Dallas, Texas-based Nogales Produce Inc. is using Paragon Software Systems’ routing and scheduling software to help improve its complex delivery operations.
The company, which supplies fresh produce to better than 2,000 stores and restaurants located in the south central U.S., expects to save more than 15% in operational costs by implementing Paragon’s Single Depot software, according to a news release.
Nogales Produce picked Paragon after an extensive selection process that included consideration of more than ten routing technology providers, according to the release.
The company has more than 3,000 food deliveries per day.
“We have to be able to adjust our staffing and our delivery schedule on a day-to-day basis to run efficiently,” Albert Rodriguez, Nogales senior vice president of operations, said in the release. “We didn’t have the knowledge we needed to be efficient, and without that we couldn’t serve customers the way we’d like to.”
Before turning to Paragon, the release said Nogales Produce relied on a manually-produced schedule, with the task of adapting to short-notice changes left mostly to Nogales’ drivers.
That was an inefficient approach, according to company officials, since drivers don’t have access to the big picture of the entire delivery network.
“You have drivers crossing all over each other,” Rodriguez said in the release. “You add one customer and it begins to happen, then you add another, and the inefficiencies really start to stack up.”
Paragon’s routing and scheduling software allows a central planner at Nogales’ Dallas headquarters to quickly identify opportunities for greater efficiency, according to the release.
The company anticipates a minimum of 15% reduction in driver costs, alone, with other savings expected across its delivery operations. With more efficiency, Nogales has less produce on the road, and drivers out for fewer hours which leads to less liability, so Nogales will reduce insurance costs, among other factors.
Using Paragon, the company will now be able to measure key performance index data, including:
- Stops per mile driven;
- Stops per driver;
- Stops per on-road hour;
- Cases per drop;
- Cube utilization;
- Route profitability; and
- Percent on plan.
