Butcher Rolls-Out Digital Distribution Tech – Logistics Business® M

Walter Rose & Son, a British multi-award-winning butcher, has rolled-out a digital distribution system with software from Podfather. With a fleet of 28 vehicles delivering to catering establishments, high-end retailers, and homes across England, Walter Rose has transformed its distribution operation using Podfather’s route planning, vehicle check, delivery tracking, ETA notification and electronic proof of delivery solution.

The Walter Rose team uses Podfather to help plan delivery routes, and capture electronic vehicle checks before drivers leave the Devizes depot in Wiltshire. In the past, vehicle checks would have been collected on a paper sheet and delivered back to the transport office later. Now all teams have instant visibility if there is a defect that needs to be dealt with. All drivers use the Podfather app on a smartphone device. Job information is now sent straight from Podfather’s cloud-based back-office planning system to the driver hand-held removing reliance on handing out paper tickets and collating them when the driver returns.

“When I first saw the Podfather system I could clearly see that it ticked all the boxes in terms of what we needed to help update our delivery processes,” comments Gradyn Runyeard-Hunt, Transport Manager at Water Rose & Sons. “Walter Rose has been in business since 1847, much has changed since that time, but we were still relying on paper to plan and manage our deliveries. Now with Podfather in place, we have been able to move over to an automated system which is much better for us and our customers.”

Deliveries are now tracked via the app and customers are kept up to date with realistic ETA information, a function that is available to all Podfather core product users as standard. Once a driver has arrived at a customer site, electronic signatures and photographs are captured, as well as the precise time and location information that shows exactly what was delivered where when. Electronic proof of delivery has been a huge game changer for the team as they now have real-time visibility of what has been delivered where vital when some items are left unattended at the point of delivery.

“Podfather has made life so much easier as it gives us a clear picture of how our fleet is performing and what deliveries are being successfully made where all in real-time,” adds Runyeard-Hunt. “The support from the Podfather team has been exceptional, we really do feel it’s one of the best tech projects we’ve ever implemented.”

“Walter Rose is a fantastic example of what our core product is designed to do,” comments Colin McCreadie, Managing Director at Podfather. “We have designed an advanced, yet easy-to-use solution, that enables logistics operators to tackle the key issues that are inherent in the paper processes that so many companies still rely on.”

Podfather specialises in the development, delivery and support of route optimisation and electronic proof of delivery technology. A UK company headquartered in Edinburgh, Podfather works with companies of all shapes and sizes, from industry giants such as Tarmac and Breedon to well-known names such as Rexel and ODDBOX and everything else in between. Ideal for multi drop distribution operations, Podfather provides an end-to-end solution incorporating route planning and optimisation, vehicle checks, ETA notifications, tracking, electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) and reporting.