Freight Computer Services
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FCS is the National Freight Consortium's computer company. Its package for computerised daily scheduling is DiPS (Distribution Planning System).
This started life in the Seventies as in-house scheduling system within British Oxygen. Part way through tht development the company pulled out the project and the man responsible fo it took over the work privately with t aid of a commission from Burmah Oi and brewers Eldridge Pope.
FCS took on the sole marketing rigl and launched DiPS as a bureau service about five years ago; it was mainly us( by NFC companies.
Now it is sold direct to the custome as a software package. It consists of a number of modules, the most advance of which is for the daily route plannini (Day plan).
DiPS was originally written in the Fortran programming language for mainframe computers and there are seven or eight companies using DiPS this form for daily scheduling. Recenti. the program has been rewritten for the IBM PC or any compatible micro computer.
Some new companies have taken DiPS in this microcomputer form, bringing the total number of customer: up to around a dozen. They include Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, Littlewoods, Quinton Hazell and Briti: Rail.
The price for the full DiPS software ge for daily scheduling and route ing is £9412,000. FCS can also y the necessary hardware; an IBM Liao would cost around 15,000. ht Computer Services Limited, • reat Cambridge Road, Enfield, lesex EN1 3RZ. Tel: 01-367 4200.
yticalSystems
:erms of systems in use, ideal Systems' Routemaster uling program is the market leader. veloped 15 years ago, it was one of oilier systems although it has ;ed much since then. Routemaster un on the IBM PC, minicomputers ainframes.
talytical Systems reports that id 30 companies use Routemaster ieir daily scheduling. Particularly iinent are the breweries, with .age, Bass Charrington and bread among the users. Others de Nestle, Youngs Seafoods, and stian Salvesen.
iutemaster, unusually, is most monly rented by the user, not ;ht outright. Analytical Systems that this allows the user to axe the .m if it is not successful. It also vs for continuing development in puter technology — systems can be ged under the rental agreement. iere is a minimum one-year rental )cl which costs from £6,000 (for a le depot installation) to £15,000 for a :i-depot version. Outright purchase )ssible and would cost four or five s the annual rental.
lytical Systems Ltd, 58-59
garet Street, London W1N 7FG. 01-637 9786.
tergy Logistics
mergy Logistics is an independent puter software company specialising istribution.
developed its daily vehicle :doling system, Dayload, four years . The Dayload program is written in Iran and runs on the IBM PC and ipatible micros.