%
decrease in admin costs
%
assurance of compliance
%
increase in Total Service Revenue
Background
Brakes is a leading food service provider delivering an extensive range of fresh, frozen, ambient and non-food products on a daily basis throughout the island of Ireland. Brakes have regional depots located in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Lisburn and Strabane.
Prior to the introduction of a Mobile Solution
Brakes were very much dependent on paper-based and manual business processes. Drivers had to carry delivery dockets, printed notes relating to particular customers and additional paper to jot down any delivery issues. In addition to the cost of buying and printing paper, the delay in receiving these forms back to the office meant that it would take longer for office staff to invoice their customers and create delivery reports.
Paper in the field could be lost, damaged, or obscured and illegible to office staff which led to a decline in the quality of data captured. This created more work for office staff as they had to then call drivers in order to confirm the information which was written on the paper forms.
Managing the specialised containers used these types of deliveries (‘Cages’) was a major challenge for Brakes. Many cages were getting lost, broken or mixed up with customer cages. This led to disputes over the ownership of cages. Many were not recovered resulting in a monetary loss for the company.
Brakes had no way to accurately view driver locations or routes they had taken. There was little analysis of Vehicle Route data and passive monitoring was more common than active management of these routes. In hindsight, vehicles were being overused which led to the company spending more money on fuel and maintenance.
The Solution
Brakes delivery drivers carry a GPS enabled smartphone and use the mobile app to complete all process steps associated with their delivery jobs. All the information regarding a particular job is sent to the app on the driver’s phone at the time of dispatch. Referencing this information, drivers then complete a simple, standardised workflow that allows them to capture important information such as arrival/departure times, cages delivered and returned, any delivery issues, barcodes and other reference data, as well as customer signatures.Brakes delivery drivers carry a GPS enabled smartphone and use the GeoPal mobile app to complete all process steps associated with their delivery jobs. All the information regarding a particular job is sent to the GeoPal app on the driver’s phone at the time of dispatch. Referencing this information, drivers then complete a simple, standardised workflow that allows them to capture important information
The flexibility of our mobile solution allows managers in Brakes to make changes to the electronic forms in order to respond to the changing requirements of their customers. Brakes office staff use the custom web application to view and manage the data which is captured by delivery drivers and sales reps in real-time. Office staff can use the web interface to: locate drivers, view the routes which they have taken, configure mobile forms, view and manage assets such as cages and create reports based on data captured by drivers.
Results
Paperless Delivery Jobs
Brakes delivery drivers and sales reps very quickly adopted the mobile app due to its easy to use interface and flexibility. In addition, to the other savings that going mobile has brought, Brakes have seen a drastic reduction in the amount of paper used.
“My entire day’s work is stored on a smartphone which fits snugly in my pocket. Now I don’t have to worry about all my paper dockets.” Brakes Delivery Driver
Strengthened Communication Link between Office, Driver and Customer
Through the web interface, Brakes office staff have real-time visibility of the work completed by drivers. They can also see the drivers’ locations on a map. This allows Brakes dispatch, management, and admin personnel to view and act on mission-critical information and respond immediately to any issues, or avoid them altogether. Brakes are now able to provide their customers with the answers they need at any time and even proactively communicate with customers.
“If a customer calls asking about their delivery, we can give them a detailed answer simply by clicking a button. Most importantly, we can boast a higher level of customer satisfaction than ever before.”
Brakes Distribution Manager
Enhanced Route Monitoring
By using the solution’s route monitoring functions, Brakes have been able to discover more efficient routes for their drivers. The route replay feature has allowed Brakes to perform a post delivery analysis on any particular delivery to ensure both drivers and routes are optimised.
“The solution has allowed us to innovate and find new ways to reduce our fuel costs and optimise our network of routes.”
Gary Anderson, I.T Manager, Brakes Foodservice Ireland.
Improved Customer Service
Customer satisfaction is key to the success of Brakes Foodservice. Due to the flexible and highly customisable nature of the solution, Brakes has been able to mould the platform to suit its exact needs. Since implementation, Brakes have seen an increase in the quality of customer service. Office staff can now give updates to their customers based on real-time information.
“Our business has, and always will have excellent customer service at the fore front of any operations we carry out. Through using a mobile solution, we can now do this cheaper, faster and more efficiently.”
Alan Waite, Managing Director, Brakes Foodservice Ireland.
“In my opinion, the success of Allsop’s solution lies in its flexibility.”
Gary Anderson, I.T Manager, Brakes Foodservice Ireland.