St Vincent de Paul goes live with the first phase of a project to streamline its logistics processes
December 14, 2010
St Vincent de Paul in Victoria has gone live with the first phase of a project to streamline its logistics processes.
The iconic charitable organisation has implemented supply chain management (SCM) fleet routing software from leading business applications provider Infor.
As a result, St Vincent de Paul has significantly increased the number of donations it can collect, which is now in the order of 300-400 orders a day state-wide.
The implementation is part of the biggest transport change management project ever undertaken by the organisation, aimed at increasing donations which are the lifeblood of St Vincent de Paul’s business.
St Vincent de Paul Society Logistics Manager Louis La Sala says the project was prompted by dramatic growth in the organisation’s operations over the last five years, with demand exceeding the capabilities of the previous manual systems.
“Our logistics operations have become far more complex and slow because more and more people are donating items every year,” La Sala says.
“We could not respond in a manner that was expected by our customers that are both donors and welfare recipients.
“We now have 30 metro retail Centres, and 16 vehicles (combination of fleet and subcontractors) dealing with almost 150 bookings per day on the new solution.
“We simply couldn’t keep up with the increasing level of donations without sophisticated planning and scheduling tools,” she says.
“Centralising operations and implementing SCM Fleet Routing and order management systems has streamlined our processes for pickup and delivery, and given us the required visibility, allowing us to maximise donations we receive.
“We are hoping to have over 50 vehicles that service the 102 Centres up and running by the end of 2011.”
The first phase of the project went live in metropolitan areas with ten vehicles plus subcontractors now scheduled centrally, with more being added in subsequent phases
Infor’s SCM Fleet Routing software was implemented by Infor’s professional services organisation on time and within budget.
“St Vincent’s is not alone in being a fast growing company that has outgrown its manual processes,” says Infor’s James Brackenrig.
“This is largely due to the increasing complexity which is driving the need for sophisticated software to help manage these processes.”