Bringing the Construction Materials Industry into the 21st Century, One Truck at a Time
In the dynamic, fast-paced construction materials industry, it’s startling to find companies – even the so-called tech-savvy ones – relying on outdated and inefficient methods for managing their operations. Some are still using cumbersome Excel spreadsheets to juggle sales and dispatch orders, transforming their workflows into a tangled mess. Excel is for numbers, not for managing a fleet of concrete trucks!
Even more surprising, there are large enterprises that pour resources into expensive hardware and high-maintenance on-premise servers. They chain themselves to inflexible and costly systems that offer less freedom and scalability, a far cry from the benefits offered by a concrete dispatch software.
At skEYEwatch, we’ve encountered all these scenarios, and more. We’ve made it our mission to pull these companies, kicking and screaming if need be, into the 21st century. To illustrate the transformation possible, let’s look at the ready mix concrete industry. This industry, one of the more technically complex markets out there, serves as an excellent example of where modern solutions like Dispatch360, a leading concrete dispatch software, can make a significant impact.
The Traditional (OLD) Way of Sales Order and Delivery Cycles
The usual sales order and delivery cycle for ready mix concrete can be a complex process and includes multiple stages.
- Customer Places an Order: This usually happens over the phone or in person, with the customer specifying the type and quantity of concrete mix required, along with the delivery address and time.
- Order Entry: Sales representatives enter the order details into an order management system, which tracks all orders, products, customers, and delivery schedules.
- Sales Processing: Once the details of the order are confirmed with the customer, the sales representative finalizes the order in the system OR uses a separate payment system to process the transactions, such as a credit card machine.
- Sales Order Handoff: The sales representative physically walks the sales order to the delivery department and hands it off to a dispatcher.
- Scheduling by Dispatcher: The dispatcher, who coordinates all deliveries, schedules the delivery based on the customer’s request and the company’s delivery capacity.
- Ticketing: A delivery ticket is generated & printed, containing critical information like customer name, delivery address, type and quantity of the concrete mix, delivery time, and then physically handed off to the assigned driver.
- Loading at Batch Plant: The batch plant operators, having received the ticket information from the driver, prepares and loads the concrete mix into the assigned truck.
- Driving to Delivery Site and Pouring: The driver then transports and pours the concrete at the delivery site. After pouring, the customer signs a carbon copy of the delivery ticket as confirmation of delivery.
- Washing Out: The driver cleans the interior of the mixer drum and any residual concrete on the truck at a designated washout area. All while hopefully not crumbling up the signed paper tickets.
- Returning to Yard and Record Keeping: The driver returns to the yard, maintaining a copy of the signed delivery ticket. At the end of the day, all paper tickets are handed into an accounting/records office, where they are manually filed or scanned into a system by another employee.
While this process has been the standard for many years, it’s laden with various inefficiencies. The risk of lost paperwork, the chance for miscommunication, and the inability to track deliveries in real time are all too prevalent.
Dispatch360: The Future of Sales and Delivery Cycle Management
Enter Dispatch360, a cloud-based dispatch software from skEYEwatch, designed specifically for the concrete, aggregate, and construction materials industry. It brings about a paradigm shift in operations management.
Anywhere, Anytime Access: With Dispatch360, dispatchers can process sales and dispatch orders from any location with an internet connection. This reduces the need for physical handoffs and offers unprecedented flexibility in operations.
Live Fleet Tracking & Delivery Cycle Live Statusing: With advanced telematics and IoT sensors installed in delivery trucks, Dispatch360 offers real-time tracking of every vehicle in your fleet. Dispatchers get a live status of delivery cycles, enabling them to make informed decisions about which truck gets assigned the next delivery ticket, thus optimizing routes and reducing downtime between deliveries.
Digital Ticketing: Dispatch360’s integrated digital ticketing system streamlines the flow of information. With tickets digitally accessible, the chances of lost paperwork or miscommunication are significantly reduced.
Customer Tracking Portal: Dispatch360 also offers a live tracking portal for customers, so they can see the real-time status of their deliveries, fostering trust and improving customer satisfaction.
Integrated Credit Card Processing: In partnership with Bāsys, Dispatch360 offers integrated credit card processing. Payments can be securely processed over the phone within the Dispatch360 platform, enhancing transaction efficiency.
Elimination of Manual Processes: The biggest revolution that Dispatch360 brings is the elimination of various manual tasks. Physical handoffs, paper tickets, and manual filing or scanning of tickets are replaced by digital, automated processes. This not only saves time and reduces errors, but it also significantly decreases the industry’s dependency on paper, making your operations more environmentally friendly.
Conclusion: Future-Proof Your Business with Dispatch360
While we’ve used ready mix concrete deliveries as an example in this blog post, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Dispatch360 is a flexible, versatile system that can handle a wide array of materials and delivery scenarios. It’s also ideally suited for volumetric concrete operations, concrete block deliveries, aggregate and any other construction material you can think of.
The goal of Dispatch360 is simple: to revolutionize the sales and delivery processes across the board in the construction materials industry. With its robust features and seamless integration capabilities, it’s more than equipped to do just that.
Whether you’re looking to optimize your ready mix concrete deliveries or need a more efficient way to manage volumetric concrete operations, Dispatch360 is the key to unlocking higher efficiency, reduced costs, and improved customer satisfaction.
Join us at skEYEwatch as we step into the future of the construction materials industry with Dispatch360. Revolutionize your sales and delivery cycles, and take your operations to new heights.
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