June/July 2008

Countrywide Healthcare Supplies, one of the largest suppliers to care homes in the UK, has opted for one of the newer routing and scheduling applications on the UK market to streamline its transport operations. Spokesman John Spray says the organisation is looking for 'significant reductions' in despatch time and mileage.

The system it has chosen is Direct Route from Appian Logistics, which is said to be one of the top 100 Logistics IT software providers in the US. Here in the UK it is supplied by AutoLogic Systems.

The system allows simple data import, interfaces with ERP systems such as Epicor and Infor, and is said to be suitable for handling the largest and most complex scheduling problems.

Extensions on offer from Autologic include real-time reporting of vehicle progress against schedule. This in turn can provide access for staff and customers to monitor status and track the progress of vehicles and orders.

According to John Spray of Countrywide: 'Although the quality of our service is excellent, we know there are opportunities to reduce the time spent planning loads as well as our transport costs.'