DVSA talks Earned Recognition at Descartes UK Customer & Partner Event 2017

This November, the Descartes team was delighted to welcome over 100 logistics and supply chain professionals to its UK Customer & Partner Event 2017, hosting a day of topical presentations and networking opportunities focussed on driving operational efficiency and compliance throughout the supply chain.

Held at the state-of-the-art Jaguar Experience Centre in Birmingham, speakers at the event included representatives from DPD, Diageo, Martinspeed, B+S Logistik who talked about how they have adapted to change and taken advantage of the growth in e-commerce. Government agencies HM Revenue & Customs and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) took to the stage to discuss the new Customs Declaration Services Programme and the recently launched Earned Recognition pilot for road transport operators and how to achieve Earned Recognition status.

By rewarding compliant operators with fewer checks in return for access to their compliance data, Earned Recognition will help the DVSA focus its resources on the seriously and serially non-compliant. Accredited and compliant operators will, in turn, avoid roadside checks and any associated delays, expense or impact to their customers. Descartes is working with the DVSA to provide the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) required by the Earned Recognition pilot for tachograph data and the management of drivers’ hours and compliance through its range of SmartCompliance™ software solutions.

The event was augmented with Descartes news and advice on key industry issues, including the burgeoning management of peaks and troughs in eCommerce and the increasing importance of effective, scalable peak planning amidst a growing number of bargain days. Leveraging real-time information and real-time demand, advanced route optimisation can transform supply chain performance, but this must be as part of joined up, end-to-end operations, taking into account both in-store and online demand – recently discussed in another of our recent blog posts.

A ‘Fresh’ approach to Descartes customer service was also launched at the event; just as our customers are faced with an increasing demand for instant and interactive 24/7 availability 365 days of the year, we want to ensure we are offering them the same top quality service, with easy to use interface, access to instant information and FAQs, and an intuitive forum for a quick response to questions and queries.

Topped off with a Manufacturing Tour behind the scenes of some of Jaguar’s most iconic performance cars, we hope our guests enjoyed the day as much as we did, and would like to thank them all for their time attending.

If you would like to find out more about any of the topics discussed at the Descartes Customer & Partner Event 2017, contact a member of the Descartes team.