Month: June 2019

Ten years since adopting Fargo Systems’ TOPS (Transport Operations & Processing Systems) software, leading UK haulier ATL Haulage says  the technology has been a game changer for its business.

Ash Karia, director of ATL Haulage, says: “In the decade we’ve been using the technology, the marketplace has changed exponentially, and real-time information is a pre-requisite of all our clients. Enabling us to give ETA and ATA data, we believe TOPS has revolutionised the logistics industry.

“But the benefits are not all client facing. From ATL’s perspective, user-friendly TOPS brings a host of efficiencies and cost-saving to our traffic operators, who are based at London Gateway and our Southampton depot, and the business overall. With the ability to capture all costs relating to our 200 plus fleet, literally, nothing gets overlooked from asset depreciation to mobile phone charges. And crucially our profit and loss is available at the touch of a button.”

Steve Collins, director of Fargo Systems, says of the system that has become ubiquitous across the industry: “The sophistication and complexities of the global marketplace we live in demands real-time information. But, it’s not just the logistics company’s client that is requesting precise data, but the end user too – whether that’s a shipping line, manufacturer or blue-chip retailer. The more detailed real-time data you’re able to provide a client, the greater your competitive advantage and this is where TOPS has the edge.”

Warehouse management system (WMS) innovator SnapFulfil (part of Synergy Logistics) has strengthened its sales team with the appointment of a retail software expert.

Bright Masih (aged 47, from Birmingham) joins as Business Development Manager and has 25 years broad and varied experience with brand leaders such as Tesco, Virgin Media, Primark, Halfords, Wolseley, Bravissimo and Fujitsu Services.

He specialises in helping organisations navigate technology changes via detailed sector expertise and rigorous execution – and most recently tier one retailers looking to improve the delivery experience journey for online customers.

SAAS technology and software development and agile software development are core areas of his expertise, along with OMS, CMS and ERP solutions, plus the latest in delivery tracking and carrier management technologies, which fully integrate with WMS.

James Wilmer, Head of Sales & Marketing for SnapFulfil, explains: “With his consultative approach to business, Bright is particularly adept at helping wider IT, digital and customer experience directors understand how marginal gains can lead to much bigger wins and efficiencies. He gets Big Data analytics too and as we increasingly look to capitalise on the fast moving retail environment, his particular skill set will add extra impetus and scope to our warehouse management solutions.”

Transport planning teams are under pressure to share more information than ever before as businesses look to increase visibility of their distribution operations, improve customer communications and remove internal silos. According to Paragon Software Systems’ recent UK customer survey – completed by more than 100 industry professionals using its route optimisation software – 58% of respondents claimed that operational reporting requirements had increased in the past 12 months. While most now have processes in place to share transport data, for many there is still a reliance on manual reporting systems.

When asked who they were sharing transport data with, the most common responses were their operational (81%) and logistics (66%) teams, closely followed by the finance (65%) department. A significant proportion of businesses are also using transport data to improve the customer experience, which reflects an increasing demand from clients for real-time and historical delivery information. In particular, 58% are now sharing information with their customer service function, while 50% are providing performance data direct to customers.

More than four fifths of organisations (83%) have some sort of process in place to handle their data sharing requirements. However, almost half of these (49%) are still providing historical reporting manually, compared with 31% that are using an automated historical reporting system or 20% that are providing automated real-time reporting via a portal or dashboard. Of the 17% that did not have processes in place, incompatible IT systems (47%), lack of time or resources (29%) and lack of data (24%) were to blame.

As operational reporting becomes increasingly demanding and complicated, companies are looking to technology integration as a means of sharing data between different areas of the business. With this in mind, over half the respondents (53%) stated that their Paragon routing and scheduling software had been connected with other internal IT systems. WMS (28%) and OMS (17%) were the most common system integrations, followed by CRM (9%), finance/payroll (4%) and SCM (2%).

William Salter, Managing Director of Paragon Software Systems commented: “The results of Paragon’s annual customer survey provide us with real insight into the growing demands placed on the transport office. The need to share real-time data both with colleagues and customers is another compelling reason for empowering the planning team and transport office with systems that track the live performance of the distribution operation. Tools such as our suite of live planning software modules give access to easy-to-use analytics and dashboards that significantly reduce the time spent on reporting, increase the visibility of KPIs and provide the basis for continuous operational improvement.”