Safeway together with Wincanton, have launched a new integrated transport system which is set to transform its supply chain, placing Safeway ahead of the competition in terms of transport efficiency.
The new computerised scheduling system will increase operating efficiency by improving productivity and ultimately attract cost savings to the supply chain.
Following an extensive project into improving efficiency throughout each of Safeway’s 20 depots the new system will dramatically reduce the empty running of delivery vehicles and improve Safeway’s back-hauling – when vehicles pick up goods from suppliers on the way back to distribution centres after delivering to stores.
Safeway will be the first retailer to integrate its systems in this way. The new software designed by Paragon will use data from Safeway’s central system, which takes store orders and creates pallets and assigns them to vehicles, taking into account what supplier pick ups and deliveries are scheduled for that day. It will feed into global satellite positioning technology, which guides delivery drivers and gives stores advance warning when the delivery is 20 minutes away.
Mark Aylwin, Supply Chain Director at Safeway commented, “ We are always looking at ways we can make our supply chain more efficient and this new system is a major advance. The new computerised system will dramatically reduce the number of empty vehicles on the road, which in turn will provide us with significant cost savings to our supply chain right from the start of its integration.”
The combination of a number of new technologies has resulted in a solution that standardises all IT systems and procedures across Safeway’s transport network, resulting in an advanced integrated system.
The combination of the routing and scheduling systems and in-cab technology designed by Qualcomm, reduces the overall fleet size and improves vehicle utilisation by eliminating missed collections from suppliers and the time spent with the vehicle empty. Increased kilometres per driver hour and kilometres per litre of fuel are also hallmarks of this new system. Staff productivity, from warehouse operative through to drivers, is also significantly increased.
Wincanton’s Managing Director, Graeme McFaull commented, “The efficiencies brought to Safeway’s supply chain with the development of this new system are so extensive that we have been realising more benefits through every stage of the project. Not only does Pulsar represent a genuinely innovative step for Wincanton, but it also reflects Safeway’s commitment to improving service levels to its customers.”
