Catering wholesaler G&B has digitised its transport operations using the MobileNXT platform. The result is improved driver management, reduced administrative burdens and higher customer satisfaction. Peter Blok and Sascha Kouwijzer of G&B: “We can now see at a glance what the expected delivery time for an order is.”

In 1998, Peter Goedegebure and Marnix Boone began selling fish from their garage in Yerseke, the Netherlands. Since then, their company G&B has grown into a full-service catering wholesaler with a range of over 7,000 products. The garage has been swapped for several premises in Yerseke, including a hall for preparing fresh fish and meat and a logistics centre with cooling and freezing cells for vegetables, fruit and fries. “We also have a separate building for dairy and non-food products. We supply virtually everything that restaurants use in their kitchens,” explains Peter Blok, head of the office team at G&B.

For transport, G&B has its own fleet of 92 delivery vans. With this, the Zeeland-based family business covers an area stretching from Zandvoort and Almere in the north to Ghent and Brussels in the south. “Quality and service are our greatest strengths,” says Blok. “Every day, we personally select the best products and every day we deliver them fresh to our customers. If a restaurant wants a 170-gram satay, we prepare a 170-gram satay for them. And if they’ve forgotten something, we do everything we can to deliver it to them the very same day.”

Challenges in transport planning

The quality and service have led to a growing customer base, which created challenges in transport planning. For a long time, planning was a completely paper-based process, with the planner manually compiling route lists and arranging delivery notes in order. With the expanding customer base now comprising 1,500 addresses, creating the route lists became increasingly difficult. “All the knowledge about customers was in our planner’s head,” explains Blok. “He knew exactly which customer wanted their order delivered through the restaurant’s front door or via the back gate. Sometimes the driver needed a key or an alarm code to be able to leave the order.”

The initiative to digitise the process came from the planner himself. He asked for a database in which he could record customers’ delivery preferences. “That prompted us to investigate what technological solutions were available,” says Blok. “Our ERP system offered a solution, but it wasn’t sufficient. That’s why we ended up with ICT Logistics and their MobileNXT platform.”

No more manual processing

With the help of MobileNXT, the transport operation has been fully digitised. Every night, the platform receives the route lists from the ERP system. MobileNXT converts these into digital routes, places the stops in the optimal order and calculates which customer will receive their order at what time. “When G&B’s drivers log into their MobileNXT app in the morning, they can immediately see which route has been prepared for them. With just a few clicks, they can navigate to customers, request additional information and enter relevant data,” explains Niki Schuitvlot, who oversaw the project as a Business Consultant for ICT Logistics.

Information about customers’ delivery preferences is now also available in MobileNXT. “Sometimes a driver takes photos or videos of the delivery location, which we can also add. Through the app, we can share all the information drivers need for their journey,” says Kouwijzer, whilst Blok highlights the additional checks that have been built in. “For every delivery, the driver receives the delivery note on his screen. If the quantities are incorrect, he can indicate this by adding or subtracting. That information is automatically checked in the background. The driver can also indicate on his screen how many crates he is taking back. We no longer need to process that data manually afterwards.”

Real-time visibility of progress

The dispatcher also benefits from MobileNXT. The platform gives them real-time visibility of the progress of all journeys. If necessary, they can intervene by adding or removing stops, or by starting a chat with the driver. If a driver reports a problem or exception whilst en route, that information, including any photos, appears immediately on the planner’s screen. This enables them to take swift action and inform the customer. Once a delivery has been completed, the digital delivery note can be emailed to the customer straight away.

“Thanks to MobileNXT, we can see exactly what time a driver will arrive at their customers’ premises. If they run into delays en route, the estimated time of arrival is recalculated. That’s very handy, as we receive dozens of calls every day from customers wanting to know when they’ll receive their order,” explains Blok. “Via MobileNXT, we can now see the estimated time of arrival at a glance. We used to have to call the driver first to find that out. This saves us a lot of phone calls,” adds Sascha.

Increasing customer satisfaction

Digitising the transport operation has saved G&B a significant amount of time. “Take the packaging administration alone. Previously, it took three of us an hour and a half to process all the receipts from the previous week; now it’s all done automatically,” says Sascha. “The fact that the administration is now more accurate is an added bonus. Sometimes a receipt would go missing, meaning the records were out of order and customers would ring up. Since we’ve been using MobileNXT, we’ve seen customer satisfaction rise.”

The drivers are also pleased with the digital solution. “Some are a bit more adept at using the app than others, but they all use it. Even the two drivers who are over eighty years old,” says Blok. “It also makes things a lot easier for them. In the past, when making a return delivery, they had to fill in a form by hand and put it in the packaging. Now it’s all done via the app and appears immediately in our ERP system. We no longer need staff to decipher the drivers’ handwriting and enter the information into the system.”

Wish list

This success is the result of close collaboration between G&B and ICT Logistics. “In close consultation, we have transformed the existing working method into a digital process in which planning, execution and administration are integrated. The MobileNXT platform, linked to G&B’s ERP system, supports this process. Now that the solution is up and running, we provide the necessary service and support,” explains Thomas de Wit, Senior Business Development Manager for MobileNXT at ICT Logistics. G&B is satisfied with the service and support. Blok: “If there are any issues, we have direct contact, even at weekends, and ICT Logistics quickly provides a solution.”

Thanks to a multi-year contract, G&B is assured of future updates and upgrades. This means the company can continue to benefit from new functionalities in the future. However, Blok and Kouwijzer already see opportunities to use MobileNXT even more intensively. Consider, for example, the possibility of automatically sending customers a notification with the expected delivery time. “That’s already possible with MobileNXT, but we’re not using it yet,” says Blok. “We’re also considering implementing MobileNXT’s asset management module, so we can digitise our fleet management too. That’s on our wish list as well.”