The home delivery operation for GE operated by Spirit Delivery & Distribution Services is benefiting daily from Paragon’s reliable, rapidly-produced routes. But the system is also extending its influence beyond the planning office – where resource requirements have been reduced by 75% – into improved warehouse management, service levels and business development.
Spirit selected Paragon’s routing and scheduling software due to its cost-effective licensing, the ability for multiple users to use the system at once and the ease of interfacing the system with the company’s databases. Prior to installing Paragon, Spirit planned all of its routes manually, which required substantial investment in human resources.
Spirit uses Paragon to make over one million deliveries a year throughout the US for a range of companies, including some of the nation’s famous retail brands. Its nationwide operations incorporate 24 strategically located warehousing and distribution centers, including 5 super-regional centers in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Jacksonville.
Following a smooth implementation involving easy interface with other IT systems, Paragon was put to work planning 1,000 deliveries a day to homes throughout Indiana, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York City. While Paragon’s plans are streamlining the routing and scheduling of the fleet servicing this client with two man delivery teams to install new, and collect old, appliances, electronics and furniture.
They are also being shared with other departments with a very positive effect. Reports and displays produced as HTML documents accessible through a browser are enabling timely visibility of scheduled arrival times for those liaising with customers. And earlier knowledge of loads and drop sequences in the warehouse – made possible by faster scheduling – provides a smoother, more efficient, picking and loading operation. Such features and functionality are also helping Spirit to secure new contracts – with new clients won on the basis of Paragon’s presence.
“Paragon has allowed us to streamline our planning operations considerably and maximize the use of our fleet of 225 trucks and drivers. The system provides accurate information that can be utilized across the business giving full visibility of loads and scheduled arrival times. With this intelligence we can constantly evolve our quality of service through improving efficiencies across the business.” James Betz, Vice President Operations, Spirit Delivery & Distribution Services, Inc.
