Each of Sri Lankan citizens are now wasting their 90% of the time in Road waiting for Gas or Petrol queue. These days are the most frustrated days for the majority of the citizens ever in their life time.
Facts
All know that, the root cause for this problem starts from the large corruption done by the current and past government.
All know that, the current stock of Gas and Petrol are very limited, which can’t meet the consumption need.
All know that, the chance of getting Gas or Petrol when joining in a new queue is 50–50%.
The reason for frustration
Lack of visibility on distribution location
If a person doesn’t have the visibility on which near by Distribution center is currently being distributed, It causes frustration
Lack of visibility on current stock
If a person doesn’t have the visibility on what is the current available stock of Gas or Petrol in the Distribution center where he/she is waiting in the queue to get it, It causes frustration.
Waiting in long Queue
If a person is waiting in a long queue, it causes frustration as his other priorities are getting paused and get accumulated.
Possible solutions to reduce the frustration
We all know that the facts explained in above section are very hard to solve in short term period. Hopefully we can expect another 3–5 years to get these streamlined.
So It is must to find some possible solutions to to reduce the time for a person in queue is more minimised by increasing the visibility in stock management and implementing smart way of distribution. Here I explain a simple and cost effective prototype implemented to solve this using. You can access this prototype in https://market.ipayos.com/index.php?merchant=321&terminal=1154
Electronic and Manual Tokens
Each distribution centres should activate electronic and manual token generation systems,
where citizens they can reserve the tokens through any electronic or manual medias. e.g. QR code, website, mobile, or from distribution token counter.
To get Token, citizen doesn’t need to bring gas containers or vehicle. Also Token can be limited to offer within the specific geographical area. e.g Colombo 06, Battaramulla.
Token can predict the estimated delivery time also as an enhancement.
The citizens got Token, are not needed stay in queue until they get ‘Ready for collection’ SMS notification.
Notification when ready for collection
System should capture citizen’s mobile number to notify when the Gas or Petrol is ready for collection through SMS or Call.
Separate Collection Queue
Collection queue should be separated from token queue. Only the people got ‘Ready for collection’ notification can stay in collection queue.
Citizens must bring Gas container or vehicle to collect the Gas or petrol.
Order management
Distribution centres should make sure the priority of orders, where a citizen who got the token first, should get the Gas or Petrol first. Distribution centres should use an order management system to deliver the stock in a controlled way.
Conclusion
This prototype is making sure each citizen will get their Gas and Petrol in most effective way. Hope this will reduce the 90% of the frustration.
This prototype can be freely accessed and replicated. To replicate the same prototype, please register in iPayOS Portal . For more details visit the website
