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Distribution Tracking
The Missing Link between Route Planning and the On-Board Computer
Automated routing systems and on-board computers process large amounts of information each and every day. This data is a tremendous resource, but most users find it difficult to take advantage of its potential. Effective use of Distribution Tracking can help you achieve a greater return on your investment in routing and OBC systems.
Plan vs. Actual: Quantifiable Performance Measurement
Distribution Tracking collects planned information from automated routing systems, and collects actual information from on-board computers. This information is then stored in a form uniquely designed for performance analysis. Distribution Tracking can quantify operational efficiency, driver performance, and customer service. This rigorous process of performance evaluation eliminates reliance on softer qualitative measures. Visibility into historical information provides the knowledge necessary to build successful business plans and to forecast future equipment and manpower needs.
Controlling Costs: A Cycle of Continuous Improvement
A cycle of continuous improvement promotes rigorous identification of problems, implementation of corrective action and confirmation of desired results. By regularly monitoring exceptions to your planned routes, you will be able to spot issues in your planning process and in your daily operations. Using this information, you can work with your employees to tune your planning process and to improve your operations on an ongoing basis. This cycle is an essential ingredient toward reducing expenses and improving customer service.
Driver Performance
Which of your drivers routinely follow their assigned route plans?
Who has difficulty getting in and out of a customer site in a timely
fashion? Are some of your drivers better at following the shortest route
than others?
The transportation planning process is the first step to successful
daily operations. But the plan gains the respect of the organization
only through a systematic review process. Without this regular review,
drivers have no reason to look at their assigned objectives seriously.
With regular review, excellent drivers can be recognized for their
achievements, and the work habits of poor performers can be quantified
and addressed in a constructive manner.
Because Distribution Tracking holds an extensive routing history for a transportation operation, it can also form the foundation for establishing driver standards.
Management by Exception
Ongoing monitoring and analysis allows management to better understand their operations and, thus, make better decisions. Your analysis may be used to summarize broad historical trends, or may be applied at a very detailed route-by-route level. Distribution Tracking promotes management by exception by enabling you to focus on the issues. One innovative technique, as depicted below, provides a visual representation of each routes planned vs. actual schedule. These route bars produce a crisp image of the flow of events within a route, quickly revealing the basis of any problems. In this example, the delivery time at location 254 was roughly twice as long as the plan representing more than an hour of unplanned labor. Finding correctable situations such as this has the potential to save significant expense dollars.
Measuring Service: On-Time Analysis
How reliable are your scheduled arrival times? How long does it actually take for you to unload product at a customer site? Certain customers always seem to be the squeaky wheel; but are they really the ones that are receiving the worst service? Distribution Tracking can measure your on-time performance and unload times and can provide a foundation for customer communication that is based on hard facts.
Model Reports
Distribution Tracking includes over 50 standard reports that provide different views of a distribution operation. Some of these model reports are tabular in nature; others are graphical. All can be examined interactively or printed.
The standard reports cover categories such as:
Planned vs. Actual Times and Distances
On-Time Analysis
Service Times and Unload Rates
Driver Performance
Route Operations
Productivity
Standards
Flexibility: Reporting It Your Way
If a particular need is not met by the model reports, you can modify one of the model reports, or create your own report. Distribution Tracking includes report-writer capabilities that were designed just for the transportation industry making it easy to obtain the information you want. After you create your own reports, they can be named and saved for easy use on a periodic basis in the same manner as one of the model reports. There are many choices available to the user for selecting the data elements to be displayed, the time period to be considered, and the formatting style.
Tracking Delivery Errors
As an additional input, Distribution Tracking has the ability to collect invoice adjustments from your order processing system. With this information, Distribution Tracking can uncover trends for statistics such as short or damaged cases. Distribution Tracking allows you to view these delivery errors by destination or by driver.
A Fast Path to Benefits
Not only is Distribution Tracking easy to use, it is easy to implement. In most cases, Distribution Tracking can be installed and initial training can be completed within a matter of days. You will be able to start seeing the benefits immediately.
