A fast, fresh partnership

A fast, fresh partnership

The business partnership between Imperial Fast ‘n Fresh, Woolworths and Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s FleetBoard is the perfect demonstration of how this telematics-supported service is effortlessly allowing operators to lower costs and increase efficiency.

Fleet management has become more than a necessity for any logistics operator that aims to maintain a competitive advantage.

“The Imperial Fast ‘n Fresh fleet is testament to the fact that FleetBoard does exactly what it was designed to do: encourage a proactive and more economical driving style, which results in reduced wear and tear, so that service intervals for vehicles with an active FleetBoard contract can be extended,” says Kobus van Zyl, executive director of Daimler Trucks and Buses.

“In addition, Fast ‘n Fresh can rest assured that all its relevant information is recorded and analysed by a Mercedes-Benz dealer. The company is then sent a schedule advising when the next service is due. The schedule includes maintenance and service items to all the vehicles that are fitted with FleetBoard,” he continues.

“By monitoring driving style, FleetBoard assists retailers, like Woolworths, to protect the environment by reducing CO2 emissions. Transport solution providers – such as Fast ‘n Fresh – benefit from lower fuel consumption, which saves money.

“In addition, one of the main advantages of installing FleetBoard is having the backing of the up-time team, which is available around the clock to provide technical support and monitor incoming information in real time,” adds Van Zyl.

Fast ‘n Fresh is a market leader in the provision of multi-temperature, cost-effective distribution solutions for leading retailers. FleetBoard fits perfectly into the company’s integrated transport management approach.

A fast, fresh partnership“It means that Fast ‘n Fresh has a single view of all the Mercedes-Benz trucks that form part of our fleet, as well as pertinent information such as driver patterns, telemetry, refrigeration models, tracking systems and other data. Having this information makes managing our assets much easier and it is possible only because of the FleetBoard system,” says Greg Woodbridge, MD of Imperial Fast ‘n Fresh.

“We are always looking at ways to continuously improve our operations and offerings to clients such as Woolworths. We are able to adopt a proactive approach to providing distribution solutions, because FleetBoard provides us with all the information we need at a glance, especially on the handy app on our phones,” adds Woodbridge.

Besides allowing Imperial Fast ‘n Fresh to monitor, collect and interpret crucial data, FleetBoard also provides added benefits to this distribution service provider.

“We have a driver training programme that is complemented by a rewards programme. Using information such as fuel consumption, driver habits and time management – all gathered from FleetBoard – we are able to use this information to calculate driver scores, which are used to reward our 660 drivers. We lean heavily on the system. From the collected data, we are able to create further developmental opportunities for our employees,” notes Woodbridge.

Says Ian Bouwer, head of logistics at Woolworths: “Our strategic partnership with Imperial Fast ‘n Fresh and Mercedes-Benz has enabled us to drive innovation, with FleetBoard being just one of many initiatives implemented.

“A key component of Our Good Business Journey is the efficient management of transport. We have set ourselves targets to decrease our impact on the environment. The reduction of CO2 emissions is a key component. The benefits provided by FleetBoard will enable us to reach and exceed our stated targets.”

Woodbridge says: “Fast ‘n Fresh will never be complacent and we are always looking for opportunities to be the best at what we do. We love engaging our partners and customers strategically, so that we deliver high-performing and innovative solutions. This means taking advantage of Mercedes-Benz’s value chain offers such as Telligent Maintenance, which increases our uptime.

“We will not compromise on quality and using Mercedes-Benz technology has resulted in us delivering 98 percent of all our Woolworths products on time.

“We are always looking for ways to partner with Mercedes-Benz. We are a benchmark fleet for Mercedes-Benz as our fleet is used to pilot any innovations that it proposes. The latest of these is Dispo, a logistics management system that assists with direct online dispatching of orders to the truck and real-time monitoring of delivery status, resulting in fewer unloaded and unpaid trips,” concludes Woodbridge.

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Focus on Transport

FOCUS on Transport and Logistics is the oldest and most respected transport and logistics publication in southern Africa.
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