Braehead Foods, one of Scotland’s largest food wholesalers, is using Podfather’s fleet planning, route optimisation and ePOD software to streamline deliveries following their partnership with national food service company Reynolds. Braehead delivers quality produce across Scotland, and following the Reynolds agreement the company will use Podfather to help control costs, maintain service levels and respond to future changes in the sector.
Braehead Foods originally introduced the Podfather solution before the pandemic changed the face of hospitality in the UK. At the time it reported huge benefits in the form of significant reductions in the mileage, driving time and fuel consumption of its nationwide delivery operation, equating to a financial saving of £80,000 a year. The live-linked mobile app and back-office system, also delivered other benefits to the thriving business including a reduction in customer service calls and time to invoice.
“COVID, and the associated restrictions, changed the face of our business overnight,” commented Stephen Loye, Transport Manager at Braehead Foods. “We went from 20 plus vehicles serving more than 1,300 hotel and restaurant customers across the UK to managers delivering to frontline services in the local vicinity.
“With support from Podfather and a gradual return to normality, we have bounced back and are now stronger that ever as we face the next chapter in partnership with Reynolds,” he continued. “Using Podfather, on a daily basis, ensures our current delivery operation is as streamlined, cost effective and customer friendly as possible.”
Braehead Foods, based in Kilmarnock, operates from a purpose built 45,000 sq ft warehouse and factory. Now part of the Reynolds group of companies, Braehead delivers everything from chilled, ambient and frozen foods, through to bespoke products made exclusively for chefs in the Production Kitchen, serving customers across Scotland, from Peterhead to Portree and Aberdeen to the Isle of Arran.
Using Podfather, integrated with the companies’ ERP systems, Braehead allocates orders to vehicles, based on vehicle capacities, customer delivery windows, opening times and access constraints. Routes are optimised to ensure they are cost efficient and resource effective, and downloaded to the drivers’ mobile device. Real-time tracking, using the Podfather app, gives service staff total visibility of the schedule as it unfolds allowing for customer updates and adjustments if required.
Proof of Delivery reporting is totally automated, eliminating the need for paper documents, with date, time and geo coded photographs and customer signatures simultaneously shared with the back-office and the customer. This once again allows for timely intervention or customer update if required, and means the finance team don’t have to wait for the driver to return to the office and process paperwork before an invoice is issued.
“As we have navigated changes in the business one of the constant factors has been Podfather,” Loye concluded. “Its ease of use means that anyone can pick it up and run with it, in a matter of minutes, and this isn’t the case with other solutions we have been exposed to as we work with partner organisations.
“Podfather continues to realise benefits across our mobile operation and these will ensure we are in the best possible place to deliver speciality fine food and game for the next thirty years.”