Professional Paper Supplies (PPS) is using Descartes’ last-mile delivery solution to modernise and improve its delivery operations, bringing major business gains.
Introduced as part of a major digital transformation programme, the Descartes solution has allowed the PPS transport manager to save approximately 25 hours per week planning deliveries and routes.
The solution also helped PPS gain 17 hours of productive time daily across its team of 17 drivers. This equates to one hour per day per driver, which the company is using to run more deliveries per day, along with staff training, and other strategic imperatives.
Jon Robshaw, transport manager at PPS, said: “Our business has transformed many dated manual operations to become more efficient, productive and profitable thanks to digitisation. We started with our enterprise resource planning (ERP) and warehouse management system (WMS) solutions before centring on last-mile delivery improvements.
“The Descartes solution shortens the time it takes to load our 250 daily orders into the best available vehicle, as well as to plan and route the optimal sequence of next-day deliveries – all while prioritising economical efficiencies. It’s also replaced the use of printed delivery notes with electronic proof-of-delivery, saving paper and providing our customers with a modern consumer-like delivery experience.”
Descartes’ cloud-based last-mile delivery solution supports dynamic delivery requirements, including same-day delivery, by offering flexible, efficient and cost-effective time windows and delivery options. It improves route productivity by using advanced optimisation technology to reduce the distance driven per delivery, which maximises delivery capacity and reduces costs.
Electronic proof-of-delivery (ePOD) captures delivery details and helps streamlines the delivery process and self-service customer engagement allows customers to track their orders in real-time. The solution improves delivery sustainability through increased route productivity, which results in less CO2 per delivery and eliminates paper manifests and delivery documents.
Gary Taylor, VP sales, EMEA at Descartes, said: “We’re pleased that our solution is playing an important role for PPS as part of its digital transformation journey. With changes in customer ordering patterns and greater pressure for same-day and next-day deliveries, delivery performance has never been more important for distribution companies. Descartes has a proven track record of investing in leading last mile strategies and technologies that help to keep its customers at the forefront of distribution excellence.”
