Real-time delivery and invoicing solution allows distribution centres to operate at 100% capacity

Warehousing and the accompanying logistics are big business, with tight profit margins and relentless delivery deadlines. NTrack from Datasmith is a fast and highly effective real-time software solution that has helped some of South Africa’s largest warehousing and logistics companies become industry leaders.

With EPOD there are no printed delivery notes, everything happens on a mobile app that runs on an Android tablet, which drivers use during their shift. The tablets’ locations are constantly monitored and can be activated or deactivated remotely at any time.

Prevents theft/fraud

Drivers sometimes collude with the recipients to change the paper based delivery notes to give them free food in return for bribes. Having an electronic solution means everything is recorded electronically and uploaded back to the server for the warehouse staff to immediately view, audit and check up on any delivery discrepancies. This enables warehouse staff and management to act fast on any suspected fraud.

New software ensures your warehouse is always stocked to capacity

Director of Datasmith, Brandon Mitchell, says, “The most significant benefit to our NTrack clients is the real-time invoicing the system allows. Using NTrack, an updated invoice displaying exactly what has been delivered can be sent to their client within an hour of the delivery being offloaded. This means that our warehousing clients using NTrack can immediately re-order the stock they have just delivered from their suppliers, ensuring their warehouses are always stocked to capacity. Making good use of expensive warehousing real estate, with the associated costs like electricity and security, is key to running a successful distribution business”

From warehouse to client: optimal, turn-by-turn navigation

The system works on a tablet that each driver receives at the start of their shift, Instead of ineffective paper delivery slips and trip sheets, the system works on a tablet that each driver receives at the start of their shift. NTrack plans the drivers day optimally, providing turn-by-turn navigation that takes traffic into account to find the quickest, petrol-efficient route. It also prioritises more urgent deliveries. The trucks’ height and weight parameters are considered when calculating the routes to ensure that drivers are not navigated through unsuitable routes, like low bridges. The driver follows the NTrack’s instructions on their tablet from their first delivery to the last of the day, and then back to the warehouse.

Updated ETA messaging to clients

NTrack keeps clients updated with messages to let them know what time to expect their delivery, when they are the next scheduled delivery and if the delivery time changes. The system constantly monitors the driver’s location and estimated time of arrival (ETA) for each of the day’s deliveries. When the system picks up that a delivery ETA has changed, it sends a WhatsApp and email to the client informing them of the change, so they know exactly when to expect the driver. Logistic coordinators can log onto a website to see where all their drivers are at any time, which deliveries they have completed and which still need to be delivered. NTrack also emails the client a copy of the delivery note before the truck arrives, so they know what to expect with the delivery.

Real-time, updated and signed delivery notes

As the delivery is being done, the driver opens the delivery note on the tablet and ticks off what is being delivered. If there is a difference between what is on the delivery note and what is actually delivered, due to damages or loss, the driver can update the delivery note to reflect the change. Once completed, the driver captures the client’s signature on the tablet an Electronic Proof of Delivery, uploads the delivery note and moves on to the next order.

This information is immediately pushed to the business supply chain system where it updates the delivery and sends the client an invoice within an hour of them receiving the stock. As most warehousing businesses only restock the order from their suppliers once they have invoiced their clients, this automatic system allows warehouses to reorder stock on the same day as they delivered stock, ensuring their warehouses are always 100% full.

Manual systems are slow and invoicing delay means warehouse only 80% full 

Using slow paper-based systems often means a more-than-24-hour delay before clients can be invoiced. This is because drivers only arrive back at the warehouse late after their shift, so admin staff can only capture the information from the delivery notes the next day. Only once that information has been captured, can they invoice the client. This 24-hour invoicing delay results in the business ‘losing a day’ and their warehouses being only about 80% full. Paper-based, manual systems have the added risk of pages getting lost, damaged or misunderstood due to handwriting.

Eliminate credit notes 

Some logistics and delivery companies are aware of the invoicing delay issues when using paper based delivery notes i.e. that they have to wait for the driver to come back before invoicing their clients. To get around this issue a companies tend to invoice their clients before the delivery. Once the driver returns to the warehouse with the completed delivery note (indicating what was actually delivered), admin staff will then compare the delivery note to what was invoiced pre-delivery. Admin staff will create and process credit notes to the client's account.

For example: If they've invoiced (charged) the client for 30 burger patties but only 20 were delivered, they would process a credit note for the 10 burger patties that were not delivered. This causes unnecessary admin for the logistics company and the clients, complicating account balances and affecting cash flow.

Ability for drivers to work offline (without cell phone network coverage)

Cell phone coverage is not guaranteed, especially in more remote areas. Load shedding exacerbates the problem. The NTrack mobile app downloads the entire trip's data to the tablet when the driver starts the trip. This means that the driver can connect to the WiFi in the warehouse to start (download) the trip on the tablet and then go on to perform the entire trip's deliveries, capturing all required info even if there's no cell phone network coverage. Once the tablet is back into network coverage, the driver can upload all the completed delivery notes to the server.With NTrack EPOD system your drivers will not be affected by a loss of signal.