Nottingham-based cycle brand, Raleigh, may be best known for its iconic Chopper bicycle, beloved by many in the 1970s, but the company is no stranger to advanced supply chain operations.
Whereas, back in the 1970s perhaps, there were once very pronounced seasonal peaks for cycle purchases, cycling is a more mainstream adult activity now, leading to longer, flatter peaks throughout spring and summer, with a smaller peak at Christmas in the purchase of children’s bikes.
Raleigh has its main depot in Nottingham and a satellite depot in London, and claims to have shaved one day off its delivery times through its use of Paragon Software’s Multi Depot routing and scheduling system.
Most of Raleigh’s products are imported from the Far East, and it distributes around 500,000 consignments of bicycles, parts and accessories every year to retail outlets across the UK. It uses the Paragon solution to improve the efficiency of its transport operations, reduce lead times and improve customer service.
“We’ve been using Paragon’s routing and scheduling solution for about 15 years, now, and the resulting reduction in our lead times has enabled us to hold less stock and invoice earlier – which has a direct positive impact on our cash flow,” says Steve Wigley, Distribution Manager for Raleigh.
“We originally opted for the Paragon solution because we needed to install a routing system that would help us to optimise our vehicle utilisation and improve the efficiency of our delivery operation.
Paragon Multi Depot enables businesses like Raleigh to plan routes and schedules for multiple depots as a single planning task. It also makes it easier to centalise planning and sharing of information from multiple sites. As well as cutting planning time, this can improve visibility of the overall transport plan, give planning teams added flexibility and improve the overall efficiency of the vehicle fleet.
The Paragon system takes into account order quantities, delivery addresses, vehicle capacities, promised delivery time windows, driver time constraints and driver work standards, when calculating delivery schedules.
