Lilley’s Cider is using software from Podfather to drive efficiency, improve the customer experience and reduce administration for its nationwide delivery service.
The drinks manufacturer and distributor, which supplies more than 3,000 pubs and shops along with festivals, is using the logistics planning, route optimisation and electronic proof of delivery solution to replace its paper-based processes. Not only will this save time and money, but it will also reduce the company’s environmental impact.
“Prior to Podfather we manually planned our deliveries using a paper map and a spreadsheet,” commented Mia Brixey, sales and marketing manager at Lilley’s Cider. “This worked when we had a handful of trade customers but, as we now make thousands of deliveries each week / month, it was taking more and more time and impacting on the customer experience.
“Having reviewed a few routing systems, we selected Podfather as it was the most user friendly,” Brixey continued. “It was visually appealing, with an easy to navigate interface, and the functionality, although advanced, was easy to use. Podfather also integrated with our existing business tools.”
Based in Somerset, Lilley’s Cider was established by father and son Chris and Marc Lilley in 2007. It now crafts a range of nearly 40 different flavoured ciders and perries, all of which are distinct, gluten free and made on-site at the family farm in Frome. These are supplied to pubs, shops and other outlets across the UK using the firm’s own nationwide delivery network.
Using Podfather, routes are produced and optimised, based on locations, item volumes and weights and customer requirements, and automated ETA notifications are issued. All paperwork is sent directly to the driver’s mobile phone or tablet, with hardware provided by independent B2B communications specialist G-Force Communications. This gives management live visibility of the delivery operation, with any issues instantly flagged for investigation or intervention. ePOD notifications, including mandatory photos, can be captured by drivers as they make each delivery and this information used to update back-office teams.
Lilley’s also benefits from additional functionality including daily vehicle texts, driven by and completed using the driver’s mobile device and integration with the company’s Sage accounting software, helping to further improve the efficiency of its sales and delivery operation.
“Using Podfather we hope to dramatically reduce the time and resource it takes to plan routes. We hope this will have a significant impact on our business, freeing back-office resource which can be deployed to make a difference in other parts of the business and improving the service we give our trade customers,” concluded Brixey. “We also hope to reduce unnecessary mileage and paperwork which will help us manage costs and improve our green credentials.”
