Larkhall becomes more digital
A recent collaboration between Technology & Innovation and Larkhall has resulted in better service for logistics customers. They can now track their goods, get precise delivery times and share documentation with customs authorities. This information also helps us optimise planning and save time.
A lot of fresh food passes through Larkhall every. Due to a recent collaboration between Larkhall and Technology & Innovation, customers can now avoid delays, track their goods all the way and be sure that their documentation complies with the new customs rules that are a consequence of Brexit.
“Before, logistics bookings in Larkhall were done manually. This was very time-consuming and meant there was a high risk of human error as well as a total lack of any data – we could not track goods and we could not use the info in the bookings to optimise our own planning,” says UK Operations Manager Mark Kelly.
Four months ago, T&I Logistics Tribe Product Owner Robert Carlsson started working with Larkhall on figuring out how planning could be done in a smarter way by improving Velocity’s planning capabilities. Velocity is the core planning and inventory platform for Logistics. It’s where we save customer information and it’s our tool for organising goods coming into and leaving the warehouse.
Starting with where we want to end up
“We looked at what we wanted to achieve: we wanted to avoid the flow of goods being slowed down by Brexit customs processes. We wanted to enable fast booking and handling and let customers track and trace their goods,” Larkhall Logistics Cold Chain Manager Gavin Kelly says. “We investigated what Velocity was capable of and worked closely with Robert and his team to find out what was possible, what we needed, tested new capabilities, provided feedback and ultimately ended up with a digital offering to customers where they get a triple benefit: they avoid paperwork, because everything’s done digitally. They can be sure that the customs authorities have all the mandatory documentation they need, because the built-in Brexit features communicate with the receiving countries on the continent. And they always have exact delivery times,” Gavin says.
From 15 minutes to 10 seconds
A booking on our end now takes about 10 second to process, down from 15 minutes when the process was manual and we had to phone customers with their delivery times. Customers can now see all their information in DFDS Direct, and we can free up time for our colleagues to provide even better service,” Mark says. “It’s been great working with T&I on making Larkhall even more digital and we look forward to continue working together on improving our warehouse management systems next, in 2021.”