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INDUSTRY WATCH
each planner. Although a successful operation,
the algorithm contained within a semi-
automated and automated solution will find
relationships with different datasets that drive
improved efficiency. The solution was also
loaded onto four laptops aligned to each of our
four delivery hubs which presented not only a
performance issue, but a significant DR risk.
What would some of the repercussions
be of not utilising a scalable solution in
the transport industry?
ArrowXL’s company CEO, Charlie Shiels
for the ‘big stuff’, storing and delivering large,
bulky and heavy items – the kind of things
that typically need two people to handle –
like fridges, furniture, garden benches and
swimming pools. Quite often these items need
installing or assembling in people’s homes
or gardens, so we do that too. In fact, every
month our delivery heroes successfully bring
products to around 200,000 households across
every part of the UK and Ireland. And because
one size doesn’t always fit all, we also look after
smaller items for customers too, providing a full
range of warehousing, fulfilment and delivery
services at sites across the country. This means
that our customers can use us for just some
or all of their requirements, scaling services up
and down as they need to.
The transport industry is constantly evolving
and we need to react to the changing
needs of both clients and customers. This is
essential for the success of any ambitious
logistics provider. In addition, the retail
market has significant seasonal trends
throughout the year which requires carriers
to be able to scale up and down with
minimum impact on service and cost lines.
What are the benefits of using a
vehicle tracking system?
A vehicle tracking has many benefits.
These include: the ability to intercept
proactively to reduce service failure and
enable redelivery when needed; the ability
to measure effectively planned versus
actual; improved compliance and driver
behaviour to reduce vehicle accidents, fuel
costs and third-party incidents; increased
vehicle accountability and reduced
insurance costs.
What are some of the complex
transport planning challenges the
company faces?
Technology, environmental and cost
challenges will have a significant impact in
the future. In addition, congestion charges,
increased regulation and compliance, electric
vehicles and reduced road speeds in built
up areas will all prove to be hurdles that will
need to be negotiated to ensure we exceed
the service demands of customers.
How do you plan to continue
innovating your offering for
customers in the next 12 months?
At ArrowXL, the drive to improve our
customer-centric service proposition is never
ending. We were leading innovators in
delivering our vehicle tracking app, AskAXL,
for customers and we have structured our
organisation to work both smartly and
collaboratively in delivering fit for purpose
change that either makes us easier to do
business with or drive excellence in our
customer and product journeys. We have
specific teams working on improvements
in each of these areas in an agile way that
ensures the pace of change is driven as hard
as possible. n
What customer communications has
the company been able to improve
since implementing the solution?
This has been particularly successful at
the completion of the daily planning
processes, as this drives ArrowXl’s proactive
communications to the customer through
SMS and email. Implementing Paragon
has enabled an improvement in our overall
planning capability and has resulted in
better delivery compliance against our two-
hour delivery window messages.
What was the driver behind the
need to replace manual and
semi-automated transport
planning processes?
The previous manual planning solution relied
heavily on the local road network knowledge of
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