Every day, our 65 professionals process the carcasses into pieces of meat, as ordered by our clients, in temperature-controlled spaces. These orders are then distributed directly from our cutting room in St-Truiden, across Belgium and the Netherlands, without breaking the ‘cold chain’. “We use three tractor trailers, four lorries and two delivery vans for this, all optimally refrigerated”, explains Bruno Daenen, who is the responsible person for transport and logistics at Jo Herbots. “Monitoring and reporting the temperature are requirements when it comes to groceries. All vehicles are equipped with premium temperature sensors. The data provided by these sensors is saved into the GPS-Buddy system. The fact that we can inform our clients proactively about the temperature, the exact location of the driver, and thus the expected delivery time, makes the difference in the client satisfaction.”
Knowing where the driver is at, with insight in the traffic situation on the road, in combination with accurate temperature monitoring, was the main reason for Jo Herbots to start using a modular track & trace system. After the implementation, it soon became clear that ‘having an overview’ offers great benefits to the daily operation.
Daenen: “As we are able, at any given time, to see the driver's location, the tasks he still needs to perform and what the situation on the road is like, there is no more need to make phone calls, which is also beneficial to the traffic safety. Since we are monitoring things ourselves, we can directly contact the client, if necessary, in the event of imminent delay. We notice that the client appreciates to be informed timely and proactively. We can also respond to changes in the planning more quickly, after all we know that the driver is in the neighbourhood and how much more travel time he will need.”
The GPS-Buddy temperature sensors in the vehicles are linked to the GPS-Buddy management platform. As such, monitoring of the temperature, according to the European Hygiene Regulations, is demonstrably guaranteed. “The orders must be transported at a constant temperature of 0 to 6 degrees Celsius. We have chosen to activate the system such that when the temperature falls outside that range, the office receives a notification, so they can immediately contact the driver, asking him to take action. After delivery of the order, our clients immediately receive an automated report about the temperature progression,” according to Daenen.
Insight and overview in the distribution process also contributes to 'driving greener', a development that has an important role within commercial transport. The drivers of Jo Herbots are stimulated to drive (more) efficiently and to take the most economical route.
