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Asset Management
January/February 2019
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U
K’s leading biomass wood fuel supplier AMP Clean
Energy has selected Paragon’s route optimisation
software and fleXipod ePOD system.
The company, formerly known as Forest Fuels, has adopted the
integrated logistics solution to tackle the challenges created by rapid
business growth, extended peak periods and changing customer
expectations.
“Our rapid commercial growth in recent years, combined with two
very long, cold winters meant the manual planning processes we
had in place were under increasing pressure and no longer able to
cope,” said Tony Vick, logistics director for AMP Clean Energy’s fuels
division. “Our annual customer satisfaction survey also identified a
need for shorter lead times and better communications, making it
clear that we needed to improve our customer experience as well as
maximise operational efficiency.”
AMP has brought together some of the UK’s biggest biomass
businesses under one roof including Forest Fuels, Billington
Bioenergy and Midlands Wood Fuels. Prior to rebranding, Forest
Fuels selected Paragon’s logistics software to help streamline systems
and enhance customer experience.
In the past two years the company has expanded its specialist fleet
of commercial vehicles from 14 to more than 40 to meet the
growing demand for wood pellet and wood chip fuel. The fuels
business now delivers to around 4,000 customers using a range of
blower, tipped, walking floor and palletised options, enabling it to
offer the most suitable delivery choice for each customer’s needs.
“We serve customers in sectors as diverse as education,
healthcare, hospitality and agriculture,” Vick continued. “With 900
deliveries a week in the peak season, it is vitally important to the
efficiency of our operation that the right vehicle is used for each
delivery. Our planning team has to factor in a number of parameters
to ensure deliveries are achievable, but also to ensure that they
happen on time, every time.”
The Paragon software was selected based on its ability to reduce
planning time for complex transport operations and achieve
measurable efficiency improvements. The integration of the route
optimisation software with the fleXipod ePOD system was also
identified as a unique capability that could improve real-time
visibility and customer engagement, so was key to the final decision.
A team of planners will use the Paragon route optimisation
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AMP’s rapid growth, combined
with two very long, cold
winters, meant its manual
planning processes were
under increasing pressure and
no longer able to cope
software to create weekly plans, with daily routes and schedules
refined and finalised the day before, helping AMP Clean Energy to
deliver on their service promise. As well as streamlining the planning
process, the company will be able to use the capabilities of
Paragon’s software to identify areas of operational improvement,
such as a potential annual fuel saving of 10-14 percent.
Going forward AMP Clean Energy will be able to provide
automated SMS updates to confirm the date of delivery and provide
a two to three hour time window on the day. Meanwhile, fleXipod
will allow the company to further enhance customer
communications as well as streamline back office systems by
initiating the invoicing process immediately proof of delivery is
received.
“As AMP Clean Energy we will be offering a much wider choice of
biomass fuel and heat services. Our commitment to provide a
consistent, high-quality customer experience will be key to our
future success, so the Paragon logistics software will have a critical
role to play here,” concludes Vick.
William Salter, managing director of Paragon Software Systems,
commented: “The biomass fuel sector is a relatively young industry.
Leading companies such as AMP Clean Energy are having to handle
rapid levels of growth, while continuing to meet customer needs in
an efficient and sustainable way. Our logistics software, combined
with the expertise of our support team, helps customers to create
efficient transport operations that underpin the ability to deliver on
their customer promise.”
www.paragonrouting.com
TomTom launches
WEBFLEET 3.3
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omTom Telematics has launched a new version of its fleet
management software WEBFLEET 3.3 which allows fleet
operators to review combined vehicle data from different
sources in one easy-to-use interface.
The WEBLEET plugin allows a third party to generate notifications
within the software to draw the user’s attention to an event or a
specific vehicle. This will highlight, for example, when a cold chain
trailer temperature is out of range or a vehicle has maintenance
issues that need to be addressed.
Using the company’s WEBFLEET.connect open API, the software
enables flexible and easy back office integrations to bring all
information into one system.
For customers with bespoke software needs, this means faster
and easier fleet control, integrating such services as safety cameras,
temperature monitoring, alcohol testing, routing optimisation or
ERP information within their WEBFLEET management system.
The technology is already being used by mutual customers of
TomTom Telematics and VisionTrack to view vehicle camera footage
directly from WEBFLEET.
“Our customers who also use TomTom Telematics can now pull up
incident footage instantly and review via the WEBFLEET interface,
without having to open up the VisionTrack software
independently,” said Richard Lane, commercial director at
VisionTrack.
“Having access to both visual proof and telematics data gives the
clearest picture possible and helps to mitigate insurance costs.”
www.tomtom.com