DB Cargo
Back on Track: How our Custom-Built Solution Revived DB Cargo's Operations and Bottom Line
Jade Digital’s Custom Solution got DB Cargo Back on Track to Efficiency and Cost Optimization
DB Cargo UK (DBC) is the UK’s largest rail freight company, providing quality services and logistic solutions to a wide range of customers – from automotive to construction. With over 2000 employees, they maintain a network of over 200 locomotives with 6000 wagons of goods across the UK and into Europe. With such a large network of moving parts (literally), DB Cargo rely heavily on employee engagement and seamless access to company files and forms. However, their existing document management application had poor engagement due to challenging workflows which were not intuitive and created additional administration work for employees.
Jade Digital’s Comprehensive
Design and Discovery Phase:
DBC engaged Jade Digital to create a custom-built, MVP to replace their existing solution that replicated its core functionality and could be delivered quickly to avoid disruption. To lay the user experience (UX) groundwork, a discovery process took place on-site, including on-site observations, close collaboration with DBC staff and participation in customer meetings resulting in a deep understanding of DBC’s pain points and business goals. This insight was used to develop a prototype concept to secure buy-in from the executive level for budget. We followed this with a series of workshops and a technical discovery to identify the integrations required and the approach we’d take.
Building a Solution:
The resulting solution, the Virtual Employee Hub (VEH), offered an intuitive user experience and a foundation for future feature enhancements. VEH is a Xamarin-based app framework (developed via DevOps) hosted in Azure. It accesses DBC’s extensive file storage via SharePoint and remains accessible through the existing Microsoft SSO. From a company tablet, ground staff and train drivers can log fleet issues with visual references attached or create reports with minimal clicks. It revolutionized the way DB Cargo employees accessed vital information and helped DBC achieve significant cost savings.
Key Features and Benefits of VEH:
Results and Cost Savings
The resulting solution, the Virtual Employee Hub (VEH), offered an intuitive user experience and a foundation for future feature enhancements. VEH is a Xamarin app with a .net backend, hosted in Azure. It accesses DBC’s extensive file storage via SharePoint and remains accessible through the existing Microsoft SSO. From a company tablet, ground staff and train drivers can log fleet issues with visual references attached or create reports with minimal clicks. It revolutionized the way DB Cargo employees accessed vital information and helped DBC achieve significant cost savings.
"Working with Jade, we didn't need to worry about hiring user experience designers or conceptualizing the product. We trusted their expertise and, in the end, were impressed by the user-friendly and highly functional product they delivered. Jade doesn't just bring technology; they bring value to my business by taking hair-brained ideas, innovations, and technological growth and applying them to solve my business problems. This tailored approach has been instrumental in giving us a competitive advantage in recent years."
