Customer Success: wills & daniel 

Background

wills & daniel is a proudly South Australian business, sourcing fresh produce and delivering it straight to clients’ doorsteps, to clients in the hospitality and food service industries. Driven to excel clients’ expectations in regard to efficient and reliable delivery, wills & daniel sought to implement an invehicle monitoring system that would provide all of the answers at the touch of a button.

Challenge

Daniel Semmler, Co-owner and Co-founder of wills & daniel, prioritised client satisfaction above all else.

Being in a time-sensitive industry, where reduced travel times directlytranslate to fresher produce, being able to accurately see where each vehicle was at any given time was paramount. And with the company set to launch additional home delivery services later this year, which will dramatically increase the number of deliveries that each driver has to make per day, identifying and implementing efficiencies pre-launch is a key priority.

“Before we implemented the Fleet Complete system, we relied on manual paperwork. A client would call to query where their delivery was, and we would have to hang up the phone, call the driver, call them back—it wasn’t a good use of our time, and delivery time can be the difference between a satisfied and a dissatisfied client.”

Now, it’s a matter of hopping onto the system in a few seconds and providing the answer instantly.

“It’s also about improving operational efficiency and visibility when it comes to logistics. We simply can’t make informed decisions about improving business operations if we don’t have the data to back it up.”

And finally, with drivers traversing the state to deliver goods, safety was also a major concern—making sure drivers not only delivered produce on time and to the client’s satisfaction, but returned safely.

Efficiency is key for food-based business clients

Solution

The Rollout

The system was first installed in eight vehicles onsite in 2015. Not wanting the upgrade to disrupt day-to-day operations, the remaining vehicles were fitted on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis. Once the fleet was fully fitted, all new vehicles acquired now have the system installed as part of their initial set-up process.

Training

wills & daniel took part in basic training when the system was first installed, and found the process simple enough that they have not required any additional assistance.

“We know that the system offers far more benefits than we are currently utilising, and plan to explore how we can capitalise on these in the future as our business expands, there are exciting times ahead in the next six months”

– Daniel Semmler

Results

Streamlined Client Communications

“The system has matched our expectations precisely. We didn’t initially need a lot of the extra feature —just something that could help us locate our drivers at the touch of a button,” said Semmler.

Client sentiment is visibly improved, and wills & daniel enjoy long-term client relationships thanks to their adopting this new solution.

“There’s a huge amount of data available that you can analyse, if that’s what your business is looking for. That’s the beauty of this system—it can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be.”

Improved Driver Safety and Wellbeing

“Our drivers have welcomed the update with open arms. Everyone realises that it’s to improve safety all-round,” said Semmler, adding that from the driver perspective, it has been almost an invisible process.

“From the metro side of things the results have been extremely positive, and the regional results are also improving. We’re able to run weekly reports that give us visibility into what’s happening, and subsequent peace of mind that everything is operating as it should.”

Report metrics include common areas of concern, such as speeding, harsh braking and cornering.

“The Fleet Complete system has dramatically streamlined the way we do business. As well as improving safety, reducing costs, and boosting logistical visibility, it has helped us to do one simple thing, and that’s better serve our customers.”

– Daniel Semmler

Added Benefits

wills & daniel have noticed knock-on benefits from their decision to fit their fleet with in-vehicle monitoring and tracking devices, including reduced costs and improved vehicle maintenance.

“The general wear and tear is noticeably decreased, and that’s directly because of the monitoring of unsafe driving practices, like harsh cornering. It means fewer hiccups and down time for our vehicles, so more money in our back pocket.”