48 DC VELOCITY AUGUST 2017 www.dcvelocity.com
applications
A look at how DCs are using equipment and
services to rev up their operations
IN 2016, BC SANDS WAS STRUGGLING
to meet tight delivery windows and high
demand for same-day deliveries. And these
weren’t ordinary deliveries—such as parcels, groceries, or appliances. The Sydney,
Australia-based company supplies building
and landscaping products, like mulch and,
as its name indicates, sand. With more than
10,000 products, two sites, and a fleet of more than 30
trucks of varied dimensions, scheduling alone was a
headache and a half (the company makes deliveries to
more than 1,100 customers per week). Further complicating matters were Sydney’s intricate road network and
traffic congestion.
In a bid to boost operating efficiency and customer
service, the company began looking at route planning
and delivery solutions. After checking out the available
offerings, BC Sands concluded that Waterloo, Ontario-
based software developer Descartes Systems Group was
the only vendor that offered all the functions it was
looking for, including fleet optimization, sign-on glass
capabilities, photos, the ability to send real-time delivery
notifications, and visibility of the executed routes, says
Mark Parsons, the company’s managing director.
The solution BC Sands chose was Descartes’ Route
Planner solution, including the Descartes Reservations
and Descartes Mobile modules. The software combines
planning, execution, and comprehensive reporting to
provide route optimization with fully integrated route
tracking and execution via mobile devices.
Today, BC Sands uses the software’s same-day optimization capabilities to book its online and phone
orders directly into a dispatch schedule. Real-time status
updates from GPS-tracked vehicles help ensure accurate
information on availability while providing visibility
into deliveries en route as well as the ability to notify
customers of delivery progress. According to Parsons,
BC Sands is the only landscaping and building supply
Australian landscaping and
building supplies distributor
BC Sands installed route planning
and scheduling software to
tighten up its delivery operations.
As it turned out, the software did
all that and more.
How the right delivery solution
offered one company hidden
benefits
