FTG: "Managing transport information can save a huge amount on costs"

Frits has worked in the industry for many years and his day job is plant buying at Van der Plas. Van der Plas is part of the Floral Trade Group, comprising several companies, each with its own separate customer focus. Frits' role within FTG involves implementing Floriday for their procurement process. He too sees many opportunities in unlocking more transport information through Floriday.

Overcapacity and uncertainty about order

Floral Trade Group sells stock to customers before it has been purchased on Floriday. A tightly organised logistics process plays an essential role in this. Frits: "The uncertainty from this way of working means we often have too many people. This comes at a high cost. It would really help us to know beforehand when an order is going to be delivered, so capacity can be adjusted accordingly."

Frits: "Every day, 100 growers deliver to us. In general, this goes super well. On average, we only have to call for 1-3 orders to find out where they are. It can happen that an order arrives too late. If we know this in advance, we can make timely adjustments to ultimately offer the end customer what we have agreed. Understanding when orders are delivered and being able to make timely adjustments when things go wrong are 2 important issues in which transport information can play a valuable role."

System learning based on historical data

Frits sees many opportunities from adding Track & Trace information on Floriday. "Using this data, we can feed into our own planning system. Based on historical data, we can predict the circumstances where mistakes are more likely to happen. We can also monitor our logistics performance better. Quality is paramount in what we supply, but logistics people waiting for something to do cost a lot of money. Based on this data, we can deliberately choose specific growers who make things easier for us."

Fewer phone calls

By now Frits knows everyone who answers the phone at the transport companies, he says with a laugh: "Surely it would be nice if these people could be doing other work elsewhere in the business. Track & Trace can be very helpful in keeping us up to speed. If we can then also predict things better based on historical data, I won't be reaching for the phone quite so often.

Transport information pilot

Several transport companies are currently running a pilot where Track & Trace information is added to orders on Floriday. The idea is for transport companies to scan the paperwork at various points along the way. This gives the buyer more insight into where a delivery is at any one time. We are also in the process of developing an app which will allow independent operators to scan delivery paperwork (despatch, delivery).

Would you like to get involved?

Floriday plan to keep testing with transport companies and the information buyers receive over the coming months. Would you also like to know more about these developments, or contribute your thoughts on this? Then get in touch with Floriday's support team on 0174-352070 or support@floriday.com.