The poor performance of the Rand and the relatively high oil price has been a major contributor to increasing transportation costs. The large jump in fuel prices in September is the most recent shock to the industry.
Route Optimisation is a sure fire way to reduce transportation costs
Route Optimisation software, in the hands of a skilled team, can reduce fuel, wear and tear and overtime costs significantly and Frontline Research Group, (FRG) in collaboration with VSC Smart Supply Chains can help you improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of your delivery operations.
Steve Johnson, Managing Director of Frontline Research Group says, “The first and most important step is to ensure the customer data base is ‘routing ready’. We can validate, correct, map and visualize your customer database, ensuring the GPS locations are up to date and accurate before proceeding with any optimization work on sales and delivery routes.”
FRG has retail data across Africa for both modern trade and traditional trade outlets. In fact FRG are traditional trade experts, having geo-mapped traditional trade outlets in areas where street names and addresses do not exist.
Last year FRG mapped 99 000 formal and informal retail outlets in Tanzania alone. This is over an above smaller retail census projects being carried out, in other regions across Africa.
“We are currently updating the our retail census in South Africa with a view to providing granular data, at an outlet level, that can be used grow an FMCG businesses footprint and market share,” adds Steve.
Once the data is ready for application, VCS Smart Supply Chains bring their knowledge, experience and software into action.
Who are VCS Smart Supply Chains?
Andreas Maritz, Strategic Growth Executive at VSC, says “We have a highly-experienced team of consultants that understand the complexities of Africa and have formulated proven methodologies and market-leading modelling tools to improve distribution and sales networks.”
Without careful planning, delivery drivers and sales reps may waste valuable resources navigating from one delivery location to the next.
“VSC’s advanced route planning and optimisation technologies will create savings in time, fuel and overtime pay, as well as improved customer satisfaction. In addition, our software can integrate seamlessly with your existing CRM and other management tools,” says Andreas.
The benefits of route optimisation
Accurate and up to date data on retail outlets allows for route optimisation software to work very effectively. The key benefits of route optimisation are:
• Assess depot territories and design more optimal sales and delivery routes.
• Right size your fleet and improve vehicle utilization
• Ensure you are using the right size vehicles
• Reduce overtime by maximizing the number of deliveries within the delivery window
• Improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of your delivery team through optimal service day allocation and sequencing
• Create optimal routes while factoring in important parameters, specific client needs and business rules, as defined by your customer service model.
An effective collaboration
FRG can go a step further and offer businesses retail outlet information that they may not already possess thus allowing the companies to not only cut costs with route optimisation but to also increase their penetration and availability in the market, and thereby increase sales revenue.
“Whether you have your own database of delivery points or if you would like to make use of the retail outlet data sets that the Frontline Research Group have, we, together with VSC Smart Supply Chains have the ability to expand your footprint, optimize your delivery routes, reduce your transport costs and increase your revenue,” adds Steve.
For more information contact Steve Johnson, Managing Director of Frontline Research Group on +27 84 200 0111 or email steve@frontlineafrica.com.