West-Midlands based, BJS Home Delivery, the ‘two-man’ home delivery and warehousing experts, are investing in a Mandata TMS and integrated ePOD solution to support their fast-expanding general haulage operation, BJS Haulage.
With over 50 relatively new artics already on the road, BJS expects to more than double its fleet size in the coming months and as a result, says Operations Director Amarat Gill, the business needed a comprehensive transport management system to keep pace with their ambitious growth plans.
“We have many years’ experience delivering furniture to homes and offices throughout the UK and our 250-strong van fleet is backed by the latest IT systems.” Explains Amarat. “However, our expansion into the food, retail, construction and manufacturing haulage sectors also requires its own dedicated fleet and transport management control system and that’s where Mandata comes in.”
According to BJS, Mandata TMS will integrate with each element of the haulage operation – from order entry, job planning and execution to electronic proof of delivery and invoicing.
Also, BJS say that route planning with pre-plan ETAs was a deciding factor when choosing Mandata: the ability to validate plans and check that they are achievable prior to commencing each job will enable the company to minimise costs, optimise resources and ensure customer expectations are met.
But most importantly, the BJS traffic team working across multiple sites and operating depots, will be able to access and view everything in real time, while keeping customers up to speed regarding each consignment.
“Real-time data feeds such as live drivers hours, vehicle location and load progress with live ETAs on an arrivals board, will enable us to find and resolve problems early,” continues Amarat “so if there should be an issue, we can see it coming and manage the situation before it becomes a problem.”
To further connect the traffic office with customers and realising BJS Haulage’s objective to maintain complete transparency throughout the delivery process, text and email notifications will keep customers informed in real-time regarding each delivery.
Also, the Mandata Manifests app enables drivers to complete each job using a truck-aware Sat Nav and with electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) capturing each delivery into the Mandata TMS and customer portal, BJS can provide real-time confirmation and onward invoicing to the customer. Moreover, the labour-saving system eliminates paperwork, scanning and time-consuming manual processes.
Added to the economies and efficiencies which the system brings, through integration with the company’s Sage accounting system the BJS admin team are also able to avoid time-consuming double-entry and instantly retrieve past orders to review rates and delivery instructions which ensures each job is consistently priced.
“All in all,” concludes Amarat Gill “Mandata TMS allows us to apply the same precision and control to our general haulage business as we achieve with home deliveries. Customers in the home delivery sector expect and receive regular updates regarding the whereabouts and ETA of every order. With Mandata TMS our haulage and logistics business will certainly live up to this expectation and as we continue to grow, I’m sure Mandata TMS will grow with us.”
Operating from its central storage and distribution hub in Wednesbury, West Midlands, BJS Haulage provides part and full loads, supported by hubs in Scotland, Yorkshire, London, Nottinghamshire and East Midlands. For more information see https://bjshaulage.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company/69563415
