Food firm tracks lorries to boost efficiency
United Biscuits gets field service system
Food manufacturer United Biscuits (UB) has fitted fleet tracking equipment to nearly 200 lorries and trailers to make its deliveries more efficient.
The tracking equipment will include self-contained GPS and GPRS units capable of transmitting positional data and telemetry on each vehicle’s speed.
Before deploying the system, UB had only a limited knowledge of where its lorries and stock were when on the move, says James Bennett, the company’s central planning manager.
‘It was more about understanding which vehicles security said were at each of our 11 factories and our distribution centre, and having a stock count each week to make sure we knew which trailers were where,’ he said.
UB aims to integrate the tracking system with existing transport planning software, says Bennett.
The system will help the company – which makes products such as Jaffa Cakes, Hula Hoops and Jacob’s Crackers – to align trailers with factory production and manage stock levels, and will have a huge impact on customer service, says Bennett.
‘We do a lot of multi-drop work where we deliver to more than one place, so we will be able to check our tracking information against our plans to test how we are performing,’ he said.
UB expects to save about £100,000 from the Masternaut system, which will supply minute-by-minute updates on the position of individual lorries, dynamically replanning routes around vehicle breakdowns and traffic problems.
As part of the system, all truck drivers employed by UB will be issued with electronic ID keys designed to give automatic verification on where each driver is at any given time.
‘Because we can see where our drivers are we can use the system for driver training, and to monitor the hours they work to ensure that they take proper breaks,’ he said.
‘We will also be looking at linking the satellite tracking aspect of the system to our engine management equipment, to track things such as fuel efficiency.’
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