Beverage Distributor, Columbus Distributing, Creates Organization-Wise Visibility

From Anheuser-Busch to Yuengling, craft brews to non-alcoholic beverages, wholesale beverage distributor, Columbus Distributing, manages portfolios for brands with high expectations. To meet those expectations, their Director of Operations led the company through an routing and dispatching transformation. This team-wide project was focused on better visibility and data collection, including investing in a last-mile solution that would set their customer experience apart and spotlight their delivery experience.

Integrating for better visibility and improved customer service

From order management, to route creation, Columbus Distributing employs a robust software ecosystem to manage deliveries to customers. However, according to Nathan, prior to implementing new solutions, their communications on the day of delivery were a challenge. When drivers left for the day, teams that needed insight had zero visibility into route execution. Sales teams responsible for providing updates to customers were forced to interrupt drivers with a phone call then report back to their account, a process that took 15-20 minutes. Columbus Distributing needed a way to import planned routes into a solutions that provided real-time insight into what was happening on the road.

Improved field operations impact the bottom line

For many beverage distributors, the job isn’t complete when the delivery is complete. Products must still be arranged on shelves or in displays to draw shoppers’ attention. 

For this, Columbus Distributing relies on a team of merchandisers who arrive when the delivery is in progress or completed. Merchandisers are responsible for scheduling their day around drivers, and would often arrive at stop locations early or late due to a lack of insight into the driver’s route progress. With Mobile Manager app (previously Updates) from Wise Systems, the team of merchandisers at Columbus Distributing have real-time insight into the route progress of many different drivers, and can tag routes to follow in list or map views. Using this information, merchandisers can now ensure they arrive at stop locations on time, saving Columbus Distribution on overtime costs while meeting customer expectations more efficiently.

Data insights maximize fleet utilization

By analyzing the data returned by the Wise Systems platform, Columbus Distributing can calculate more accurate cases-per-hour for each driver. With this information in hand and access to the powerful algorithms in the Wise Systems platform, the Columbus Distributing team is seeing stronger fleet utilization. In addition, the new system and processes have helped Columbus Distributing reduce off-day deliveries by 39% freeing up capacity for new orders, and further improving vehicle and driver utilization, and improving customer service. 

There’s more to this story. Download the case study and discover how the team at Columbus Distributing are using the Wise Systems delivery automation platform to:

• Improve visibility and accountability
• Increase driver retention and satisfaction
• Close common communication gaps
• Drive positive organizational change