Time is money. That's the mindset at SuperGros. Every day, 100 trucks carry goods from the central warehouses to Meny, KIWI, and SPAR chains. Grocers live on small margins, so there must be fresh produce on the shelves when customers arrive. SuperGros has been met with a demand for documentation of correct arrival time. Today, SuperGros can document its realised lead times which are above 97%. They are actively assisted by a new fleet management and distribution system from Tecsys, which ensures that the goods reach the energetic merchants.
When is the truck coming?
When it’s time to go, every second counts. If a truck is stuck in traffic or the unloading ramp is blocked, the delivery will be delayed. At the grocery store, staff is limited and they are ready to receive the goods. Therefore, the delivery of goods must be accurate.
Jesper Kristensen is project manager at SuperGros: “One of our customers demanded to know the arrival time of the truck. At the same time, we needed to know the estimated time of arrival (ETA) when a customer was waiting for his goods. In reality we only knew when the truck had left the central warehouse, after that we only had a small overview of what else happened on the route”.
Today, every driver has a terminal in the car. The driver retrieves the current route and the terminal automatically shows the way to the first stop on the route. The truck’s position and estimated time of arrival are sent to the office on a regular basis. In the office, the driver can see how far the car is on the route.
When is the truck coming?
Fleet management
“We were under a lot of time pressure to find a system. We talked to several suppliers. But Tecsys was able to deliver a quick solution. We bought into their flexibility and 24-hour support, but also the fact that they were already a total supplier of data capture equipment for all our warehouses in Denmark,” says Jesper Kristensen.
Installation of fleet management in phases
SuperGros has chosen to implement their fleet management and distribution system in several phases. The first phase was documentation of when a truck is at the grocery store. At the home of the SuperGros driver, a screen has been installed to show the current position of the trucks. In the second phase, drivers were given a new camera functionality in the hand terminal, so that they can document what problems they experience on the route.
“When you have over 200 drivers, some of them may feel monitored with the new system. But that’s not our purpose. In the grocery business, it’s about doing marginally better per box. We chase marginal savings every day. Conversely, the camera is a huge success. We’re actually drowning in photo documentation. It’s the drivers’ way of communicating that they’re doing well. At the same time, it’s oddly easier to send a picture to the grocer and explain why the delivery took a little longer if, for example, the access to the unloading ramp was blocked.”
When the driver has to unload goods, he can read the number of packages on the screen. When the goods are delivered, he gets a signature on the terminal. The terminal automatically sends the proof of delivery to the office, with signature, GPS coordinate and time. Then there is documentation of the delivery.
The future is dynamic scheduling
Right now SuperGros is testing an SMS solution that will notify the staff at the grocery store when the truck arrives. The next phase will be scanning of goods and handling of return packaging. Return packaging equals money and in the future the balance between SuperGros and the grocer will be settled immediately.
Fleet management and distribution system from Tecsys
Approximately 100 units have been installed. Intermec CN50 terminals in trucks. The terminal acts as a navigation system for the driver and has information about the next stop. The handheld terminal has a built-in camera and barcode scanner. The system is both a fleet management system and a distribution system. The office has a fleet monitoring system that tells who is driving each truck. It also shows the speed and intended route of the truck.