Loveland Distributing Company is implementing distribution planning software to optimize delivery routing of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks such as Red Bull, Sweet Leaf Tea, and Nesquik to 3,000 licensed retailers, including Walmart, Food Lion, Kroger and 7-Eleven.
Loveland will use the solution, from Paragon Software Systems, to automate the planning of 20 optimized routes across the state of Virginia. This includes several counties and the city of Richmond. These routes service around 500 customers each day.
Loveland has a varied fleet of vehicles used across the routes and the company expects the software will improve efficiencies. The fleet includes bulk tractor-trailers, draft trucks, 18-bay delivery tractor trailers, 16-bay trucks, heavy-duty vans, and support vehicles.
“We hope the software will help us become more efficient,” says Paul Collier, Loveland’s MIS Director and project leader “By using the software, we will reduce daily routes and mileage with consequent operational savings. We will use the software to recalculate our current routes into a more efficient pattern. We will then use the software to re-route every two months to meet varying seasonal demands. In a year’s time – perhaps sooner – we aim to move to daily optimization.”
