Dynamic transport planning pilot saves retailer money and reduces carbon emissions in advance of full network roll out   The Co-operative Food is cutting delivery miles and carbon emissions as a result of introducing dynamic transport planning technology from specialist provider Paragon to its logistics service operation.  

Dynamic transport planning pilot saves retailer money and reduces carbon emissions in advance of full network roll out

The Co-operative Food is cutting delivery miles and carbon emissions as a result of introducing dynamic transport planning technology from specialist provider Paragon to its logistics service operation.

The switch to a dynamic resource managed planning approach has already delivered a 5% cut in delivery miles at a pilot depot and they are expecting a CO2 saving of 5,000 tonnes a year across its entire distribution network comprising over 1,300 vehicles and 4,000 nationwide stores.

Improved fulfilment service to stores

Graham Leggett, senior logistics service transport planner for The Co-operative Food operations, said: “Using Paragon routing and scheduling software with resource manager for dynamic planning gives our depot planners a great tool to produce efficient, compliant, delivery schedules that help us provide a better service for our stores.”

He added: “The pilot at our West Thurrock distribution centre resulted in a 5 per cent mileage saving. We expect to save 5,000 tonnes of CO2 per year along with significant cost savings when we roll out dynamic planning across the network.”

As the business increased the number of stores and opened up new, larger depots, it became clear that they needed a sophisticated software tool to maximise the opportunities for efficiency gains. "We service nearly 4,000 stores in all corners of the UK, making about 34,000 deliveries, on 9,500 routes using 1,300 vehicles, every week. Our fixed routes generally provide efficient schedules, but volume fluctuations make it a challenge to meet our stores expected delivery times while maximising our efficiency. Using Paragon route planning software with Paragon Resource Manager enables us to meet the challenge," Leggett added.

Increased levels of automation

Every night, the planners update driver availability within Paragon resource manager. This provides the planning software with all available drivers, their start times, the vehicles they can drive and their maximum shift length. Then they enter the actual store order volumes and apply the store delivery windows to each order. The system then creates the most efficient delivery schedule that meets the needs of the stores, while ensuring the driver and fleet resources are available to deliver the plan. The order information also updates the warehouse management system to enable the warehouses to pick the orders for the new schedule.

"We are implementing dynamic planning at all our composite distribution centres before the end of 2012. They are Newhouse, Birtley, Lea Green, Andover and Huntingdon. We will also implement it from the start at our new depots, Avonmouth and Castlewood," concluded Antony Jowsey, The Co-operative Food logistics service and scheduling manager.