How Linea Catering manages its cold chain with PTV Axylog
Linea Catering (Gerli Group) is delivering frozen goods to almost 4,000 customers in HoReCa and retail in Southern Italy. The recipe behind the company’s success contains three key ingredients: "We have international agreements for the exclusive sourcing of certain raw products (e.g. seafood). In addition, we have constantly reinvested to support and anticipate growth. Finally, we are always looking for innovative digital solutions to improve our processes.” explains Luca Mancusi, Continuous Improvement Manager at Linea Catering.
In its strive to reduce the number of kilometers being driven, to enhance efficiency and to improve customer service, Linea Catering implemented PTV Route Optimiser for the optimization of routes and PTV Axylog for visibility and real-time control and analysis of its transports.
Outsourcing transport, not control
“We handle about 450 deliveries per day, most of them being next-day or very urgent just-in-time deliveries“ says Mancusi. For transportation the company relies on two external service providers with about ten vehicles each that work exclusively for Linea Catering.
"One might think that because transportation is outsourced, this specific aspect does not concern us as closely. But that is not the case. First of all, mileage optimization is of interest to us from a green logistics perspective. But it also allows us to improve the development of different distribution areas. That is why we were looking for a planning and visibility software, that could be integrated with our systems to achieve truly end-to-end shipment tracking."
The company chose PTV Route Optimiser and PTV Axylog. The latter is working as a control tower through which it is possible to have total visibility of the entire transport process: real-time status of each delivery, monitoring of temperatures on board the vehicles, and so on. In addition, PTV Axylog communicates directly with the drivers who have access to the trips and orders assigned to them. Also, by exchanging information with other systems, it obtains data to process KPI analysis and evaluation.
Integration is not only between the two PTV solutions, but also between these and the other management systems used by Linea Catering. "The connection is upstream and downstream," confirms Luca Mancusi, "At all times, we know whether an order is being prepared, planned for shipment, or being delivered. This broad visibility makes us faster, more efficient, and more productive."
Customizing the solution
Together with PTV, Linea Catering customized the solutions to its needs. “We asked PTV to create an "exception" in the standard optimization system of PTV Route Optimiser.” states Mancusi. “Normally, the tool prioritizes the completion of the delivery route within a certain time, minimizing the miles driven. Instead, our prerogative is to concentrate deliveries in the morning, "squeezing" them in the early hours when there is less traffic. This allows us to have more time during the rest of the day to catch up on any unforeseen events.”
An integral part of Linea Catering’s logistics flow
“Without the PTV solution, I cannot prepare deliveries,” Luca Mancusi admits, “and that’s why we really value the constant collaboration and support that PTV offers us.”
