Optimised loads and greater planning insight for building materials leads to national deployment of Vehicle Routing and Dispatch solution

After a successful pilot project at its main site in the Netherlands (in Alkmaar), the Dutch specialist in wood products and timber, which is part of the Deli Maatschappij Group, took the decision to move ahead with Ortec. "The pilot project demonstrated to us that significant savings could be achieved by implementing Ortec Shortrec," says Co Valckx, who was involved in the project from the outset via his role as Logistics Project Manager.

Royal Jongeneel will be deploying Ortec's vehicle routing and dispatch solution at approximately 20 of its locations in the Netherlands.With 12,000 customers who routinely enquire about their order status or call to request an additional delivery, it is essential that Royal Jongeneel has direct insight into their plans. With their previous manual planning process, any changes or requests for information required a great deal of ringing around to figure things out. "In the past if a customer placed an additional order, the planner sometimes had to recalculate the order in its entirety. And if necessary, we even hired an additional truck in order to be able to deal with the ad hoc request. With Ortec's advanced planning solution we now have insight into load capacity and we can make and deliver on commitments without having to recalculate the plans or deal with an array of complications. We are able to ascertain which trucks have available capacity," explains Co Valckx. "In addition the system is also very user-friendly."

Cleaner trucks
Another advantage for Jongeneel is that the company is now able to make 10 to 15 per cent more drops than previously. "The trucks are optimally loaded, which results in less mileage, a 10% reduction in shipping costs, and lower CO2 emissions," explains Fokke Knook, Logistics and Business Development Manager at Jongeneel. The latter is especially important for Jongeneel given that the company's own sustainability program is also looking to examine which trucks can be replaced by cleaner, more environmentally friendly vehicles. "ORTEC Shortrec will also help us to determine and improve our own CO2 footprint."

Tactical study
Co Valckx: "We have successfully achieved our goal of load optimisation. The next step is to conduct a joint tactical study with Ortec to investigate how to further optimize our distribution network. By using our current ERP system and Ortec Shortrec we are able to generate realistic scenarios and determine whether or not the delivery areas are evenly distributed. Each of Jongeneel's 40 sites has its own delivery territory through which the company's fleet of trucks completes its rounds. "We are not in the business of making empty miles."

Promoting awareness
Co Valckx is supporting each Jongeneel site through the implementation process: "This is not a plug and play scenario. Instead, we're actually digitising and automating the planning process of each site and this requires approximately 4 to 6 weeks per location. Everyone needs to know in advance why we are doing this. It's for this reason that I often take people to visit sites that are already live so that they can see the benefits for themselves."

Greater planning insight
Fokke Knook: "Because Ortec Shortrec provides us with greater insight into the planning, the level at which we think about logistics has certainly increased. The new way of working challenges us to break old patterns and routines." Co Valckx adds: "When people see the benefits for themselves - for example, the time savings the new system can deliver - they want to come on board. That's our approach because after all, they know what works best."