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Wren Kitchens Completes 56% More Customer Appointments and Saves £2 million Annually with Descartes
“Working with Descartes, we’ve saved 13% on annual fuel costs, which equates to approximately 354,000 fewer miles driven.”
Lee Holmes, Transport and Logistics Director
Annual Fuel bill reduced 13%
Productivity improved 56%
Annual savings £2 million
Wren Kitchens, is using Descartes’ dynamic appointment scheduling, route planning and optimisation solution to improve surveyor productivity allowing them to complete 56% more customer appointments and significantly reduce its overall ‘cost per appointment’, which has saved the company £2 million annually. The solution has dramatically improved the productivity of Wren’s surveyors, who typically visit a customer’s home to provide estimates for kitchen or bedroom renovation projects.
“As the business expanded, we outgrew our legacy in-house system. We wanted a more robust tool with the ability to book appointments with 2-hour time slots and optimise who, where and when a surveyor visits to carry out customer estimates,” said Lee Holmes, Transport and Logistics Director at Wren Kitchens.
“With Descartes, now when a customer books an appointment, the comprehensive solution works in the background to automatically optimise surveyor schedules and travel routes to appointments. This enables us to increase the number of appointments per day in an area, which not only lowers mileage and fuel consumption but also drives down the cost per appointment. Working with Descartes, we’ve saved 13% on annual fuel costs, which equates to approximately 354,000 fewer miles driven.”
Descartes Solutions
Descartes’ routing solution is part of its cloud-based last-mile solution suite, which helps distribution-intensive companies improve operational efficiency and customer experience. It supports dynamic delivery requirements, including same-day delivery, by offering flexible, efficient and cost-effective time windows and delivery options (delivery scheduling software). Using advanced optimisation technology, the solution reduces the distance driven per delivery to maximise delivery capacity and optimise the productivity of mobile resources. With an integrated GPS-based mobile application, the solution coordinates drivers, dispatchers and call centres to ensure routes are executed according to plan and exceptions are handled efficiently. Electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) captures delivery details and streamlines the delivery process, and self-service customer engagement allows customers to track orders in real-time. Additionally, the solution improves delivery sustainability through increased route productivity, which lowers CO2 per delivery, drives fuel savings and eliminates paper manifests and documents.
“We’re pleased that our routing solution is helping Wren achieve even higher standards of customer service excellence and exceptional productivity gains, which are driving compelling bottom line benefits,” said Gary Taylor, VP Sales, EMEA, Descartes,
“For companies with service-driven vehicle fleets, like Wren, efficient routing is critical in overcoming the challenges associated with rising customer demands and labour shortages. Descartes’ route planning and execution solutions help companies of all sizes in diverse industries transform operational performance and heighten the customer experience.”
About Wren Kitchens
Wren is the UK's number one affordable luxury kitchen retailer, also offering a wide range of affordable luxury fitted bedrooms. Employing more than 7,000 people, last year Wren delivered more than 130,000 kitchens to homes across the UK.
From their 110 UK and 13 US family friendly, VR equipped showrooms, Wren is committed to providing affordable luxury, high-quality design solutions and market leading finance options to ensure their luxury kitchens and bedrooms are available to more people than ever before. With a strong focus on innovation, customer experience and affordability, Wren continues to elevate homes across the UK and US. All Wren kitchens are designed and manufactured in their purpose built, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.
Wren’s future is not just about commercial success, it’s also about being people and planet positive. Their drive to future proof the business for generations to follow and lead the way to a healthier and more sustainable environment is underpinned by an evolving programme of environmental initiatives throughout its value chain, that is on track to drive Wren to Net Zero by 2030.
Speak with one of our experts to discover how Descartes can benefit your business.