DISTRIBUTION ROUTE FINDERS
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Any technology that allows you to make all your deliveries on time while cutting your vehicle mileage by up to 20% must be worth investigating. The latest hi-tech route-finding systems can certainly boost your efficiency—at a price. Guy Sheppard spoke to users and suppliers to help you decide if it's worth taking the plunge.
Computer and communication systems don't come cheap, but the impact on operational efficiency can be dramatic. David Mitchell, a Freight Transport Association managing consultant, says routeing and scheduling systems typically cut mileage by 10-200/. Of course mileage is just one consideration: such systems can often work out the quickest routes or the cheapest in terms of fuel costs.
Combined satellite tracking and data communication systems can tell an operator the exact location of every vehicle in the fleet; how fast it's moving, and in which direction. This reduces reliance on mobile phones and allows the operator to respond immediately to customers' needs.
But with a bewildering array of products to choose from, there are pitfalls to be avoided. Failing to check out a product's suitability for your particular business can prove costly. "Weigh up the costs against the benefits," says Mitchell, who helps FTA members make the right choice. "A very expensive system will give you lots and lots of features but you may not need them all," he points out. "You may have to trade off one thing against another to get the right compromise."
Picking the right software is only part of the process: "The speed of the system and the way it works depends very much on how good the piece of kit you are running it on is," Mitchell warns.
A routeing and scheduling system might seem to meet your needs, but if it lacks the flexibility to cope with a last-minute request from a valued customer it could create more problems than it solves. Similarly, the map from which it works might lack sufficient detail to provide the optimum route.
Guidance is available from the Mobile Data Association, which is publishing a guide to communication systems for £10. Contact: 0181 947 5991.
Cambridge Market Intelligence publishes the annual Logistics Software Guide in association with Andersen Consulting and the Institute of Logistics; it costs £145. Contact: 0171 924 7117.
Furnell Transport, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
A three-month trial of a combined data communication and satellite tracking system left David Furnell, managing director of Furnell Transport, with a bill for more than £7,000. "I tried it too early but you tend to get sucked in by the excitement of it all," he says. Furnell installed the Crosland Workstation system in 25 of his 35 vehicles; with hindsight he reckons it would have been better to have started using the system in around five vehicles. "You should just put your foot in gently first of all and check it out," he advises. "You should ask how much is it going to cost for each vehicle—and how much you need to know where your vehicle is."
The system tells the operator where particular vehicles are, but Furnell points out that it's almost as easy to phone up the driver on the mobile phone: 'We trust our drivers and if we ask them where they are, we expect them to say where they are "
Crosland operates on the short messaging service (5M5) which allows up to 160 characters of text to be transmitted to a driver, but Furnell had not tried out this capability before the trial ended. Crosland's managing director, David Cargill, believes this is one of the system's main selling points: "There are massive savings to be made from using data communications instead of communicating by voice," he says. "If you call a vehicle in Madrid with instructions to go to Barcelona, it is very expensive as a voice message but as a text message it only costs 10p. In the case of Furnell, the cost benefits were not there."
Cargill adds that the system is likely to benefit internation al operators most of oil; Furnell, which specialises in computer deliveries, only sends vehicles to the Continent three or four times a month.
THE SYSTEMS
+ The Crosland Workstation
See Furnell Transport panel, left, This system provides data communications with tracking, and can direct a driver to his destination by means of a compass needle on the LCD screen. Furnell's main control unit cost £1,340; each unit cost £75 to install and there is a monthly charge of £41. The standard tariff for each message is 10p.
Contact: The Crosland Co, 0171 498 5450.
+ Paragon
This roadmap-based package is claimed to be the UK's most successful vehicle routeing and scheduling system. It can be used for daily scheduling in depots and will calculate new routes and schedules according to volumes. The initial cost is between £16,000 and £40,000, depending on fleet size; allow roughly 5% of the initial price for annual maintenance.
Contact: Paragon
Software Systems, 01306 742100
Skynet 2000
Launched last year, Skynet 2000 offers a combined satellite tracking, security and routeing information service with the ability to contact drivers via e-mail, text messages or a mobile phone. Drivers can contact Skynet operators to check traffic conditions or work out a route. Installation costs around £1,200 per vehicle with an annual service charge of £120.
Contact: Skynet Corporation, 0171 490 7900.
+ V–Track 98TM
See Roy Betts & Son case history , overleaf. This satellite tracking system shows each vehicle's speed, direction and location. Text messages of up to 160 characters can be sent to
drivers. Under a five-year lease-purchase scheme the system costs £45 per month. Installation costs £100 per vehicle but this job can often be handled in-house.
Contact: Vehicle Solutions (UK), 01772 699980.
+AutoRoute Express
This route planner comes in two versions covering Great Britain and the Continent. It is aimed primarily at car drivers but will take into account factors such as congestion blackspots, low bridges and multi-drop deliveries when choosing the best route. The GB version uses 1:250,000 Ordnance Survey maps and covers more than 143,000 miles of roads; each version costs £59.99.
Contact : Microsoft, 08705 010100
Roadrunner
Former haulier Derek Beevor developed this combined booking, vehicle costing and invoicing system in the 1980s. He says that more than 1,500 transport companies are using Roadrunner, which will break down deliveries into post codes or counties. The minimum cost of the complete system is £5,000 with an annual maintenance fee of 13%.
Contact: Road Tech Computers, 01923 460000.
+Roy Betts & Son, Chadlington, Oxfordshire
R°Y Betts & Son specialises in just-intime deliveries so customers are frequently on the phone asking when their goods will arrive. Jonathon Betts, a partner in the family-owned business, says this used to be a long-winded process. "I would have to say I would phone them back while I contacted the driver on his mobile phone," he recalls.
"If he was on a motorway, quite often he wouldn't know which junction he was nearest to anyway," says Betts. "Now, when a customer phones up, I press a button and the location comes up on the com puter as well as the direction and speed the vehicle is travelling at" The system has only been in use for a month but Betts is already convinced of its value, He reckons his mobile phone bill of around £350 a month will be cut by 40°.'o, and appreciates the safety benefits of not having to talk to drivers when they are at the wheel. The system has been installed in four of Betts's seven vehicles.
"The other three trucks will be put on eventually," he adds, "but because they are on contract work the need for immediate information is not so pressing."
Honey Road Services, Redhill, Surrey
Warehousing and distribution company Honey Road Services has adopted the DIY approach to computer routeing and scheduling for its 50-vehicle fleet. Managing director lain Mays reckons that buying on off-the-shelf software package to do the some job would cost around £.50,000. "I'm always talking to people who say they have got a wonderful system but they don't use half of it," he adds. "We have made our software do what we need it to do and it has grown with our commercial processes."
Mays: The system has The evolution of Honey's system began
improved margins by 3%. when the company took on a contract to deliver to every Superdrug store in the country. "With 1,500 deliveries a month we needed a sensible mechanism that could track deliveries, tell us what status they were and say when deliveries could and could not be made," says Mays. The next step came when the company took on more break-bulk and warehousing work. The system was adapted to locate pallets for particular delivery routes, and since then it has evolved to the stage where the traffic planner is presented with a list on his screen each morning telling him which deliveries need to made the following day and which delivery routes they should take. The programme also provides the phone number and contact name at each delivery point so consignments can be booked in beforehand.
Mays estimates that the system, which works on Digital hardware, has improved margins
by at least 3%. The next stage will be to work out the optimum route for each vehicle, but Mays expects this to be a major project. He studied computer programming while doing an MBA course but believes the DIY approach is a realistic proposition even for hauliers without a technical background if they hire computer programmers. "I know people who have done it," he says.