Optimised transport scheduling via the SAP Fiori® app
Thanks to the digital support of an app, ASB Greenworld's dispatchers are able to combine individual orders into one transport as cost-effectively and sustainably as possible. At the same time, it enables employees to work from home and is an important step towards a paperless office.
The initial situation
ASB Grünland Helmut Aurenz GmbH from Stuttgart has been producing high-quality garden care products in its own factories for over 60 years. The family-run company has also made a name for itself internationally under the name ASB Greenworld and is now one of the world's leading manufacturers of plant soil, fertilisers and growing media. Sustainability is a top priority at ASB Greenworld: Not only are regional and renewable raw materials used in production, but also renewable energies and recycled materials for the packaging.
Currently, eight production sites in Europe and North America guarantee a high level of supply availability at all times. The medium-sized company handles the transport of fertilisers and potting soils in cooperation with numerous forwarding agents. Previously, the selection of hauliers was purely manual - with the help of long Excel spreadsheets and a paper map on the wall. Without digital support, the truck scheduling staff had to determine by hand how to get the orders to their destination on schedule and at the same time ensure that the trucks were loaded as fully as possible. This process was not only associated with an immense amount of paper and time, but also with an increased susceptibility to errors. Even small errors in transport scheduling can have far-reaching consequences: If the goods do not arrive on time, there is a risk of contractual penalties and loss of orders. If the lorries are only partially loaded, this has a negative impact on the margin due to the high freight forwarding costs and raw material prices. Too many individual journeys also have a negative impact on the environment and therefore contradict the company's sustainability endeavours. The introduction of a digitally supported solution for transport scheduling has therefore become increasingly relevant for ASB Greenworld.
The challenge
The digital solution should enable dispatchers to combine individual orders into one transport in a timely, sustainable and cost-efficient manner. What sounds simple at first, harbours a high degree of complexity on closer inspection. This is because efficient transport management requires dispatchers to pay attention not only to the urgency of orders, but also to their geographical location. Freight forwarders often only deliver to certain regions and demand a surcharge outside their delivery area or refuse the order. In addition, dispatchers must not lose sight of the total weight and volume of the load when planning.
In order to keep freight forwarding costs as low as possible, it should be quickly apparent to the lorry dispatch staff which transport service provider delivers the goods to the recipient at the best conditions. Special agreements on the haulage companies' delivery areas should also be taken into account.
These complex problems required a structured design thinking process in which the wishes and needs of the dispatchers were at the centre so that practical results could be achieved. In order to achieve a high level of user satisfaction and productivity on different devices, the front end needed to be designed with a modern user experience. In addition, the solution required a sophisticated implementation of the order summary in SAP - within a very short space of time. As the products are a seasonal business and the development of the solution could only take place out of season, only a limited period of a few months was available for the project implementation. This tight schedule could be adhered to thanks to an agile project approach that enabled fast, flexible and customer-centred development.
The solution
Working closely with the customer and the dispatchers, CONCETO's team of experts developed an app that is based on SAP's user-friendly Fiori interface and offers users a modern user experience on their desktops, laptops and tablets. Having used SAP software in the company for many years, the dispatchers were already familiar with the design, so acceptance was high right from the start.
The digital app makes route planning easier than ever before: dispatchers are not only shown all upcoming orders with the most important information such as delivery date, number of pallets and weight. They can also see at a glance which hauliers are offering the transport and at what prices and conditions. The sorted display of transport service providers shows the most favourable providers at the top and provides a clear recommendation.
An individually configurable filter allows the user to filter orders according to certain criteria and thus limit the selection. Among other things, the ability to filter by desired delivery dates is an important function for avoiding late deliveries and contractual penalties. All important delivery information is automatically read out and displayed as notes in the app. If some order items are not in stock in sufficient quantities, the app issues a warning message before the transfer to the SAP system.
Full integration into the SAP backend allows the app to access all necessary data from the SAP system - from order data and availability to geodata. Not only can data be loaded from the system, but customisations can also be imported back into SAP. For example, information about the transport planning centre and transport type, as well as messages about the transport - such as the presence of a lifting platform or a forklift truck for loading and unloading - can be added and entered into the SAP system via the app when a transport is created.
Thanks to CONCETO's in-depth SAP expertise and regular communication with all project participants on the customer side, the app was realised within a very short period of time. The high level of commitment on all sides meant that it took just five months from the first workshop in November 2021 to the completion of the app in March 2022. The project team relied on the Scrum project management method to ensure fast and customer-centred development.
"With CONCETO's digital solution, we can organise our transports in a process-led manner. The data required for transport scheduling is made available at the right place. This results in cost-effective and timely transport planning. The app saves our transport planning staff a lot of time and has already become an indispensable part of their daily work."
Dominik LangSAP Coordination Sales & Logistics | SAP Inhouse Consultant Sales & Logistic ASB Greenworld
The result
ASB Greenworld has been using the app productively since summer 2022 and is experiencing a significant increase in efficiency in transport scheduling thanks to the digitalised processes. The workflows have been simplified enormously, which is reflected in reduced time expenditure and a significant reduction in workload. As the application helps employees to optimise the loading of lorries within a specific area, the potential for errors in scheduling has been reduced to a minimum. This in turn has a positive effect on transport costs and the profit margin.
Collaboration between employees is now also noticeably smoother with the app. As the application can be called up regardless of location and end device, it no longer matters whether a transport is planned in the home office or even on the other side of the world.
In addition, only a browser and an internet connection are required to access the web application, which means that users do not have to worry about system requirements, installations or updates. As paper consumption has been drastically reduced since the app was introduced and unnecessary journeys can be easily avoided, the company's sustainability principles can now also be realised in the delivery of orders. ASB Greenworld no longer wants to miss out on the added value of the solution, on the contrary: the app has been so well received that it is already in the next development cycle.
In addition to optimising existing functions, further useful features are to be added. Just as in the first development phase, the valuable expertise of the employees will be an important factor in the continued success of the application.
