Verhoeven Logistics has streamlined its transport and warehouse operations with Kewill Logistics.
The company, which has its head office in The Netherlands, also has local operations in the Ukraine and Poland, along with logistics partners in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and the Czech Republic.
In order to boost efficiency and create cost savings the company realised it needed to assimilate its disparate systems.
One of the key reasons it selected Kewill was the fact transport, warehousing, finance and administrative activities were integrated, meaning staff no longer had to switch between each function.
The offices in Poland and the Ukraine are both using the same IT infrastructure, based on the same server at the Netherlands head office, so any changes can be made directly on screen, instead of having to commission system adjustments externally or make changes to each system.
Laurens Bisschops, area manager Western Europe at Verhoeven Logistics, says: “Moving from our previous custom-built system to a new best of breed software solution was naturally quite a big change.”
However, he adds: “User acceptance was very high because the project, from selection to introduction and implementation, was planned carefully with direct involvement from everybody who works with the system.”
Drivers have also seen benefits as in-cab computers have been streamlined. Verhoeven has 70 trucks of its own and charters around 80 more, the majority of which have in-cab computers.
Bisschops explains: “It’s important that customers are provided with the correct information. Furthermore, our customers are now demanding track and trace so they have visibility over their transported goods. Using the in-cab computers with Kewill software provides our customers with visibility and we have reduced our communication and management costs.”
Jointly configured functionality also provides warehouse employees and drivers with automated advice on which dock each truck needs to go to for loading.
The Kewill system gives an overview of where the goods are located, so mistakes in the cross-dock operation have almost been eliminated.
Additionally, Verhoeven can now monitor every transport movement through a standard workforce management and task management system. The structure of the system makes it easy to integrate with external systems, and it can be used as a tool for customers to retrieve information themselves as well.
Since using the system Louis Bardoel, operational director at Verhoeven, says: “Our costs and failure rates have decreased significantly. Less mistakes means direct cost savings.”
