Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2019: The BluJay Solutions Award for Technology Innovation

Technology drives the supply chain, but the judges of the BluJay Solutions Award for Technology Innovation were not looking for an off-the-shelf solution, they wanted a winner that demonstrated new or innovative way that has quantifiable benefits to the operation of the organisation’s supply chain.

Running the eventual winner close was Bloomin’ Brands and its work with Calibar Global. That entry say Bloomin’ Brands reduce shipping costs and lower the number of hours spent on construction by 660 hours over an 18-month period.

However, the winning entry came from Best Food Logistics with Applied Acumen. Best Food Logistics, formerly Bidvest Logistics and then part of BidCorp, works alongside major players in the UK hospitality and restaurant sector, a market experiencing intensifying competition. It had also just seen the return of its much-publicised KFC contract – and wanted a new and innovative approach to enable it to differentiate on service.

Working alongside Applied Acumen Best Food Logistics harnessed the large volumes of data relating to every aspect of service delivery, bringing together data from route planners, driver PDA‘s, in-cab telematics, customer delivery data and more.

Using data visualisation tools Applied Acumen allowed supply chain operations staff at Best Food Logistics to manage far more effectively and efficiently; this meant it could pinpoint issues before they occur and act on them to avoid service failures. Furthermore, Best Food Logistics makes this real-time information available to its customers, so they can also see exactly what is happening in their supply chain.

Using the data Best Food Logistics has been able to improve its on-time, in-window performance from 40 per cent to 90 per cent. The speed of delivery was paramount to the success of the project too – not just to improve the delivery performance and the customer experience, but to assuage a sceptical workforce naturally feeling threatened and unnerved by change.

The judges were impressed with the clear story as to how Best Food Logistics had transformed its business, from a loss to profitability, and its use of big data had had a big focus on people and everyone who works for Best Food. The judges also praised the entry for its customer service focus and its ‘uniqueness’ in the sector.

Richard Shipperbotton, MD at Applied Acumen, said: “It feels fantastic. It’s been a great journey with Best Food Logistics, who’ve been a fabulous client, and we’ve worked so hard as a team, and you’ll see by the population on our table, working with the union, the customers, the management, the people on the ground, has been a fantastic experience for us all, and the company is going from strength to strength.”

Winner: Best Food Logistics with Applied Acumen

Shortlisted: Acrovision; Bloomin’ Brands with Caliber Global; Controlant; Flipkart.

The 24th Supply Chain Excellence Awards will take place on 12 November 2020. The awards are a celebration of all things supply chain and all entrants are put through their paces – including presenting to a panel of their peers – to ensure only the best win the coveted award.

For more information, including how to enter and sponsorship opportunities, and to register your interest go to: Supplychainexcellenceawards.com