TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER LICENSING AND COMMERCIALISATION

CENTRE

WEEKLY REPORT
BY
Daniel Manyanga and Forward Abinal
ON THE ZUPCO TAP MACHINES and POSCLOUD

27 SEPTEMBER 2019

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ASSIGNED TASKS

1. The deployment of Buffer Tap machines for all depots.

2. The collection of faulty Tap machines for all depots.
3. Collection of repaired Tap machines from POSCLOUD.
4. Deployed 3 POS machines for a test run on 3 buses.
5. Visited Martha at NMB collecting Buffer Tap machines

TASK 1: Deployment of buffer machines.

1. We deployed buffer machines for Chitungwiza, Willowvale and Belvedere.

TASK 2: Collection of faulty Tap machines

1. We collected faulty tap machines from Belvedere depot and sent them to
POSCLOUD.

TASK 3: Collection of repaired Tap machines

1. We have a total of 199 faulty tap machines that were sent to POSCLOUD for
repairs went around the depots collecting faulty tap machines to POSCLOUD for
repairs and settings locking.

TASK 4: Deployed 3 POS machines for a test with on the buses

1. We deployed 3 POS machines at Dzivarasekwa, Belvedere and Kuwadzana route
for a test run.

TASK 5: Visited NMB to collect Buffer Tap machines

1 We visited Martha at NMB to collect buffer machines and submitting a

comprehensive list of all the Tap machines which have to be categorized according
to their depots, since each depot now has its own merchant web portal.

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CHALLENGES

1. The collection and submission of faulty Tap machines is costing us in terms of

time and resources as we are caught up in a cycle, whereby we collect repaired
machines from POSCLOUD, take them to their respective depot and in turn
return with other faulty machines on that same day.

2. The POSCLOUD team are taking their time to repair faulty machines and are not
taking our situation seriously.

3. Martha at NMB is taking her time when it comes to our matters especially
concerning the categorizing of all tap machines according to their depot as she
is making it seem a gigantic and tiresome task, yet it is a task that will make
things flow smooth for the parties involved.

4. The test run for the 3 POS machines, requires the conductors to be trained as
they were not confidant and a bit confused using the POS machine to tap
passengers. The POS machines can only tap a maximum of 250 transactions.
Only 2 POS machines have been returned and still awaiting for the third
machine. We could not get hold of the conductor on Friday 27 September 2019.

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CONCLUSION

1. A total of 199 Tap machines were sent to POS CLOUD and NMB for repairs.

2. 50 Buffer Tap machines where given to Tap machines inspectors to assist

conductors at Copacabana, Charge Office, Market Square and Rezende pick up
points.

3. We did collect faulty Tap machines for repairs from Chitungwiza, Belvedere and
Willowvale from Monday 23 September 2019 to Thursday 26 September 2019.

4. We now have a total of 46 Tap machines left to be repaired and collected from
POSCLOUD and a total of 56 Tap machines at NMB to be collected. The Team at
NMB have not yet started repairing the machines as of 28 September 2019 as I
called Tawanda to get an update and was notified that their tap machine server
was down and they had to wait until it us up again.

5. We collected 34 repaired machines with a new application according to the

POSCLOUD team on Thursday 2019

RECOMMENDATION

1. In view of the above, the use and introduction of NetOne data lines is of great
benefit in the Tap machines as Telecel lines has proved to be difficult in terms
of the network connectivity.

2. The use of V90 Android Tap machines can be of great advantage and mitigate
the crises at ZUPCO, as these machines can hold 10 000 transaction without

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 any batch upload. They use Android OS which is fluid and has fast processing
capabilities. The machines can use Wi-Fi to do batch uploads.

3. The ZUPCO conductors need a refresher course as most of them from our
observations and the ones who approached us with faulty machines do not
have a clue on how use the machine. In addition, a training course needs to
be done on the new V90 Android Tap machines and we have to put strict
policies on the use of those machine e.g if the machine is tampered with or

is physically damaged in any way that should be marked as a punishable

offence and if found guilty can lead to termination of contract.

4. We have to come up with a cost structure for the new V90 Android Tap
machines, which clearly depicts the cost associated with damaging the
machines which will be charged to the conductor if found guilty and the cost
of repair should be deducted from his/her salary.

5. We recommend that we should have and host our own servers and mirror
them so that we do not have downtimes as being experienced by POSCLOUD
and NMB servers. POSCLOUD do not have their own server, they are actually
hosted by another party, which we found to be quite risky in this day and
age.

Daniel Manyanga (Information Technology)

Forward Abinal (Marketing)