Food & Beverage Logistics Software | Descartes Routing UK
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Best Food & Beverage Logistics Software

Fleet Software for Food & Beverage Companies

Logistical challenges within food and beverage industries

Serving demanding consumers with time-sensitive needs is an established requirement for food and beverage distributors. It’s a daily reality. If distributors don’t get the right products to consumers at the right time, in the requested location and in good condition, their bottom line will suffer.

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Overcome Food & Beverage Distribution Challenges

Route planning

Effectiveness of Route Planning

Order fulfilment is difficult for operational managers at food and beverage organisations without effective fleet route management software. It is important to ensure perishable goods are moved quickly and efficiently to ensure that food and beverage products do not spoil in transit. Your logistics and fleet operations should place a high priority on delivery route optimisation, with the potential to automate route planning all the way to last-mile delivery.

Fleet costs

Fleet Costs

Within a fleet of delivery vehicles, there are numerous approaches to cut transportation and fleet costs. But at its core, effective route optimisation and delivery scheduling solutions will increase delivery capacity and save your business time and money while also increasing customer satisfaction with your deliveries.

Sustainability

Market Trends

Market trends constitute a significant driving force in the distribution of food and beverage products. The trends in sustainability and emissions, for instance, are important. It's critical to consider this while optimising your food and beverage supply chain and in particular your distribution network and to turn it into a competitive advantage rather than a daily time consuming challenge.

Take your food distribution to the next level

Taking Food Distribution to the next level

Download our white paper and discover how your company can be more flexible, responsive, and profitable.  

Industry leaders are embracing new these technologies, learn how in our free white paper!  

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Descartes is proud to be a member of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors which plays a crucial role in representing and protecting the interests of its members who provide food and associated products to over 400,000retail and catering businesses in the UK. Members include small independent stores, large restaurant chains, local coffee shops, hospitals and schools. 

Distribution centre to store visibility

Leading retailers both large and small depend on Descartes technology to better manage their end-to-end processes involved in the transportation of goods from distribution centres to their stores.

Logistics Solutions for Food and Beverage Transportation, Distribution and Route Optimisation

Food and beverage suppliers are embracing the next generation of fleet optimisation technology to cut operating costs, increase productivity, and meet higher customer expectations, while ensuring product integrity and security. 

Descartes specialises in providing fleet optimisation SaaS solutions to help food and beverage manufacturers, suppliers and distributors improve productivity and reduce costs. 

In a single integrated suite, Descartes offers the key capabilities needed to plan and execute efficient delivery routes effectively; communicate with drivers in real-time; improve distribution centre productivity and measure real-time and historical performance – all while taking customer service to the next level. 

Solutions & Results

Challenges

  • Timely Deliveries
  • Efficient Routes
  • Fleet Costs
  • Sustainability
  • Customer Experience

Solutions

  • Last mile optimisation
  • Route scheduling & planning
  • Mileage and fuel saving
  • Reduce CO2 and emissions
  • Route optimisation

Seen enough? Use the form below to contact a food and beverage industry expert and optimise your logistics and fleet operations.

 

Customer Successes

Additional Food & Beverage Logistics Solutions

Enhancing Food & Beverage Deliveries: Our solution empowers customers to select preferred delivery windows during purchase, catering to their busy schedules. 

  • Dynamic delivery scheduling for home deliveries

    Incentivise delivery slot choices based on existing nearby orders, This customer-centric approach not only benefits the customer but also improves operational efficiency. Missed deliveries are avoided by enabling customers to pick delivery slots that are most convenient fo rthem.  This flexibility also eases the burden on the delivery fleet in accommodating non-next-day deliveries. 

    Descartes' delivery scheduling system seamlessly integrates with route optimisation.  This synergy ensures continuous and real-time scheduling of loads, even beyond the vehicle's departure from the depot. This adaptability allows for prompt adjustments for last-minute changes in timed deliveries or cancellations, guaranteeing agile responses to dynamic industry demands in supply of food and beverage items. 

    Benefits of dynamic delivery scheduling:

    • Meet customer time-window commitments with confidence
    • Minimise fleet miles
    • Increase route density

     

    Learn More About Delivery Scheduling.

  • Route scheduling and last mile delivery

    Route and last mile optimisation are critical for food and beverage companies engaged in home deliveries and deliveries to the hospitality sector. Flexibility and efficiency are paramount, especially during peak demand periods. 

    Visualise orders on a map as the software dynamically constructs street-level routes. Dispatchers retain control, managing exceptions with simple drag-and-drop actions. 

    Transitioning from manual route creation to 'exception management' using Descartes' routing Software as a Service Food and beverage suppliers are able to cut route planning time to as little as 15 minutes daily. This transformation enhances efficiency, ensuring timely deliveries while saving valuable resources. 

    Learn More About Last Mile Delivery

  • Enhancing food & beverage delivery tracking

    Our mobile app provides delivery notifications and real-time vehicle tracking on a map, reducing inquiries about delivery location and status. 

    Learn More About Delivery Visibility

  • Mobile applications empowering food & beverage delivery drivers

    Hosted on a driver’s handheld device, mobile applications can assist the driver with navigation, customer messages, delivery consignments, paperless proof of delivery, photographic evidence of a delivery location or any damages, with the ability to notify the office of damages and exceptions. 

    Real-time location tracking of drivers is also relayed back to the office, ensuring visibility into their whereabouts and status within the food and beverage delivery chain. 

    Learn More About Mobile Applications

     

 

Measurable Food and Beverage Industry Benefits

In addition to qualitative improvements in productivity, driver accountability and customer service, Descartes’ customers have experienced:

  • Up to 30% improvement in on-time delivery
  • Up to 33% increased vehicle utilisation
  • Up to 50% more stops per route
  • Up to 20% increase in DC space usage
  • Up to 15% reduction in labour costs within the DC

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