Case Study
The Saint-Gobain Weber GmbH was looking for an integrated soft-
ware solution for tour planning and telematics for the dispatch
and control of its building material transports. After thorough
market analysis, they opted for opheo from
Solvares Logistics. This enabled Saint-Gobain Weber to improve
customer service, optimize tours, and
streamline administrative processes.
Saint-Gobain Weber supplies the building materials market with dry mortar, expanded clay and construction chemical products and a comprehensive range of services. In distribution, both own and third-party vehicles are used, which are centrally dispatched from Merdingen for the Southern Germany region.
Bulk and Pallet
After the successful introduction of the transport management software opheo in the area of palletized goods, opheo was also rolled out in the area of bulk goods for the transport management of silo trucks and silo trailers.
Telematics
The telematics solution included in the opheo system played an important role in Saint-Gobain Weber’s planning. A mobile device in the vehicle ensures the exchange of electronic delivery notes with the driver. The integrated GPS tracking ensures permanent vehicle monitoring. The current position of the vehicles is continuously updated on the dispatch map. The integrated geo-fencing sends automatic status messages to the server, ensuring that dispatchers always have full transparency over the fleet and the status of orders. Via an additional black box, the device is connected to the digital tachograph, allowing dispatchers to continuously access current remaining driving and working times. Furthermore, the integrated navigation software ensures optimized routing, taking into account specific truck restrictions. This not only supports the driver but also reduces the kilometers driven.
The Dispatch Engine
The planning logic of opheo is stored in the so-called dispatch engine. All rules and restrictions relevant for dispatch and route planning are stored in this intelligent planning unit. All rules are automatically checked permanently in the background. Rule violations that occur, e.g. during rescheduling, are immediately displayed to the dispatcher. And the highlight: The set of rules can be freely supplemented by the user at any time.
The Dispatch Cockpit
The central dispatch view is the opheo Dispatch Cockpit, which consists of an order list, Gantt Chart and Dispatch Map. In the graphical planning board, the Gantt Chart, all tours are displayed in the course of time. A temporal rescheduling or a shift between the vehicles can be made via drag & drop. This gives the dispatcher the possibility to react to new situations within seconds. Different colors automatically indicate in which phase a tour is currently located. Intelligent propagation algorithms continuously calculate the effects of disruptions on subsequent tours during operation and warn of bottlenecks and missed deadlines.
The Dispatch Map
The dispatch map is based on map material from Map&Guide. Unplanned orders can be planned directly in the map onto existing tours via drag & drop. In addition, the map component offers automatic route planning with truck travel time calculation and toll calculation and position tracking of vehicles (tracking & tracing).
Seamless Integration
For a streamlining and acceleration of the transport management process of Saint-Gobain Weber, a close integration of opheo with the existing ERP system was necessary. The transport orders from Saint-Gobain Weber’s ERP system are therefore automatically transferred to opheo via an interface. After planning and transmission to the drivers, the information about order status and estimated times of arrival then run back from opheo to the ERP system. In this way, the sales department is also continuously informed about the current delivery situation.
Service and utilization optimized
“With the intelligent planning support provided by opheo, we have achieved our project goal of being able to react even more flexibly to the wishes of our customers. At the same time, we have succeeded in optimizing vehicle utilization,” explains Saint-Gobain Weber Logistics Manager Günther Wörz, outlining the advantages of the software. “Thanks to a continuous electronic data flow, we were also able to avoid duplicate entries, accelerate administrative processes and simply invoice more quickly.”