Microlise bakes in benefits for Hovis
Household bread brand Hovis has been enjoying fuel savings as well as seeing a significant reduction in accidents following the installation of Microlise telematics in its fleet.
Hovis has been baking bread for more than 130 years, and continues to expand and diversify its product range and embrace new manufacturing processes. It also champions the latest technologies as part of its logistics operation, including deploying two zero-emission electric vehicles in London.
Hovis Logistics completes circa 1.2 million customer deliveries per year, operating a fleet of 250 trailers and approximately 400 vehicles ranging in size from 7.2 up to 15 tons.
Adam Bassant, general manager for logistics at Hovis, said: “We operate a massive supply chain operation for 365 days a year, covering over 20 million road miles and delivering in and out of our major towns and cities which is a challenge.
“We base our whole logistics operation around the Microlise solution. I couldn’t envisage running our business without having the right telemetry and data tools in place.”
Hovis initially deployed a Microlise telematics solution to support improved fleet safety and utilisation and driver performance. Since 2015, it has added Journey Management to the solution, making particular use of the Schedule Execution Board to enhance customer communication and understand how the fleet is performing against plan with clear colour codes indicating early, on-time and late ETAs.
The Safety Module, including forward facing cameras and Incident Analysis, has also been deployed, as has the Microlise sign on glass, Proof of Delivery solution.
Following implementation, fleet visibility, utilisation, efficiency, driver performance and safety metrics have all improved.
Adam continued: “There are a few stand out metrics we all take great pride in at Hovis.
“Since deploying Microlise technology in 2015 we’ve seen a 62 per cent reduction in our accidents and have 95 per cent of our drivers performing in the top A-C band which, considering the work they do around our cities up and down the country, is a great achievement.
“This has culminated in us winning three industry awards in the last few years which has been the real icing on the cake and a testament to the successful journey we’ve been on with Microlise.”
He added: “At project start-up, we were transitioning across from an old system and needed help getting to grips with the new system. Microlise really helped during this process and was particularly supportive when it came to bringing our drivers along with us.
“They provided customer case studies, spoke to our drivers, and helped us to set tailored driving style and driver behaviour parameters. This interaction really helped to put drivers’ minds at ease – they understood that we were doing things for the right reason.”
Tony Stuart, head of operations support for logistics at Hovis, said: “The Microlise solution helps us to understand how a driver behaves while they’re on the road. We believe that if a driver is more relaxed, they’ll drive better which leads to greater fuel economy, road safety, better vehicle performance and fewer breakdowns. A less stressed driver means performance levels increase. Our drivers can also see their own reports which I think is important.”
He added: “The Safety Module has proved to be an excellent tool for us. It gives us all the data we need to analyse any type of incident down to a forensic level. From telemetry that shows what a driver was doing supported by forward facing camera footage, we can get a complete picture of what’s happened at any time and I know we’ll get that information each and every time we need it.”
