Paragon and Isotrak have completed the “transport efficiency jigsaw” in a project for Sainsbury’s by combining the capabilities of the former’s routeing, scheduling and resource optimisation software with the latter’s real-time transport execution and management solutions. The system was implemented two years ago and is now used at all 16 of the supermarket’s depots, and is fully operational at four.
Craig Sears-Black, sales and marketing director at Isotrak, says: “The challenge with transport is to ensure that you use the minimum number of vehicles to do the maximum amount of work. One part of achieving this is planning work based on the jobs required and vehicles available. The other part is keeping control of the plan once it begins to execute, taking into account all of the unforeseeable challenges that crop up every day, eg traffic congestion, vehicle breakdowns, and unexpected delays.”
Sainsbury’s is now able to plan multi-shifted transport schedules that can be re-optimised during execution, resulting in operational cost benefits, environmental gains and service improvements. Since implementation the retailer has achieved a 15 per cent reduction in store turnaround times and a 17 per cent increase in the number of deliveries arriving within a planned window. Driver productivity is up eight per cent and overall travel distance has been reduced by 3.8 per cent a year.
The company has also seen a five per cent reduction in tractor usage and an eight per cent drop in the number of trailers it needs.
Furthermore, in line with its corporate social responsibility objectives, Sainsbury’s has reduced empty running by 12 per cent, by cutting out 2,000 empty vehicle journeys per week thanks to better planned backhauling, salvage and asset collections.
