If you buy a £10 book from Amazon, you will be told almost exactly when it’s arriving, and they will know the minute it’s been delivered. It feels professional, it’s highly efficient and there is very little room for costly disputes.
But in many parts of the glass industry, customers are still kept guessing when their order will arrive. They rely on the drivers to keep all the paperwork in order and ensure it is signed-off correctly. If there are any omissions or breakages, there are likely to be delays while the paperwork is driven back to the office and entered into the computer – assuming it doesn’t get lost on the way.
Too many glass businesses and their customers are still wasting time on the phone and email, chasing updates, handling issues and working out why the details on the dispatch note don’t fit with what the customer says they received.
Bringing electronic proof of delivery to glass businesses
Thankfully, electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) systems are now available in the glass industry and have been proven in glass businesses of all sizes.
With ePOD, flexible planning tools allow you to schedule orders quickly and efficiently. Hand-held devices track the progress of deliveries for you and your customers, as well as recording electronic signatures as the customer receives and checks the goods.
Eliminating errors and improving efficiency
Gtrak, the leading system for managing glass businesses, provides direct integration with Fleet Wizard, a powerful ePOD solution.
From the outset they make your life easier and eliminate errors. Their flexible tools allow you to plan optimal delivery routes and vehicle loading. This is fed back into scheduling and dispatch, where barcode scanning ensures that every item is checked onto the correct stillage and loaded into the right truck.
Before a vehicle leaves your premises, the entire shipment is automatically checked off against the sales order and the customer records are updated for all your team to see.
Outstanding customer service, automatically
As your business management software informs your staff that an order is complete and ready to go, your customers are automatically updated with the expected delivery time. Thanks to the ePOD app used by your drivers, the system can monitor progress and update you and your customers accordingly.
When your customers receive their order, the app allows them to confirm that it has been delivered intact and in-full. Their electronic signature is passed back to your system right away where the customer records are updated, ready for invoicing.
If any items are damaged in transit or there are other problems, the driver can use the app to note the details against the item. This is passed back to your Gtrak system, so you can immediately review production schedules and arrange a replacement.
Find out more
If you would like to find out more about Gtrak and how it could help you drive efficiency and enhance customer service, please get in touch.
