Supermarkets and wholesalers

Descartes supply chain and logistic solutions already help numerous supermarket chains and wholesalers in many countries around the world to improve their supply chains and reduce their costs.

From Goods-in management for their warehouses and regional distribution centres to the routes for delivery out to their stores and from helping their customer select their own delivery times to ensuring that their fleets of home delivery vehicles operates efficiently and on schedule, Descartes software has been providing supermarkets and wholesalers with enhanced customer service and improvements to their operations for many years.

Solutions for Supermarkets and Wholesalers

• Goods-in - Warehouse Dock Appointment Scheduling

  Dock appointment scheduling software helps streamline the process of good-in by moving the responsibility for warehouse deliveries or pickups out to carriers and suppliers.

  Having an appointment booking system for deliveries and collections ease the workload through the day and ensure that deliveries do not arrive at the same time and thus leaving vehicles to be loaded/unloaded.

  A web portal ensures that all partners in the supply chain have visibility and are involved in the process for requesting and booking scheduled dock appointments. Based on your rules, the system will automatically calculate the time required and accepts bookings or proposes alternatives.  

  Via a web-based interface your staff can see all the bookings and are able to simply drag and drop appointments, manually overriding as required.  

  Read more about Dock Appointment Scheduling

• Direct to Store Routes

  Whether you are delivering to out of town hypermarkets or local convenience stores that require smaller, more frequent deliveries, the Descartes routing solution can ensure that your fixed, dynamic and muti-drop routes are as optimised and efficient as possible. Automatically placing deliveries and stops in the most efficient order that minimises distance while considering delivery requirements and the latest road network information available is a standard part of the Descartes routing solution.

  Read more about Route Scheduling

• Home Deliveries

  A substantial proportion of sales now go via the delivery network directly to consumers’ homes and continues to grow as customer demand increases.

  The Descartes routing solution integrates with your online sales system and can assist with offering scheduled delivery slots while still ensuring that your routes will be as dense and efficient as possible. The best delivery slots are determined by the software and presented to the customer during their buying process. Using a method of continuous optimisation between the routing system and the scheduling system ensures that delivery slots are dynamically derived and scored economically based upon multiple variables, such as location, proximity to other previous deliveries, and road speeds or other restrictions.

  Read more about Home Deliveries

• Proof of Delivery

  Eliminating paper and streamlining operations is important for any modern delivery organisation, while being able to collect a proof of delivery as either a signature or in a contactless way is also important to ensure goods have been received and delivered without any damages.

  Read more about Proof of Delivery

• Cloud based Software as a Service

  Descartes Automated Route and scheduling optimisation is a SaaS cloud-based solution, enabling the operation of the software from any location with an internet connection. This is useful for planners who for various reasons might be required to work is different office locations or from home.