supply chain

SPAR

The Simacan Control Tower helps SPAR to plan and monitor the deliveries executed by carrier Simon Loos to the retailer’s Dutch convenience stores. SPAR provides all its shop managers with insight into the exact location and ETA of each truck carrying deliveries for them.

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SPAR at a glance

SPAR plans all its transport using the Simacan time-distance matrix.
Over 600 SPAR stores in the Netherlands have insight into the ETAs of inbound deliveries.
Retailers can see the deliveries intended for them on the SPAR arrival display.
ETAs are calculated based on real-time traffic information.

Insight into arrival times

First and foremost, SPAR wanted to gain precise insight into the estimated arrival times (ETAs) of the trucks on the way to all its Dutch stores in order to keep the retailers up to date effectively.

Rob Salomé, Supply Chain & Logistics Manager at SPAR: “I first came into contact with Simacan in 2016. It was very interesting to see what Simacan was doing and I immediately saw opportunities for us to use the Simacan platform – mainly to inform our stores about precise ETAs initially.”

Visibility of the up-to-date planning

SPAR does its planning in Conundra’s OptiFlow. The Simacan time-distance matrix and associated delay matrix is integrated with OptiFlow so that the planners can prepare a very detailed plan of the upcoming trips.
“The first thing we do every day is log in to the Simacan Control Tower to check whether the trucks have left on time that morning and whether they are still on schedule. We can see the exact real-time status of all trips as well as when they departed from the DC, which customer deliveries have already been executed, where each truck is at that moment and the ETAs.”

"With Simacan Control Tower we can inform all our SPAR stores with exact ETAs."

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All our store managers have access to the SPAR arrival display

“All our SPAR store managers have access to the SPAR arrival display. They can log in to the system to see which deliveries are scheduled, what time the goods are due to arrive, and how many containers of ambient, fresh, frozen and tobacco products they will receive. They can also see the real-time status of the trucks and receive an immediate alert if a delivery is behind or ahead of schedule. So they continuously know exactly what time the truck will arrive at their store.”

“Before we started working with Simacan, most of our communication with store managers consisted of phone calls about when they could expect to receive their deliveries. Now we don’t have to do anything anymore, which is a big improvement – it’s fantastic!”

The Simacan Control Tower allows SPAR’s planners to see all the trucks, their trips and their ETAs. SPAR shares this information with its store managers using the arrival display. This results in a clear overview of the entire operational planning, supporting real-time adjustments and more efficiency all round.

More about Simacans arrival & shop display >

Simacan implementation

“The implementation of Simacan ran very smoothly and without a hitch. Simacan sent all our store managers a message including their log-in details so they could get started right away.”

“In the initial phase of working with the Simacan Control Tower we had to support the drivers while they learned how to use their on-board computer or drivers’ app. For us that was the biggest challenge, but it all went very well and the trip information is now visible for everyone.”

All Simacan solutions are hosted in the cloud, which offers several advantages: easy implementation, compatibility with all platforms and operating systems, managed software updates, scalable system performance and no maintenance costs.

“Another thing we would really like to do is implement the e-CMR, or in other words the digital waybill, and integrate it with the Simacan Control Tower.”

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The future of transport at SPAR

“We’re keen to improve a few more things in our supply chain, one of which is the last-mile assistance. Our stores are often in small villages or in hard-to-reach locations. Last-mile assistance will help us to guide our trucks along the optimal route to the unloading areas at those stores. Simacan can really support us with the last mile; the software already has last-mile functionality. It’s now just a matter of getting the right information into the on-board computers for our drivers.”

“Another thing we would really like to do is implement the e-CMR, or in other words the digital waybill, and integrate it with the Simacan Control Tower.”

More about eCMR integration in Simacan >

Zero-emission urban distribution

“As we open ever-more SPAR city stores and even ‘city small’ (tiny stores of just 80m2 in urban areas), it’s becoming increasingly difficult to use conventional transport. So we replenish our SPAR city small in Utrecht by first transporting the goods in our big trucks to CityHub, a logistics service provider based on the outskirts of Utrecht. After cross-docking at this hub, the goods are delivered to our city stores using zero-emission vehicles.”

The Simacan platform enables you to collaborate with all your business partners digitally and to integrate with one another’s planning, transport and fleet management systems.