User case: Jan de Rijk Transports

Jan de Rijk Digitises with TransFollow

The distribution of goods for a diversity of clients will be done by using e-CMRs from now on

The trucks of the carrier Jan de Rijk Logistics are a common sight on European highways. The company mainly focusses on delivering goods to retailers in shopping streets in the Benelux. A diversity of non-food retailers from the shoe-, domestic-, toys- and clothes segment belong to the clients of the international distributor. Stores and branches of these retailers are being supplied with goods by Jan de Rijk on a daily basis.

From four cross-dock locations in the own Benelux-netwerk of Jan de Rijk, stores, healthcare institutions and companies are being supplied daily. Previously, paper consignment notes were being used for all transports, resulting in giant paper piles and lots of manual sorting, archiving and searching of specific consignment notes. Tobias Arendsen, sitemanager at Jan de Rijk Logistics, was convinced that this time-consuming process could be optimised. With TransFollow, he found a good and reliable solution to start working with e-CMRs.

Confidence in Digital Solutions

Jan de Rijk is a company known for its continuous implementation of innovative concepts. The introduction of the digital consignment note is a good example. Investing explicitly in innovative capacity, the company is able to create new service concepts for clients. Tobias: “The e-CMR and TransFollow as a platform are a good example for this.”

“In the past, searching for the right paper consignment note took a lot of time. Sometimes, we needed to send an old consignment note to the client after three months. Lots of searching guaranteed! That is why we started to put a unique barcode on each consignment note. By scanning the barcode, we were able to save it digitally. Searching became a lot faster. But we thought: this can be done even more efficiently. Now, as soon as the signing is done at the place of delivery, the signed e-CMR is sent directly to us and to the client. This way, TransFollow also is a benefit for the client!”

The Implementation

After choosing to work with TransFollow, a thorough implementation needed to be done. This project was being supported by a Supply Chain Consultant from Beurtvaartadres, a specialist who helps all parties in the supply chain, thus the users, with the transfer to and the use of the new system.

Tobias: “A project like this always takes time, but with the help and online support of Beurtvaartadres, (The distibutor of TransFollow in The Netherlands) we were able to implement the solution pretty quickly. Since October 15th, we are really using the digital consignment note. Of course there were some challenges in the beginning. But together with Beurtvartadres, we were always able to quickly solve them. Now, everything is working fine: We are currently using about 350 digital consignment notes every day.

Take Drivers Along in the Process

To ensure that a digital solution works out, it is important to get everybody in the organisation on board. Tobias: “About 100 drivers and sub-contractors in the Benelux are using the TransFollow App on their smartphone on a daily basis.

Tobias: “We focussed a lot on training and instructing our drivers. This resulted in a good start of the project with hardly any mistakes. In addition, our own IT-department has provided professional support during the process. But the successful kick-off of the implementation was mainly possible thanks to our enthusiastic drivers.”

 The ‘Digital Future’

Driving with TransFollow is in line with further digital plans for the future at Jan de Rijk. Tobias: “The biggest challenge is to work completely paperless. With TransFollow, we were able to set a great first step towards this goal. But I am also thinking of digitising other documents such as loading- and delivery lists and packing slips. Some clients still prefer working with paper documents, but we are working to find digital solutions with them.”