Harald Buys: “With the Mobile Delivery Manager, we have a fully electronic solution that saves time and money while significantly improving customer service. We have very high acceptance among our customers and drivers. We would not want to do without the solution anymore, that would be unthinkable!”
Boosting customer service while saving time, money and paper: that is a simplified summary of the benefits of the SHD Mobile Delivery Manager, MAM for short (from the German product name Mobiler Auslieferungsmanager). The Dutch company DMG Meubelen B.V. knows exactly what the SHD solution delivers in detail. It has been using the tool on a large scale for two years and would not want to be without it.
We also chose MAM because it communicates perfectly with all other SHD solutions. That is extremely important for the entire workflow.
Adriaan de Jong, Head of IT and Organization, DMG Meubelen
Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Waalwijk, the Dutch Mandemakers Group (DMG) today employs more than 1,000 people in the furniture sector. DMG Meubelen, led by owner Ben Mandemakers, comprises 65 affiliated stores including renowned companies such as Piet Klerkx, Montél, Morres and Woonexpress.
DMG Meubelen has relied on the SHD Mobile Delivery Manager since November 2016. Asked about the reasons, Adriaan de Jong, Head of IT and Organization at DMG Meubelen, first describes the situation before MAM: “To plan the next day's routes, we would first print out all delivery notes along with customer copies, spread them out on a large table and manually put together the routes. This alone took half a day. In the morning, the stacks of paper, delivery notes, invoices, delivery lists and route lists, were handed over to the delivery teams, who in turn handed back the delivery notes signed by customers and any complaints from the previous day. That was an enormous amount of paper. On top of that, our staff were equipped with a camera to document any damage, a mobile phone and a navigation device. Today, all of that is in a single device.”
The entire delivery process was to be optimized using the SHD Mobile Delivery Manager. The MAM presentation by SHD employee Detlef Lipka alone impressed Adriaan de Jong and his colleague Harald Buys, ICT Team Leader at DMG Meubelen. However, the two longtime DMG employees were not satisfied with that alone. They put the solution under closer scrutiny. “We created a fictitious route, transferred it to a tablet and then actually drove that route. MAM worked perfectly,” Harald Buys sums up the result. “We also did not have to buy any new servers. Everything runs through the cloud. Today, our staff only need a single device to handle everything, including navigation. For this, we equipped them with tablets and installed the SHD MAM app from the Google Play Store on the devices, and that was it. We also chose MAM because it communicates perfectly with all other SHD solutions. That is extremely important for the entire workflow,” adds the Head of IT and Organization.
MAM is now used daily by 30 delivery teams and six installation teams. From the MHS merchandise management system, the purchase contract, item data and route data for each planned route are transferred to the tablets via mobile network and updated fully automatically as needed. This means the teams have all the necessary information available at all times, from current orders to customer and item details. Headquarters always knows where a vehicle currently is, which route was driven and when a particular route was completed. Adriaan de Jong: “With the help of this information, we have minimal response times and can also take short-notice customer requests directly into account. This is a great service for our customers.”
A special feature of the application at DMG Meubelen is that receipt of the goods is confirmed by the customer directly on the tablet. This information is sent to headquarters immediately. As a result, delivery notes are available at headquarters instantly, without any manual scanning. “Our customers are no longer handed a paper delivery note. They simply sign on the tablet. The driver can also see whether the customer has already paid or made a deposit. He can then immediately take payment on site using a card reader for EC cash. All billing-relevant data is now sent directly back to us via the internet server and automatically passed on to MHS and downstream systems such as financial accounting, where it is posted automatically. This also saves a lot of time in accounting. At the same time, the digital delivery note is archived in PROXESS and sent to the customer by email as a PDF file along with proof of payment. This takes less than 30 seconds. The customer can also check their order status and invoice online at any time using a password. In this area, we now work completely paperless. This not only saves a great deal of time and paper, it also goes down well with customers,” explains Harald Buys. During delivery, DMG customers are also asked about their satisfaction with the delivery and the goods. Customer feedback on satisfaction and any comments are likewise recorded on the tablet and archived.
When it comes to complaint management, DMG Meubelen has also become significantly faster. Today, the delivery team can resolve complaints directly on site. To do this, drivers photograph any damage using their tablet. The photos are then automatically linked to the order and made directly available to headquarters. While the driver is still with the customer, headquarters can make a decision on the complaint and inform the customer of a solution. “Another plus point when it comes to customer service! But we do not only take photos for complaints. Every delivery is documented in a photo and archived in PROXESS,” says Adriaan de Jong.
All billing-relevant data is now sent directly back to us via the internet server and automatically passed on to MHS and downstream systems such as financial accounting, where it is posted automatically.
Adriaan de Jong, Head of IT and Organization, DMG Meubelen
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