Wincanton, the leading European logistics supply chain management company, has worked with Civica, which provides consulting, software and managed services, over a number of years to develop an integrated system for the management and control of the Woolworths fleet of tractor and trailer units.
The solution incorporates the Tranman fleet management software, enhanced with a bespoke module for driver management. Tranman is fully integrated with existing network planning and scheduling software, as well as with in-cab communications to allow delivery information to be logged in real-time. In addition, previously stand-alone units at five distribution centres have been networked to add transparency to the overall distribution system.
Tranman receives information from radio sensors on depot gates and from in-cab systems to record actual collection and delivery times, these are then measured against scheduled times. A web based fleet positions report is produced and displayed on the company’s intranet to identify where vehicles are on their trip sheet.
The system provides the capability for pro-active driver management, as top-level network planning information cascades down directly into individual driver trip sheets without intermediate stages. Drivers can log their delivery times directly from the cab, so not only can potential problems be spotted and avoided (in real-time), but drivers can take part in de-briefs straight away at the end of the day, rather than waiting for their trip sheet information to be re-keyed the next day or even later.
