CASE STUDY:
Klarius Group installs WinRouteTM optimisation software for strategic planning that ensures high
customer satisfaction levels (and minimises costs) . The UK operation of the Klarius Group (www.klarius.eu), one of Europe’s largest and fastest growing manufacturers of aftermarket car parts, has improved their strategic planning process, maintained high customer satisfaction levels and minimised delivery costs by the introduction of WinRoute vehicle routing & scheduling software (www.winroute.co.uk) implemented by Integrated Skills Limited (ISL, www.ukisl.com).
The two current major market brands within the Klarius Group are Klarius Emission Control Products and QH Automotive Parts. Both the Klarius and QH product brands represent a range of OE quality replacement automotive products. With a portfolio of over 100,000 parts, over 80,000 parts are supplied every day, to over 5,600 delivery points in more than 136 countries.
WinRoute has enabled Klarius in the UK to greatly improve the planning operation ensuring that master routes are efficient but flexible enough to accommodate new customer orders. With a customer commitment of being - “Big on Delivery” - it is essential that customer orders are delivered on time. Andy Taylor, Operations Director Logistics at Klarius Group in the UK explains that WinRoute allows his planning team to plan routes more cost effectively “ensuring that new customer orders are fulfilled on time but without adding excessive costs to each new delivery”.
He goes on to explain that “WinRoute synthesises our route planning ideas quickly and easily so that modified routes are produced far more efficiently than the previous manual planning method”. Serving 300 customer sites daily throughout the UK with 27 vehicles working out of 5 depots the routes once planned are reviewed and modified on a periodic basis taking into account new customer sites.
Routes are planned resembling ‘spokes on a wheel’ fanning out from each depot based on order volume and type, vehicle capacity, driving time and mileage. Discounting other software suppliers early in the procurement process due to price, other factors in the Klarius choice of WinRoute included the rich functionality and adaptability of the software, the professionalism of the ISL team and the proven market success of the product.
Andy Taylor continues by highlighting the importance of the ISL implementation team’s knowledge of logistics operations, “ISL understood our strategic planning requirements and configured the WinRoute system to meet our needs”. Looking forward Andy says that the ability to print routes on a map will enable the sales team to better target ‘clustered’ prospects along or near existing routes. Furthermore, Andy is looking into the possibility of deploying WinRoute into the continental Klarius Group operation. WinRoute already has over 200 installations in continental
Europe including a number in the automotive parts sector.
Andy Taylor, Operations Director Logistics says:
“The software paid its money back”
“Improved strategic planning capability”
“Synthesises our route planning ideas quickly and easily”