OPSI Systems is Awarded the 2005 Logistics Achiever Prize for Logistics Excellence in Distribution Scheduling Systems
Johannesburg, South Arica, October 7, 2005:
OPSI Systems, in partnership with Unitrans and Natal Portland Cement (NPC), proudly accepted the award for excellence in distribution scheduling systems at the annual 2005 Logistics Achiever Awards held in Sandton, South Africa.
OPSI Systems’ entry outlined the development and implementation of CBASS (Cement Booking and Scheduling System), which was born out of specific needs identified at Natal Portland Cement (NPC).
In the first quarter of 2002, NPC and Unitrans put out an RFP for a system to handle the booking of orders and dynamic scheduling of deliveries. The cement industry is particularly sensitive to delivery times as building operations can be brought to a halt if the cement does not arrive when promised. This means that cement companies are faced with a difficult balancing act. They must keep their delivery promises, but not at the expense of wasteful under utilization of the fleet. To do this, a system was needed that could accurately book delivery times and keep track of the resources promised at any given time.
The following specific challenges were identified by NPC:
- Problem 1: Order entry sales clerks were not able to provide customers with an immediate, accurate and realizable delivery commitment at the time of booking. As a result, false delivery promises were being made.
- Problem 2: The existing system was not able to manage the delivery commitment throughout its lifecycle.
- Problem 3: The existing system needed manual debriefing of customer offload times to allow for quick-turnaround and late load crediting.
OPSI Systems was chosen as the developer of the new system that would address the above challenges and CBASS (Cement Booking and Scheduling System) was produced.
CBASS handles the following major functions in relation to the processing of sales orders from inquiry to completion:
- Supplies real-time options in terms of offload time to the order entry clerk at order entry and allows an order to be finalised in SAP only if scheduled in CBASS.
- Dynamically allocates the next best load to a vehicle to optimise daily deliveries.
- Interacts with the GPS tracking suppliers and uses the data to automatically debrief trip task times to allow for automatic quick turnaround and late load discounting.
- Learns offload times by load-size per site and road segment travel times to allow for better planning.
- Notifies a customer of an imminent delivery via SMS to allow for quick turnaround times.
CBASS provides for accurate planning, which is only possible through a high level of master data, including:
- Working hours per vehicle per day.
- Accurate GPS position of each delivery site.
- Accurate lead distance and times for sites automatically calculated via the comprehensive road network system from the GPS position of the depot to the GPS position of the site.
- Accurate modeling of loading/offloading times for each load size and site (updated via built-in GPS learning by site and load size).
- High level of information stored against each booking to allow for planning around commitments.
As a result of the CBASS implementation, customer service has been significantly improved through realistic delivery time commitments being made at the time of order placement. In addition, there has been a major improvement in the time taken to plan a schedule for the following day’s deliveries. Prior to the CBASS implementation, this process took two hours of two peoples’ time and currently takes half an hour of two peoples’ time, which equates to a freeing up of three man hours per day.
Prior to the CBASS implementation, Unitrans staff constantly had to react to challenges on‑the‑day, which adversely affected the schedule. CBASS has had the affect of freeing up the bag and bulk cement fleet manager’s time to deal with other day-to-day activities. Also, much more accurate planning is now occurring through access to GPS data, the learning of offload times per customer, and the learning of more accurate travel times on road segments.
OPSI Systems, NPC and Unitrans are looking towards the future to build upon the success of the CBASS implementation. The current processes are continuously being analyzed and the client-base is being monitored to keep tabs on what the market is demanding. Through these processes, OPSI Systems is constantly upgrading CBASS and providing new versions to the teams at NPC and Unitrans. Currently, OPSI is analyzing the need to streamline the Proof of Delivery (POD) process even more and, as a result, OPSI is developing a handheld solution that will enable an improved and real-time POD process that does not only rely on GPS data.
For more information, please contact:
OPSI Systems ®
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About OPSI Systems
OPSI Systems is a software development and consulting house based in Johannesburg, South Africa. We focus exclusively on tools and services related to the supply chain, with a specific focus on vehicle logistics and demand prediction. We supply off-the-shelf routing and scheduling tools but also welcome work on custom projects for individual clients.
OPSI Systems® and CBASS ™ are trademarks of OPSI Systems CC. All other trademarks and registered trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners.
About NPC
Natal Portland Cement (NPC), based in Durban, South Africa, has been in the cement business for over 40 years. NPC provides cement products to a variety of industries throughout Southern Africa.
NPC is a part of the CIMPOR (Cimentos de Portugal) group, which is a global cement conglomerate that employs tens of thousands and has an annual turnover exceeding a billion Euros.
About Unitrans Ltd.
Unitrans is positioned as a diversified transport, distribution and logistics group, active in freight and passenger transport, warehousing, distribution and logistics services, express delivery and courier services, vehicle retailing, fleet management vehicle leasing, financing and insurance, and car rental.
The group is active throughout sub-Saharan Africa and has more than 13,000 employees.
