Allensmore Nurseries, the Herefordshire-based horticultural specialist, has selected an advanced map-based routing and scheduling solution from Paragon Software Systems.
Paragon provides advanced route planning tools for Allensmore’s operation, enabling the transport management team to allocate the precise number of delivery vehicles required throughout the various seasons for delivering its perishable products.
Allensmore combines a small fleet of its own with additional third-party transport to serve its customers across the UK. The company’s products include home produced plants, a wide range of European imports, and various containers and hanging baskets. Consumer demand and seasonality of certain plants require highly accurate fleet management to meet customers’ needs.
“We deliver to around 400 different sites, including Wyevale Garden Centres, Dobbies, Homebase and Makro as well as leading independent garden centres. It is imperative that we get our perishable products to our customers as quickly as possible. Paragon gives us the tools we need to optimise deliveries depending on the kinds of products ordered and determine how many vehicles we will need to fulfil our customers’ orders,” said David Bowen, Transport Manager, Allensmore Nurseries.
Allensmore selected Paragon’s route planning software for its ease of use and market-leading features and functionality. The company is now investigating the opportunity to add live vehicle tracking to its Paragon system. This will enable the company to compare planned routes and deliveries against real-time activity to further optimise its routing and scheduling.
“Allensmore Nurseries shows that Paragon’s route planning software provides the flexibility and scalability for any size of operation. The Single Depot system helps Allensmore develop effective transport schedules in order to cut transport costs and improve fleet efficiency. This demonstrates that all Paragon users are able to benefit from routing and scheduling optimisation for their transport operations – regardless of the size of their fleets,” said William Salter, Managing Director of Paragon Software Systems.
