Hello and welcome to the eighth edition of InTransit eq, the newsletter that will be “ e ”-mailed you on a “ q ”-uarterly basis. We try to include articles that appeal to our clients and/or our prospects and other friends in the industry.

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Nicola Williams
Managing Director

PaperlinX approached us recently over some concerns with schedule quality. In particular:

• The large trucks were doing too many smaller orders
• Some large orders were not being scheduled on the bulk trucks
• Some customers were being serviced by two vehicles

We take this type of feedback seriously and so a detailed analysis was carried out. The analysis revealed several problems with the data that could not be addressed easily in PaperlinX's internal system. Therefore we created a series of macros within Odyssey instead.

Macro 1: Excluding small orders from large vehicles
This macro automatically changes the “Vehicle size” access code to 1 for customers who have placed a small order for that day. This ensures that a small truck is used to do the delivery, even if the customer can take a larger truck.

Macro 2: Forcing bulk orders onto bulk vehicles
This macro automatically changes the “Bulk?” access code to “B” for orders that should be delivered by a bulk truck. It does this by assessing the size of the order.

Macro 3: Checking multiple order compatibility
It may be necessary for sales staff to enter multiple orders for a customer, each with different requirements. For example, one order may need to be delivered much earlier than the normal delivery time for the customer. It is also possible that the second order may be too large to fit with the first order on the required type of vehicle.

In this situation, the delivery requirements for one of the orders may be incompatible with those of the other orders, giving Odyssey no choice but to use two vehicles. This is a difficult problem to spot, leading users to mistrust the schedules produced.

To solve the problem a macro was developed to identify customers whose orders could not be delivered on the same vehicle. Using this macro before scheduling now allows operational staff to modify the constraints, thereby improving schedule quality.

Scott Dowell
Senior Account Manager

For those of you not familiar with the process of setting up a Transit model to ensure implementable runs, the most important step is to complete a driver survey. This is where all drivers record the following:

• Arrive time at the depot (clock-on time)
• Depart time from the depot
• Actual arrive and depart times at each customer
• Earliest and latest arrival times possible for each customer
• Return time to the depot
• Clock-off time

This information is vital for the calibration of the model. It also provides the data to create a solid baseline against which the optimised runs can be compared. That is, it is the data used to create what we call an “action replay” of the current runs.

Nicola and I have accompanied drivers from several different companies whilst the surveys are taking place. This involves spending a day in the truck with the driver, helping him record the details mentioned above.

At first, I wasn't sure how much value I would get out of sitting in a truck all day – but now I couldn't think of a better way to discover how a business operates. I have seen the challenges they face, such as underground access doors too low, getting a loaded trolley up three flights of stairs, or trying to park a truck in the middle of the CBD. What an amazing experience! I'll never look at a truck the same way again. (Although, I'm not too sure about the 3am starts!)

In addition to the data they provide, driver surveys are an excellent way to recognize areas for improvement or change.

If you would like to learn more about conducting a survey and the benefits that can be gained, please contact us - we are more than happy to assist.

Samantha Ousley
Client Support Officer

Thuy Nguyen
Client Support Assistant

Does Transit sell a complete transport information system?

Simple answer: “No”. But “No” doesn’t really tell the whole story, because there are a number of things that are part of a transport information system that Transit Odyssey does do. Several of our existing clients use Odyssey as their transport information system. But transport information is a whole lot of different functionalities (often from different systems) of which Odyssey is a part.

A “perfect world” transport information system would include: control of master (customer) data; demand management (getting the right information at order time); transport planning (the part that Odyssey does); interface with warehouse management (to get the pick right); operational control (to control how the real transport operation deviates from the planned); in-vehicle data (to provide service to customers and capture information automatically); and a feedback process (that keeps planning the whole system integrated).

What Transit Computer Systems provides is a best-practice transport-planning tool with the advice, service and support to successfully implement transport planning in your business. Odyssey also integrates easily with the other systems (be they ERP, WMS, in-vehicle data or weighbridge management systems) that make up your transport information solution.

This focus on route and schedule planning allows us to deliver the maximum benefit for the minimum cost. No matter what your eventual transport information system looks like, the most savings will come from organising and planning your schedules. By keeping our system simple and independent, we know that we can provide immediate, measurable savings that will justify both the Odyssey implementation and the rest of the systems that make up your perfect transport information management solution.