Pioneering Achievement in Digitizing Bulk Material Transport and Waste Disposal Services – Accelerated Billing – More Transparency – Annual Savings of 100,000 Printed Delivery Notes
December 1, 2021 – With the introduction of the electronic delivery note in the short-term supply and disposal business, OTTO DÖRNER Aggregates and Landfills GmbH has reached another milestone in its digitalization strategy. Together with Solvares Logistics (formerly opheo Solutions GmbH) and the transport management and dispatch software opheo, the owner-managed company already replaced conventional paper delivery notes in spring 2021.
Approximately 98,000 construction site tours annually benefit from this, covering the supply of gravel and sand as well as the disposal of various materials. Through the digitalization of the process, delivery receipts are available to all parties without delay, which accelerates billing and increases customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the new solution annually saves approximately 100,000 printed delivery notes and numerous costly printer cartridges.
Solvares Logistics has been one of OTTO DÖRNER’s IT partners since 2015 with its opheo Transport Control Center and the opheo MOBILE telematics solution. At the start of the cooperation, OTTO DÖRNER’s 140 own and third-party vehicles in the Aggregates, Sand, and Landfills division were equipped with Samsung tablets featuring the opheo MOBILE telematics app. The app also plays a key role in electronic delivery notes and weighbills by guiding drivers step-by-step through the delivery and collection processes.
“For bulk material transport and waste disposal services, there have been no electronic delivery notes until now, because many influencing factors, special cases, and intermediate steps must be considered here,” explains Project Manager Steffi Weber, who is responsible for the commercial division at OTTO DÖRNER Aggregates and Landfills GmbH. The development of digital delivery and disposal processes by Solvares Logistics therefore took place in close coordination with managers, drivers, and dispatchers. “The collaboration with Solvares Logistics’ practice-oriented development team worked great,” emphasizes Weber.
The driver is “very well supported by the app, so that no information is forgotten when documenting orders and errors can be almost ruled out.” As an example, the authorized signatory mentions recording waiting times or documenting fruitless journeys.
When delivering gravel or sand to a construction site, the driver carries a weighbill and an electronic delivery note, which is signed on the tablet upon receipt of the goods. The weighbill is scanned using the opheo MOBILE app and the tablet’s integrated camera and converted into a PDF document. This file is automatically added to the respective order and is immediately available for billing, digital document dispatch, and archiving. In addition, the data and documents are automatically provided to customers via email.
When collecting or disposing of material from a construction site, opheo generates a preliminary electronic delivery note “in draft form.” At this point, neither the weight of the load nor the exact composition of the materials is determined. The customer acknowledges the preliminary delivery note with a planned quantity on the driver’s tablet, while the actual details regarding weight and material type are only determined at the landfill and then transmitted to opheo.
The weigh notes created here are also currently still generated analogously and scanned with the opheo MOBILE app, especially since the unloading points are not always locations of the OTTO DÖRNER Group. The complete digitalization of these documents is planned for a later project. “Digitizing the delivery notes and weigh notes in a single step would have been too extensive,” reports Weber, who had planned the delivery note conversion process very carefully.
This also included early notification of the approximately 3,000 active customers about the upcoming changes. “The conversion was an intervention in our customers’ workflow, ranging from small landscape gardeners to large construction companies,” says the project manager. Against this background, OTTO DÖRNER had several thousand information flyers printed and distributed by drivers to customers in advance of the conversion on February 1, 2021. It was clarified that customers would receive digital documents instead of the usual paper duplicates in the future. Although some questions arose in the first few weeks after the go-live, customers are now convinced of the advantages of electronic delivery notes.
Conclusion: OTTO DÖRNER’s expectations for the electronic delivery note have been met. Against this background, the sister company OTTO DÖRNER Aggregates and Environment GmbH is also currently being converted to digital accompanying documents.