(MAY 2011) LEMVIGH-MÜLLER has invested in Transvision Fleet Planner with the objective of planning and optimising the distribution of steel, minimising transport costs and increasing customer service.
In Denmark, Lemvigh-Müller is the largest steel and engineering wholesaler with 1,300 employees and a turnover of approximately €600 million. The primary business areas are steel, metal, electrical supplies, tools, technical articles, plumbing and heating. The complete product range for all the business areas consists of a total of 300,000 items.
Transvision Fleet Planner has been acquired to optimise the distribution of steel as well as plumbing and heating products. Lemvigh-Müller will be using Transvision Fleet Planner for the route optimisation of approximately 50 trucks, distributing from three distribution centres in Odense, Kolding and Randers.
An important aspect of Lemvigh-Müller’s business is the fact that the company is able to deliver within 24 hours. In fact, Lemvigh-Müller’s customers can order until 4.00 p.m. and expect delivery before 10.00 a.m. Hence, Lemvigh-Müller has very limited time for planning the distribution and for picking and ranking. The company will use Transvision Fleet Planner for building plans incrementally during the day. By planning continuously throughout the day, picking and ranking can take place earlier and less stressfully, and deliveries can be carried out as promised.
Lemvigh-Müller operates with various product shapes and sizes, which complicates planning. Integrated with SAP, Transvision Fleet Planner will assist Lemvigh-Müller in overcoming the challenges posed by these odd shapes and sizes.
One of Lemvigh-Müller’s main incentives to choose Transvision Fleet Planner was the possibility of extending the system with a real-time module in a later phase. By integrating a mobile device with Transvision Fleet Planner, Lemvigh-Müller will be able to send route lists electronically to the drivers. Moreover, status messages will be sent continuously from the trucks to the planners in real time, enabling the planners to react proactively to any changes that may occur. With this outstanding overview of the operation, the planners can either re-plan during the day of operation or notify customers of possible delays.
With Transvision Fleet Planner, Lemvigh-Müller can expect a radically improved overview and an enhanced work flow; now, the company feels prepared for future challenges.
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