Feb/Mar 2008

Instarmac, a leading UK manufacturer of highway maintenance, concrete repair and tile adhesive and grouting products, says it has saved 12 per cent in transport costs since adopting a combined routing and delivery management package from Paragon Software Systems. It has also brought down delivery lead times by nearly 50 per cent - from 3.2 to 1.8 days - including a typical 24-hour turnround in the especially competitive adhesives market.

Although Paragon is known best for its routing and scheduling software, which Instarmac was already using, the company has also moved into the fleet visibility and management market with its Fleet Controller system. This can integrate with third-party tracking systems from various suppliers, and Paragon has just strengthened its ties with one of them, Navman, under a reseller agreement (Products & Systems, page 30).

It is Navman that underpins the Instarmac application. Its Navman's OnLine AVL tracking system has been fitted across the company's 16-strong vehicle fleet, and enables it to monitor performance much more accurately than before. Among benefits, it has been able to cut the level of subcontracting required - which has contributed significantly to the overall savings.

Warehouse staff have also benefited from the new system, since they can plan workflow more precisely and prepare in advance to load vehicles as they arrive at the depot.

 

And group operations director Graham Stafford says the system has enabled managers to see the total cost of their operation and in particular calculate the precise cost of making each delivery - 'a huge bonus, especially at a time of rapid expansion.'