Transportation and Logistics Management

Technology Adoption Within Transport and Logistics Businesses in Africa

The transport and logistics industry is a dynamic environment that is characterised by constant cost pressures, new players, advancing globalisation, increasing rules and regulations, as well as rapid digital transformation.

Globally, companies are achieving international growth through acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances, which is reshaping the transport and logistics industry. The emergence of a global village has also lead to a decline in trade barriers, which has enabled many new competitors to join the same route.

In the age of instant gratification and immediate access to information, customers’ expectations have transformed. Customers are now demanding quicker, more reliable, accessible and more efficient transport

and logistics solutions. Simple logistics companies have had to expand their service offering to now include services throughout the supply chain and not only the delivery of goods.

Now, more than ever, transport and logistics companies need to comply with industry rules and regulations. This process involves implementing Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) systems to ensure that fleets comply with regulatory standards.

These standards often differ from country to country and are aimed at minimising as much risk as possible for employees and assets. For HSE to become an efficient and streamlined process, all documents, tasks, license renewals and activities need to take place within a single integrated business management solution.

Using technology as a driver to steer your transport business towards efficient and profitable routes.

Digital transformation is also a key trend to keep top-of-mind as processes and operations are increasingly in the spotlight to become more streamlined and mobile. There is also increased demand, and use, of telematics to monitor and track vehicles. Telematics allow transportation businesses to gather accurate data on fuel consumption, asset operation, routes, current location and engine status.

In order for businesses in this industry to maintain a competitive edge over new entrants to the market, it has become standard to adopt technology as a platform to increase efficiency, streamline processes and better manage financials.

Financial Management

• Accelerate transactions and improve cash flow:Automate everyday financial tasks and integrate them with other business processes.

• Enhanceddecision-making: Compile up-to-date financial statements to support business decision making by reducing the time it takes to draw financial reports or close your books at the end of every period.

• Financiallegislation: Comply swiftly and fully with the legal requirements of each country where you do business.

• Analysis&reporting: Satisfy the financial analysis and reporting requirements of your business and make better top-level strategic decisions with powerful analytics.

• Costperkilometer(CPK)andprofitper kilometermonitoring:The Shipping Order allows businesses to collect all the expenses and revenues on a trip for accurate and quick cost assessment.

• Customerbilling:Shipping Order allows for the update of additional services rendered e.g. load adjustment, waiting charges before closing the trip, etc.

• Driver,route,tour,andvehiclefinancial monitoring:Businesses are now able to monitor the profitability for all these parameters. Decision- making is made easier by having access to updated and accurate financials.

Journey Management

• Dispatchplanning/routing: Shipping wizard shows vehicle status and next available date, how many job cards are open for individual vehicles, as well as the work load for each vehicle and driver during dispatch.

• Freightmanagement: Tracks the ordered, dispatch, and delivered quantities. It also allows reference/lot numbers to be recorded against freight loads.

• Journeyexpensesmanagement: Route definitions allow allocation of budget for individual trips. Anything higher than the allocated budget is automatically sent for approval by a manager.

• Proofofdelivery: A CMR consignment note allows customers to indicate the delivered quantity. A trip cannot be completed without indicating this quantity.

• Driversettlement: All cash paid out to drivers for a specific journey is recorded and compared against the route budget. The system can give an account of the driver’s financial standing with regards to awarding bonuses or if he/she needs to be charged for shortages.

• Freighttracking: Integration with GPS tracking allows businesses to automatically collect location details. It also allows security officers to manually update the locations and delays for each vehicle where necessary.

• Pre/postvehicleinspections: Integrated checklist functionality allows for detailed inspections. If required, the solution can automatically create a job card for the maintenance workshop should any work need to be carried out.

• Statusofloads:Shipment status reports indicate what loads are out for delivery and what the Dangerous Goods classification is for that specific load.

Vehicle Maintenance Management

• Inspections: Force users to work through all items on a checklist and further add specific issues found during any vehicle walk-around inspection. Items identified during an inspection are transferred to a job card where the maintenance manager can allocate technicians to pick up the work the be completed – all within a single system.

• Jobcards: The system allows for the creation of job cards both manually and automatically via inspection checklists.

• Securityreleasefromworkshop: Security staff at the exit gate are able to electronically check if the vehicle has been cleared to leave the yard.

• Inclusionofworkshopstaff: A simple to use internal website is provided which is clean, easy to use and intuitive. It also does not require much end- user training. This feature has allowed many workshop staff to get familiar with technology, and more specifically computer systems.

• Fuelconsumptionmonitoring:The system is intuitive enough to define the amount of diesel to issue to a specific truck which is scheduled to travel to a specific destination.

• Technicianscheduling&monitoring: Work performed in the workshop can be tracked through notes and time recording. These job cards become part of the vehicle’s maintenance history and is accessible at the click of a button.

Health, Safety and Environment Management

• Violations: Record incidents and prevent a driver from entering a vehicle if they have accumulated a certain amount of violations.

• HSEincidents: Traditionally, incidents with fatalities, serious injuries and near misses cannot be monitored or tracked in the workshop. With an integrated system, incidents can be recorded and monitored in one business management system via reports and analytics dashboards.

• Alcohol&drugs: Utilise the system as an operational risk management function to record alcohol and/or drug violations.

• Hazards:Each route can have a risk assessment profile captured and a report printed before a driver leaves the yard so they can be aware of, and prepare for, any potential dangers on the route. Route risk assessments are traditionally maintained in Excel and manually printed for drivers during dispatch, which increases the chance of manual errors and increases administration time.

• Dangerousgoodshandling: Transportation businesses are required to monitor dangerous goods that are onboard their vehicles, which can be specific ISO quality certifications, which can be difficult to track and maintain. SAP Business One allows transportation companies to indicate the DG code on all materials being transported to alert others to dangerous good and adhere to safety regulations.

Driver Management• Regulatorycompliance: Currently, transportation businesses cannot reliably monitor and control drivers who have expired permits. In our solution, alerts and reports are standard that show permits e.g. heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver licenses that are overdue. This feature of the solution conforms to Total/Puma and Engen standards.

• Regulatorycompliance: Currently, transportation businesses cannot reliably monitor and control drivers who have expired permits. In our solution, alerts and reports are standard that show permits e.g. heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver licenses that are overdue. This feature of the solution conforms to Total/Puma and Engen standards.

Transportationandlogisticsbusinessesarerequiredto,butstrugglewith:

• Showing the end-to-end process of recruiting new drivers.

• Recording periodic physical assessments. These are usually manual and completed on Excel and are not tracked within a business management system.

• Standardising ways to orient new employees.

Tyre Management• TyreLifecycle:Captures the complete lifecycle of tyres from purchase to retirement, with a detailed reporting of tyre performance.

• TyresasanAsset: Manage your tyres like an asset with individual serial numbers and cost centres. Capitalisation increases the value via repairs and re-treads and depreciation reduces the value through the travelled distances.

• ExpenseTracking: All expenses incurred though internal activities of a maintenance department and external service providers are recorded.

• Depreciation&CostperKilometre: Accurate reporting of depreciation expenses on all vehicles that the tyre was fitted on as well as overall cost per kilometre.

• SideWallManagement: Keep track of individual tyre’s side wall properties such as recommended air pressure, tread type and tread depth. Automatic notifications to maintenance when thresholds are reached thus improving the safety of the fleet.

• TyreUse: Tyre usage can be measured using a metric that suits your needs (e.g. distance, operating hours, lifespan etc).

• TyreMaintenanceAlerts: Automatic alerts when tyre rotations, inspections, re-treads, minimum tread depth are due.

• TyreWearTracking: Closely monitor tyre wear in specific locations based on the wheel/axle layout configurations of each vehicle. It is possible to see accelerated tread wear on a tyre and attribute it to low tyre pressure, or the steer or drive axle.

• CompileCentralisedRepairNotes: Record maintenance activities on tyres such as reasons for repair and work accomplished. This ensures that a knowledgebase is constantly being updated that can guide “toolbox meetings”.

• Stocktake: Each tyre is maintained as inventory, therefore you can perform a stock take on them.

FreightForwardingForwarding has many moving parts including rate negotiation with customers and carriers, compliance with customs, moving shipping containers in and out of ports and monitoring the activities of vehicles carrying freight to name a few.

• Centraliseddatastorage: Remote border offices can stay connected at all times by using a single solution to manage documents, compliance, order tracking and expenses.

• Automatedworkflow: From consolidating and deconsolidating shipments, and processing customs paperwork, to finding the most efficient routes, these steps are automated and ensures that the relevant people are involved in each step of the forwarding process.

• Automatedtracking: Timely and relevant forwarding information is sent automatically to customers, consignees, carriers and clearing agents.

• Freightprofitability: The forwarding order acts as a pre-alert instruction and allows the forwarder to

calculate the profitability of the freight to be moved. Detailed data such as the cargo, customs values, shipping containers and seal serial numbers are tracked here.

• Tourtracking: Follow the dispatch and routing of vehicles carrying freight in real-time, while all expenses and activities of these vehicles are captured.

• Activitytracking: All planned and executed activities are collected while the relevant parties are automatically notified in the process.

• Streamlinedorder-to-invoice: Each delivery is made using a shipping order that eventually turns into an invoice to the customer.

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About Seidor Seidor is the No. 1 SAP Business One Partner in Africa.

Seidor is Africa’s most awarded SAP Business One partner, SAP PartnerEdge Gold status, SAP EMEA Pinnacle Award Winner, SAP Business One Africa Partner-of-the-Year 2005-2011, SAP Business One Africa Retail Partner award 2013-2014 and SAP Business One VAR of the year 2105.

Our 150+ staff service more than 280 customers across the continent through full service branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Lusaka and Ebene, and our extensive business and technology partner network enhances our reach and capacity.

Used by more that 55,000 customers around the world, SAP Business One brings sales, financial management, banking, purchasing, manufacturing, inventory management, service and customer relationship management together in one flexible, responsive system.