Consolidation within the UK Logistics Sector
Posted on 14. Jul, 2011 by Megan in News, Product
In the last six months we have seen a growing number of large vehicle companies moving their operations abroad and smaller companies having to merge together to avoid being pushed out of the market.
According to new research from Barclays Corporate and Grant Thornton, overseas ownership of the top 50 UK logistics companies has increased to 52% over the past five years, with their combined turnover equating to 69% of that of the whole top 50, a surge of more than 40% over five years.
The research showed that 58% of respondents believe merger and acquisition activity in the sector will increase over the next 12 months, with over a third of those companies surveyed actively planning acquisitions.
The research also indicates that UK logistics firms need to be more successful in expanding overseas if they want to remain independent. Rising costs is seen as the biggest issue facing the sector over the coming 12 months.
The Barclays and Grant Thornton research also shows that 83% of businesses are concentrating on improved vehicle efficiency as a measure to counter rising costs, with only 15% currently hedging against fuel prices. With the growing demands of more improved vehicle efficiency and the need to counter rising costs more and more people will be exploring the idea of telematics systems within their trucking fleets.
Telematics units will allow users to identify key problems within their fleet such as over consumption of fuel, bad driving behaviour, etc. and will allow them to analyse the overall costs of these issues. Microlise’s Transport Management System can provide logistics companies with the ability to increase their fleet utilisation & productivity, reduce their transport & operating costs, increase their fuel economy & lower their CO2 emissions, improve customer service, improve driver safety & driving style and increase asset & load security.
In today’s current market there is a need for lower overhead costs through better driving practices and vehicle tracking. Microlise’s end to end solution will allow users to deal with all the different variables that can contribute to the overall company profit margin. Microlise’s mission is to empower customers with the ability to reduce their costs and the ability to be environmentally friendly by maximising the efficiency of their transportation.
For more information on Microlise’s Telematics Unit feel free to contact us at enquiries@microlise.com or on 01773 537000.
Wellglade Group rolls out Microlise system to Trent Barton Bus Division
Posted on 19. Apr, 2011 by Alex in Customers, News, Product
After an extensive review of suppliers and detailed piloting process – where a 9% fuel saving was achieved – Wellglade Group and Trent Barton Buses have selected Microlise as their transport management solutions provider.
• Trent Barton drivers Hughie Cronin (left) and Callum Draper go green with the help of Microlise transport technology.
Jeff Counsell, Trent Barton Managing Director commented, “With fuel costs spiralling, we don’t want that to put a heavy burden on fares and at the same time better fuel efficiency means reduced exhaust emissions. Thanks to this innovative technology, drivers can keep a constant eye on the fuel consumption of the vehicle using a colour-coded monitor in the cab and adjust their driving style accordingly.”
Jeff Counsell also explained the company uses around ten million litres of fuel a year, and every 1p price increase leads to an extra £100,000 on its annual fuel bill.
Microlise’s core tracking and telematics system, with additional modules, is to be fitted to 338 buses in the Trent Barton fleet.
The system deployed includes integration into the vehicles CANbus from the Microlise 3rd generation Tracking Unit (MTU3) to enable detailed driver performance information, displayed in the simple A-G rated Safe & Economical driving reports. Trent Barton will also be implementing the Microlise designed and developed Driver Feedback Module, to enable instant driver performance feedback in the cab of each bus.
Additionally, the system will be interfacing to the Trent Barton YOU TEXT US service whereby passengers receive estimated times of arrival for specific bus routes, providing increased added value to all users of the Trent Barton Bus service.
“Although Microlise operates on a worldwide basis, it’s been a pleasure working so closely with local bus operator Trent Barton. In providing this Tracking & Telematics solution they are not only saving fuel and reducing carbon emissions but also improving passenger safety through driver performance improvement and training. The initial order to equip over 300 buses with Microlise Tracking & Telematics was a result of a solid pilot programme which showed an excellent return on investment, sustained throughout the process. We look forward to helping Trent Barton maintain and add to the benefits that our system has provided.” Stated Chris Wallace, Microlise’s Sales Director.
FTA trial finds that telematics brings convincing returns to smaller fleets
Posted on 15. Apr, 2011 by Alex in Customers, Microlise - In the News, News, Product
A three-month trial conducted by the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and transport management solutions provider Microlise has questioned the widely-held view that telemetry is the sole preserve of large fleet operators. Clearly, there are excellent returns on investment in telematics technology to be had for more modest-sized outfits too.
In a controlled trial, specialist waste management operator Vetspeed had seven of its 40 vehicles fitted with a new telematics system unbeknown to its drivers for an initial five week period. After this first set of data was analysed and then conveyed to those drivers to address issues of performance further trials were undertaken. The upshot was that Vetspeed’s drivers cut their fuel consumption by 0.43 miles per gallon (despite the severe weather conditions that hit the UK during the trial), potentially saving the company around £13,000 a year.
Gary Gates, Transport Manager, of Vetspeed, said:
“Like any other company, Vetspeed needs to remain at the cutting edge to deliver to its customers the very best value possible. Transport costs obviously represent a massive proportion of our overheads so it makes good sense to focus on improving performance as much as we can in this area.”
“We were not in any doubt that our drivers would perform well, but what we wanted to see was whether they could perform better. By allowing us to look at things like engine idling, for example, we were able to share with our drivers ways they could finesse their driving behaviour. We are talking fine tuning here, not wholesale changes, but the results are well worth it.”
Since the trial ended, Vetspeed’s productivity has improved by 200 drops a month due to better routing and closer monitoring of driver behaviour. Awards were given to both the ‘best’ and ‘most improved’ drivers from the trial.
Julian Barker of the FTA said:
“It doesn’t really matter how small a fleet is, being able to ‘drill down’ data to address areas of performance or even non-compliance is very useful for any company. This trial shows what can be done when a responsible and forward-looking operator adopts the latest technology and applies it intelligently. Only this way can performance be accurately assessed and then improved or rewarded.”
Cliff Cheeseman explains the benefits of implementing Microlise Telematics at Tesco.com
Posted on 05. Apr, 2011 by Alex in Customers, Microlise - In the News, News, Product
Fleet Training Manager at Tesco.com, Cliff Cheeseman, was an invited panelist in the “Improving Driver safety and efficiency” session at the annual Fleet & Asset Management Conference in Amsterdam on the 4th (& 5th) April 2011.
Cliff spoke in a Q&A session with around 200 delegates about the benefits the introduction of Telematics has brought to the Tesco.com business and how they successfully embedded the technology within their daily operational processes to ensure they achieved the targeted benefits as timely as possible.
The main benefits Cliff spoke of that the Microlise system has delivered to Tesco.com included:
Over a 10% improvement in fuel consumption in the 1st year – which equated to a fuel cost saving of over 1.4 million pounds.
A further 4% fuel saving in the 2nd year
A sustained level of driving efficiency in subsequent years, with store level baselines and targets being constantly reviewed so as to drive continuous improvement, built around a robust assessment and training regime Cliff has put in place
Off the back of these successes in improved driving efficiency, Cliff then used the Microlise system to focus further on safe driving. Using Microlise’s contextual speeding reports, Cliff explained how Tesco.com has been able to drastically reduce levels of speeding and reduce the number of accidents and incidents accordingly.
Microlise’s Contextual Speeding module, looks up every tracking event returned by each tracked vehicle, against the posted road speed for the segment of road the vehicle is reporting from. The module then applies a tolerance (e.g. 10% + 2 mph) to each speed and flags whether the vehicle and the associated driver was speeding.
Cliff, his trainers and the .com managers at each store can then review a league table of which drivers have been speeding, in which speed limits and how many times they have infringed.
Cliff explained when they initially implemented this solution, there was around 20,000 infringements per day across a fleet of over 2500 vans.
When the report was launched to the business, infringements immediately fell to 12,000 per day. Through consistent driver debriefs and performance improvement processes put in place, Cliff stated that this level had fallen to around 2,000 infringements per day. This equates to less than one speeding event per van per day.
This is a staggering accomplishment when you consider the vehicles are used for around 15 hours per day, everyday of the week, and the fleet on average drives over 1.6 million miles per week.
When asked the question about how the system and processes had been received by the Tesco.com operation, Cliff simply stated that their driver churn or attrition rates had fallen from 40% to 10% in the years since the Microlise telematics solution had been implemented.
As well as continuing to focus on driving style for safe and fuel efficiency, Cliff also explained that Tesco.com are using the tracking data generated by the Microlise system to better understand leg speeds and traffic flow at different times of the day and also what delivery windows times need to be built into their planning models based upon address and dwelling type such that they can best optimise their planning systems.
Tesco.com operate over 2,500 LCV vans delivering to customer homes across the UK from over 300 stores. Tesco.com implemented Microlise telematics in 2008.
Carlsberg UK & Microlise sign a deal to implement the most complete supply chain management system in the world ….. “Probably”!
Posted on 14. Jan, 2011 by Alex in Customers, News, Product
Microlise is delighted to announce that Carlsberg UK (CUK) are set to roll out the Microlise Fleet & Distribution Transport Management Systems to their 300+ vehicle fleet to provide end to end visibility of their operations.
Over ten years ago, CUK implemented Microlise’s Opus Warehouse Management System across their sites, to provide full tracking and traceability of stock throughout their warehouse operation.
Now, looking to further reduce the environmental impact of their business and provide enhanced service offerings to their customers, CUK are implementing this project to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, increase efficiency and utilisation of their transport whilst improving safety, and reducing their overall operating costs.
“Our product portfolio has grown and developed since Carlsberg UK first became a WMS customer. It is testament to our partnership with CUK, their commitment to innovation and the effectiveness of our systems, that they will now be using our products; not just in the warehouse, but right through to the end delivery,” stated Chris Wallace, Microlise’s Sales Director.
The new systems implemented consist of vehicle tracking and telematics using the Microlise’s 3rd generation Tracking Unit to provide real-time fleet visibility and Vehicle & Driver performance information; The Microlise Transport Management Centre, to allow the management and monitoring of Plans, Journeys and routes; The Microlise Safe & Economical Driving reports, an innovation in improving the performance of driving style, and additional modules such as the arrivals & departures boards which provide visibility of vehicle arrival and departure times to sites, depots & customers.
Mark Groves, National Distribution Director at Carlsberg UK, said: “It is very important that we continue to innovate and improve our distribution network, especially as Carlsberg UK are the only national brewer that still delivers direct to customers.
“So we are delighted to introduce the Microlise Fleet & Transport Distribution Management Systems to our fleet. We have a very close relationship with Microlise and we are always impressed with the innovations they bring to the industry. The new telematics system will drive efficiencies and improve our offer to customers,” he added.
TOCAL – Making life in a transport office easier
Posted on 14. Dec, 2010 by Alex in News, Product
The Transport Office Calculator (www.tocal.co.uk) provides an instant conversion between common units of measure found in transport offices. This smart tool allows users to get visibility of fuel usage, CO2 output and MPG for a specific journey or period of time. TOCAL converts between units of measure such as Miles, KM, KML and MPH in one simple to use page. Just change one value and any associated values change automatically. Developed by Microlise’s Pre-sales Director Mark Snape, this is a free tool available publicly, simply click on the image below and use as often as you like.
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Discovery Channel’s Mike Rowe tries out Ford Work Solutions in the US
Posted on 29. Oct, 2010 by Alex in Microlise - In the News, News, Product
John Mitchell speak of their fleet management success with Microlise & MAN
Posted on 27. Oct, 2010 by Alex in Customers, News, Product
John Mitchell started in 1956, with one second hand Albion lorry operating from Grangemouth in central Scotland. Over the years, the business expanded and in 1973 moved to a purpose built three acre haulage depot in Grangemouth. At the beginning of the 21st century they purchased a further seven acres of land, adjacent to their Earl’s Road headquarters and began to develop the site into a state of the art transport base, including a new 30,000 square foot warehouse. The Company is still family owned and managed by Iain Mitchell.
Now running just over 100 vehicles (including skeletals for container transport, tankers, rigids and curtainside trailers) and working for over 30 different customers daily, Mitchells complete a variety of general haulage, delivery & loading operations nationwide – starting and finishing in Grangemouth each day.
Over 6 years ago John Mitchell was one of the first adopters of the MAN Trucknology System– based upon Microlise’s Telematics & Tracking unit and its core transport management software suite. With the Microlise Tracking Unit (MTU3) installed and connected to the vehicle’s CANbus, the host system includes the following Microlise modules:
- Map Client
- Transport Management Centre
- Tachograph Integration
- Driver Communication Module (DCM)
- Reporting Suite – Including the Safe & Economical A-G rated Driver and vehicle performance reports.
The main business drivers for John Mitchell implementing the Microlise system were to:
- Reduce fuel usage
- Increase driver and vehicle safety
- Improve visibility and fleet utilisation
Improve communication with their drivers and reduce the usage and cost of phone calls, Iain Mitchell, John Mitchell’s Managing Director, commented “We were one of the first to implement a system like Microlise’s in the area, we took a lot of convincing to the benefits of telematics. Over the years we have seen massive improvements in the way we run our operation; the partnership between ourselves, MAN and Microlise has developed and progressed beyond our expectations.”The operation uses messages sent by right clicking on a vehicle or driver in the Transport Management Centre or Map client to send messages to individuals or groups of drivers. As a result, Mitchell’s have dramatically reduced their phone bills by 80% since implementing the system.
The traffic office uses the Map Client to monitor the location and status of vehicles on trips to identify any schedule adherence issues as well as the Map Client’s journey playback facility to debrief drivers on specific issues and exceptions as required.
“Our traffic office and planners couldn’t go without the system now, it’s fantastic and miles above and ahead any other.” Iain stated.By using Microlise’s Safe & Economical Driving Reports, John Mitchell is now seeing a significantly improved average mpg of almost 8MPG.
Microlise’s Safe & Economical Driver Reports display both group level and individual driver performance summarising behaviour like Harsh Braking, idling, Speeding, greenband driving, use of cruise control & primary & secondary braking in an easy to understand energy efficiency A-G rating.
“With our operation type and terrain, we are more than happy with this level of fuel consumption, the drivers can relate to these reports, and are really responding well after a pessimistic reception to the system at first” commented Angela Martin, John Mitchell’s System Administrator.
Over the coming months, John Mitchell are looking to add some of the more advanced features of the Transport Management centre, including the Microlise Electronic Traffic Sheet (which allows them to manage all routes, be they fixed routes, created and managed within the TMC, or imported from a 3rd party routing and scheduling package) as well as other modules, such as the Arrivals & Departures boards and Journey Debrief (which automatically highlights schedule and route exceptions against plan, delivery exceptions and driving style problems in one single web portal.
Pre-calculate your CO2 Emissions with Microlise & PTV
Posted on 29. Sep, 2010 by Alex in News, Partners, Product
Routes generated by PTV take into account truck-restricted and prohibited roads to ensure optimal safety & reliability; these routes are calculated based on vehicle height, weight & load type to avoid commercial truck restrictions. PTV utilises raw mapping data from Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ (both world leading traffic & map providers). This data is incorporated into the Microlise Contextual Speeding Module (whereby speeding events are triggered not just based on the vehicle’s speed restriction, but the posted speed of the specific road the vehicle is on).
Steven Watson, Microlise’s Director of Product commented: “We selected PTV as our mapping suppliers for two simple reasons, Performance & Scalability. We provide a managed service to our customers who are located all over the world, we needed an application that could not only integrate seamlessly into our system but one that could handle these requirements without fail, and PTV fit the bill.”
Microlise Release a Brand New Trailer Tracking Solution
Posted on 24. Aug, 2010 by Alex in News, Product
Due to customer demand, Microlise have introduced a brand new trailer tracking solution. This small, rugged & water-proof battery backed unit can either be charged up from the AC mains, attached to the asset or trailer and left to report in periodically or connected to a DC supply on the Trailer – for example, the Trailer’s running lights or Suzi.
Tracking data transmitted by the unit, via GPRS, can be used within the Microlise Map Client and Transport Management Centre in exactly the same way as a regular Microlise Tracking Unit (MTU3).
The standard configuration of the Trailer Tracking unit is that it reports in every 5 minutes whilst moving (powered or unpowered) and every 6 hours when stopped. This configuration can be changed remotely. Battery level is reported each time a unit reports in such that a user will be prompted should any unit not be getting charged frequently enough a portable unit need recharging via the mains.
Trailer mounted tracking units – that are being powered from the running lights – need about an hour of power a day to keep the unit fully charged. Where the Trailer tracking unit does not have external power, based upon a full charge, the unit will report in it’s location and status over 2000 times.
The unit can also support other inputs such as doors monitoring. The Geofences that can be created in the Microlise Map Client support rules, which means alerts will be generated if Trailers stop or their doors open where they shouldnt, similarly, if a trailer moves from a location when it shouldnt. These alerts can be text based.
Microlise also provide the Activity, Utilisation, Location and exception reports as part of it’s Trailer Tracking.
Microlise’s new trailer tracking solution gives operators increased security, enhanced visibility and control of goods & service delivery as well as the information required to improve trailer utilisation and fleet management costs.
For more information the New Microlise Trailer Tracking Solution, you can contact your account manager, alternatively Click Here to contact us.
