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Logistics Caretakers
Let web take care of IT needs
When it comes to the use of advanced Information Technology
in the transport and logistics industry, companies usually
fall into one of two categories: the big players who
have it and smaller companies who would like to but cannot
afford it. Caretakers the logistics specialists,
who are part of the TH Brown logistics group of Grimsby,
have taken a lead to show that there is a third way which
delivers the best possible technology to meet their and
their customers' needs with no need for investment in
expensive licences and infrastructure.
Caretakers - www.caretakers@thbrown.co.uk - have chosen
the route of Software as a Service (SaaS) by joining
the CarrierNetOnline (CNO) service provided by UK logistics
solutions providers Deltion.
TH Brown has been established for more than 70 years
and gained considerable experience in handling heavy,
unwieldy and often fragile bathroom and kitchen equipment,
including providing collections services. They
decided to bring this experience to the market as a
specialised logistics service and created the Caretakers
division.
Mike Denison, Operations Director of TH Brown,
told us “We wish to grow the Caretakers business
based on our reputation for quality and service. However
to achieve this we needed an innovative approach to
service and solutions which was reasonably priced”.
“Taking a licence for a software solution to
run on our own computer infrastructure was just not
economical. The ones in the market are very expensive
and in spite of that do not meet our needs without
even more expense on adapting the software to meet
our needs”.
Caretakers therefore decided that using a functionality-rich,
web-based solution was the answer: this avoided
the need for expensive licence fees and hardware costs
and would not need additional IT support in-house.
The Web Solution - Software as a Service
Caretakers needed
an integrated service, one which would enable them to
integrate all their existing systems, including sales
order processing, accounts, warehouse management, and
customer service. They wanted to be able to access all
of this on the same page, and give access to latest information
for track and trace to their customers and consignees. CarrierNetOnline
provides this ability and Caretakers pays for what they
use as a pay-per-transaction based service.
“This service enables us to compete with information
technology equal - and in most cases better - to our
biggest competitors” Mike Denison said. “By
choosing the Software as a Service option from Deltion”.
The Logistics Industry
The CEO of Deltion, Piyush Shah,
believes that most logistics companies are still lacking
the leading edge software needed in today's market. “First
class supply chain and logistics solutions are no
longer a “nice-to-have” or even a competitive
advantage” he said. “Customers
expect logistics companies' IT to enable lower costs
and higher efficiencies - just as is happening in
all other aspects of their business”.
“They also expect to have access on a 24x7
anyone, anywhere, anytime basis to information allowing
them to track and trace their consignment. The
high standards have been set on the internet by companies
like Amazon. If as a private individual placing
an order worth a few pounds I can at any time log
in from anywhere and access the latest status of
my order, I expect no less for a pallet load of expensive
industrial goods” Mr. Shah said.
He says that
the leaders in IT are generally the very big companies
who have spent millions to buy or to develop their
own solutions. But many then do not invest to keep
the systems up-to-date and you see many complex logistics
and transport management systems in companies which
do not link to legacy systems and do not meet the
need of changing customer needs.
This approach is not
within the reach of medium and smaller size companies
because of need for major investment requirements in
solutions and infrastructure. BUT
without leading edge logistics solutions, these companies
cannot meet customer and consumer expectations so
opportunity to grow and win business is often based
on the commodity concept of low priced transport.
Software
as a Service from CarrierNetOnline ensures that those
companies who are only now using the Web to provide their
IT needs do not make the same expensive - and sometimes
fatal - errors which major suppliers have made in the
past.
Commercial Advantages of Software as a Service
Caretakers
Mike Denison says that by choosing the CNO solution, they
benefit because the cost is on a pay-as-you-use basis and
directly proportionate to the amount of business they are
doing. This
service was very quickly up and running without capital
expenditure in licence fees and additional servers
and there are no hidden costs”.
“There is now complete operational visibility
between our head office in Grimsby and the transport
operation in Doncaster” Mr. Denison said. “The
administrative burden has been eased substantially
and we have real-time information about orders, vehicles,
drivers, performance, plus exception management reporting”.
He added that Caretakers are now benefiting from
improved resource utilisation because of efficiencies
brought about by the new system. “We now have
one system for customers, suppliers, and sub-contractors
and we put every PoD online, using scanning to confirm
the PoD and customers can then view on-line”
Deltion's Piyush Shah believes that Software as
a Service will become the standard for logistics
and transport solutions. “The customer
can use those parts of the software he needs as his
business grows. There is no need to buy everything
in one 'big-bang' implementation” Mr. Shah
said. “Because the user only pays for what
he needs he can introduce additional modules and
features to meet his business needs.”
Among the additional features available to users
is the addition of multi-depot operations; sub-contractor
management; and SMS to drivers. The CarrierNetOnline
software service includes a routing & scheduling
component to make planning and resource use more
efficient.
“The web is the key to the future of customer
service, logistics and SCM and is also critical in
providing all supply chain partners with collaboration
and end-to-end visibility” Mr Shah added. “We
are already the leaders in providing Software as
a Service to the logistics and transport industry
and will continue to extend this service to meet
the needs of our customers and their customers. Using
the web is the only way to meet business and home
consumer demands and expectations.” |
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This service enables us to compete with
information technology equal - and in most
cases better - to our biggest competitors.Mike
Denison, Operations Director, TH Brown Caretakers
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