Aptean Helps Blackheath Products With 20% Mileage Cut

With over 60 years of trading experience, Blackheath Products is a leading distributor to the construction and furniture industries in the UK—operating an annual turnover of nearly £30 million. With a strong workforce and large capacity warehouse to support its logistics operations, Blackheath is passionate about serving the needs of its customers in the most efficient and reliable way possible.

The Challenge

Blackheath was in the process of preparing for a major expansion program which would see its operation double in size. But with disparate systems in place and products being stored and routed separately, there was a disconnect between functions causing operational challenges.

• Undergoing major expansion program

• 100,00 square foot warehouse holding over £6 million of stock and goods

• Disconnected systems creating inefficient routes

• Under-utilization of fleet and resources

The Solution

As a leading distributor in the field, Blackheath needed a solution that would not only support the growth of the business, but that would also help to ensure transportation operations ran as efficiently as possible while maintaining the level of customer service the business is renowned for. The system needed to be able to:

• Effectively map efficient routes and schedules for the fleet of 25 commercial vehicles

• Provide a cost-effective solution to problems caused by disjointed warehouse operations

• Produce accurate route plans to ensure different vehicles weren’t sent to the same locations

The Result

Aptean Routing & Scheduling Paragon Edition has enabled Blackheath Products to double its business without putting any undue pressure on its route planning functions. With the current volumes, the advanced software ensures they are able to route all the orders in time, and in the most efficient way.

• Fuel and mileage savings of up to 20%

• Reduced planning time by 75%

• Filters and flags requests for each product type to ensure no duplications in the processes

• Supported operation expansion and increased vehicle utilization