivery information through their wireless connections is way to increase the bottom line.

Keeping up with changing software and technology

Increasing profit

Cutting costs

Improving efficiency

Improving Human Resources

Be the dominant Messenger Courier in Seattle

To become recognized in our industry

Customer service

Employee Appreciation

Expand the company

Expanding InvestingBest messenger courier

in WA

Customer FriendlyAdding 100 more Jobs

in WAExpand Cliental

Using Oracle by in the end of the year

Add a Traffic-Monitoring Service by

2013

Messengers will use SmartPhones by July

15, 2012

From bicycles, cars, and trucks as well as hiring new office

staff, these are result-oriented goals

Increasing and upgrading its information system are result

oriented by supporting the increasing customer load

The decision to buy a server and hand help computers allow

dispatcher’s and messengers to stay connected

Opened Quickbiz offices June 2006

Assisted the rescue of new messengers who

became lost in Seattle’s maze of streets .

September 3, 2006

Offering a Web site offered online ordering

to handle increased customer demands.

January 2, 2007

November 15, 2007 Opened 2nd Office

November 28, 2007 Software enables a connection between the dispatch and the

messengers regarding routes, therefore, enabling real time

efficiency.

On time deliveryOngoing training for messengers and dispatchers

Tracking equipment

maintenance and supplies

Instant communication technology for customer and

messenger contact

Provide customized

services on the web

Track employee productivity for

Kaizen

Implementation of Wi-Fi

Managing its databasesData being kept

confidential for suppliers Controls to put in Data--

Security

Andrew appreciated the collaboration of many people as his company expanded. One of those was Sarah Truedale, she helped with the bookkeeping and receptionist. She organized the office and set up basic business applications—word processing, spreadsheet, and database programs. As the business grow they needed help, so they hired Leslie Chan as a administrative assistant doing the main functions—downloading and uploading delivery information, capturing data, emailing, and faxing clients.

A family member that had an effect on Andrew is his cousin who worked for a seafood company. He mentioned to Andrew that his company uses a Linux-based system, and he recommended that Andrew should switch from his windows-based system to Linux. Linux is computer system that is flexible, adaptable and with multiple different applications.

Andrew’s cellular phone company also had collaborated with him in suggesting that Andrew’s messengers switch from using cell phones to using smart phones. This will enable his drivers to get instant messages about the next delivery, traffic jams, weather and special VIP deliveries.

Another Person that collaborated with helping Andrew’s company grow is Kayla Brown. She advised him to seek out a more powerful database management system (DBMS). Andrew agreed and consequently shifted to Oracle. An oracle database helped accommodate both the increased size of the database and the need for concurrent access.

From Andrew’s investment on the company’s very first PC to the latest database management system and software has indeed paid off. Andrew’s vision along with the collaboration of Sarah and Leslie to improve and grow Quickbiz had revolutionized how delivery is done in the Seattle downtown area. Quickbiz saw its first part time college student messengers carrying beepers to cell phones to smart phones.

Natural disaster can occur at any time and without warning. One beautiful morning Seattle had a 6.8 magnitude earthquake which caused Quickbiz’s main information system to be down for two days. Quickbiz messengers could still make deliveries and save data on their handheld computers. But this crisis got Andrew thinking that this business needed to improve and add safeguards such as having the data and its main information backed up to CDs.

We believe there are risks involved for a messenger or a transportation company. For Quickbiz it will be traffic in the Seattle area. For bicyclists it is very dangerous to maneuver their way through heavy traffic. Moving fast and as small as they are compared to cars, accidents can happen where people can get injured or die. This of course brings in the element of lawsuits and bad publicity in town.

The other main risk is the injury of employees. Since this type of personalized messenger requires these bicycle messengers to be in top physical shape. Nevertheless, accidents can happen at any time, but if these occur very frequently it can disturb the flow of business, affect Quickbiz's culture, reduce the availability of messengers, and as result make unhappy customers.