Austrian building materials dealer and DIY store digitalizes its logistics — opheo is intended to improve customer service, route planning and capacity utilization — GoLive in January 2020
Monday, August 19, 2019 – The Austrian Schilowsky Baumarkt und Baustoffhandel KG, headquartered in Neunkirchen and with three other locations in Vienna and Graz, will switch the tour planning for around 60 trucks to the integrated transport control station and telematics system opheo from Solvares Logistics. The new system is scheduled to be ready for use on January 16, 2020. “We want to work paperless and provide our dispatchers with optimal tools,” says Christian Schilowsky, who is already managing the family business in the third generation.
Among other things, opheo was chosen for its good references in the Austrian and German building materials trade and the possibility of cross-location dispatching. As a further advantage, the company mentions the telematics function opheo Mobile, with which the drivers are consistently integrated into the digitalization process. In the course of this, every truck dispatched by Schilowsky will be equipped with a driver terminal of the type TomTom Telematics PRO 8375 Truck and the opheo Mobile app installed on it. In total, Schilowsky is investing in 58 driver terminals, eight of which are intended for its own fleet and 50 for the trucks of the freight forwarders.
From January 2020, destination addresses are to be transferred electronically from the opheo dispatch cockpit to the app and from there to the TomTom navigation system at the touch of a button. In the opposite direction, opheo Mobile transmits status information and position data. Among other things, Schilowsky intends to optimize route planning and truck loading times in the branches. For this purpose, the company will install ETA monitors in each branch, which will predict the estimated arrival times of the trucks.
The further project goals include a significantly improved vehicle utilization. In the course of the project, which started in August, the article master data in the ERP system will therefore be supplemented with dimensions and weights in order to enable optimized dispatching on this basis.
The notification function of opheo will make an important contribution to improving customer service. This allows notifications about the estimated time of arrival to be sent to the goods recipients via e-mail or SMS. The message is sent automatically as soon as the truck falls below a certain distance to the destination.
Schilowsky Baumarkt und Baustoffhandel KG is one of the largest and most traditional building materials dealers in Austria. The family business, founded in 1926 by Robert Alexander Schilowsky, specializes in classic building materials such as bricks, concrete and aerated concrete as well as drywall. In addition, the company, which is owner-managed in the third generation, operates DIY stores for tiles and wood as well as professional stores with construction equipment, construction site equipment, tools, construction machinery and much more. The company employs around 190 people at its locations in Neunkirchen, Vienna-Floridsdorf, Vienna-Donaustadt and Graz. Schilowsky Baumarkt und Baustoffhandel KG is a founding member of hagebau Österreich, an independent company in which, in addition to hagebau Deutschland, 37 Austrian building materials dealers and DIY store operators are involved as independent shareholders. Hagebau is the leading building materials trading organization in Austria.
More information at www.schilowsky.at