Waterline, the provider of kitchen, bedroom and office furniture and fittings, relies on PODFather's electronic proof of delivery technology to help track and manage its nationwide distribution operation.
With 38 vehicles making next day deliveries to over 1,600 independent retail and home delivery customers a week from three depots, Waterline saw the need to update paper-based processes of the past with future-proof technology. After reviewing the solutions that the market had to offer Waterline selected PODFather based on the system's robust ePOD app, accurate vehicle tracking and customer notification features. Having worked together for over two years the Waterline team has seen a huge difference in terms of delivery performance and customer satisfaction as a result of introducing PODFather into its delivery process.
"As a business customer care sits at the heart of our service offering so it was essential that we found an ePOD supplier that could tick all the boxes in terms of the functionality that we needed to improve customer experience," commented Karen Sturgess, Director at Waterline. "With PODFather we have been able to remove paper from our distribution process, automate customer notifications and provide accurate tracking so that both we, and our customers, know when to expect delivery and make the necessary preparations for the arrival of both our flat-pack and pre-built products."
Waterline uploads pre-routed jobs into the PODFather system. Drivers have been issued with smartphones onto which the free PODFather App has been downloaded. Drivers now use their handheld devices to collect pre-departure vehicle checks, receive their jobs for the day and collect proof of delivery information when a job has been completed. The increased visibility that PODFather has delivered has led to a significant reduction in inbound customer calls and order discrepancies. In addition, the volume of order queries and reports of missing items has decreased now that both the Waterline team, and customers, receive photographic proof once an item has been delivered. In short, PODFather has given Waterline full time visibility across its whole operation.
"PODFather was originally introduced as an ePOD system but there have been added benefits such as the vehicle check feature which enables us to collect and store all vehicle check information across our whole vehicle fleet," adds Matt Elborough, Head of Logistics at Waterline. "At a time when we are experiencing unprecedented increases in order volumes it's been great to know that we have PODFather in place to provide accurate vehicle tracking and real time delivery updates for both our internal teams and our customers."
"It is great that we have been able to support the Waterline team during what has been an incredibly busy year delivering kitchen, bedroom and office furniture and fittings," adds Colin McCreadie, Managing Director at PODFather. "In an operation where customer service is so important PODFather has been able to deliver a cloud-based back-office solution, and an easy-to-use drive app, that has helped Waterline to improve the flow of real time information across its business, which has improved the delivery experience for all parties."
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