Case studies / Logistics
Case studyA custom dispatch platform for a logistics firm
A logistics firm whose dispatch routine no product matched commissioned a custom platform with planning, a driver app, proof of delivery and automatic customer updates.
Overview
A family-owned logistics firm providing same-day and next-day pallet, parcel and two-person deliveries for manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. It operates from several depots with a mix of employed and subcontracted drivers.
Scale. About 350 vehicles across six depots, hundreds of daily routes, and many customers with different delivery rules, time windows, handling requirements and proof-of-delivery standards.
The challenge
The firm had looked at several transport management products and found the same problem with each. They were built for simpler operations, with a single customer type and fixed routes, and none could handle the mix of time windows, customer rules and late changes its dispatchers managed every day.
No available product matched its dispatch routine, so dispatchers used phone calls and spreadsheets. Each morning they built routes on a whiteboard and a shared workbook, then spent the day phoning drivers to confirm progress, pass on changes and find out what had gone wrong.
Records were updated late. Drivers phoned in or returned paper delivery notes at the end of the day, and dispatchers keyed the details into the spreadsheet when they had time. Customers asking where their delivery was got an educated guess.
Proof of delivery was paper-based, so disputes about missed or damaged deliveries could take days to resolve and delayed invoicing.
Customer service was stretched. A large share of inbound calls were customers asking for an update that the firm should have sent them automatically.
The business had grown steadily, and the dispatch routine depended on a handful of experienced dispatchers who held most of the rules in their heads.
The solution
The dispatch planning tool lets dispatchers build routes from the day's orders, taking account of each customer's time windows, vehicle requirements and handling rules. Late orders and changes can be dropped into live routes with the effect on each driver's schedule shown immediately.
Drivers use a mobile app that shows their route, stop details and customer instructions. They update status at each stop, record exceptions such as refusals or damage with photos and capture signatures for proof of delivery.
Customers receive automatic notifications when their delivery is planned, when the driver is on the way and when it has been delivered, with a link to the proof of delivery. Notification rules can be set by customer.
Vehicle tracking feeds live positions into the platform, so dispatchers can see where every vehicle is without calling the driver. Mapping services provide route distances and timings.
Proof of delivery and completed jobs flow to billing, so invoices can be raised as soon as work is done. Reporting shows on-time performance, exceptions and productivity by depot, customer and driver.
Integrations with customer systems allow larger customers to send orders electronically and receive status updates in their own systems.
The engagement
- Ten months
- Seven specialists: product lead, designer, five engineers
- Discovery with dispatchers and drivers, design and build of a dispatch platform, driver mobile app, customer notifications, proof of delivery and reporting, five integrations, a one-depot pilot and rollout to all depots.
Integrations
- Vehicle tracking
- Customer systems
- Billing
- Mapping services
- Notifications
How we delivered it
- 01
Shadow and define
Six weeks
We shadowed dispatchers through the working day and rode with drivers on their routes. From that, we defined the first release around the work that consumed the most time and caused the most errors.
- 02
Design and build the core
Five months
We designed workflows with dispatchers and drivers and built the core platform in short cycles, showing working software every two weeks and changing course when it did not fit the routine.
- 03
Pilot one depot
Eight weeks
The platform went live in one depot first. Dispatchers and drivers used it for real work, and we refined the planning screens and driver app based on what they reported.
- 04
Roll out to all depots
Seven weeks
The remaining depots followed one at a time, with pilot depot dispatchers helping train their colleagues.
Results
- Less dispatcher time on phone calls
- Records updated by drivers at the stop
- Automatic customer delivery updates
- Same-day billing from electronic proof of delivery
Dispatchers spend less time on calls. Live status from drivers and vehicle tracking replace most of the routine check-in calls, and dispatchers can focus on exceptions and planning.
Records are updated at source. Delivery status, exceptions and proof of delivery are captured by drivers at the stop, so the office always has a current picture.
Customers receive delivery updates automatically. Inbound calls asking for status have dropped, and customer service handles a smaller number of more useful conversations.
Billing is faster. Completed jobs with electronic proof of delivery go to invoicing the same day, and disputes are settled quickly with photos and signatures.
The rules that lived in a few dispatchers' heads are now in the platform, so new dispatchers become productive sooner and the firm is less exposed when experienced staff are away.
The developers rode in our cabs. They saw problems our drivers had stopped mentioning years ago.
What made the difference
Shadowing drivers revealed requirements no workshop would have found.
