Furniture logistics with added value

Bocholt, July 10, 2023

With the telematics solution TISLOG, the company fm Büromöbel GmbH has digitized the entire order management for its own company transport fleet and thus significantly improved customer service. In the near future, the contracted forwarding agents will also be connected to the system.

Many employees in the home office have already got to know him: The personal delivery and assembly service from fm office furniture. After all, not only retailers, but also companies and other end users are supplied from the production site in Bösel, Lower Saxony. For this purpose, the company, which is part of the Vivonio furniture Group, operates a vehicle fleet with 21 articulated trains, which are used nationwide for long-distance transport along with swap bodies. The fleet is supplemented by a 12 and a 7.5 ton truck with a fixed body, which is only dispatched within a radius of 150 km. 12 to 14 fully loaded trucks leave the extensive company premises every day.

Highly qualified teams of two
One of the special features of delivery logistics here is that the vehicles are manned by highly qualified teams of two. In addition to taking turns driving during the tours planned about 3 weeks in advance, various construction and assembly work are also part of the varied job profile. Since 2022, they have been accompanied by Panasonic FZ N1 mobile computers, which have all been equipped with the TISLOG app. The app developed by TIS guides the employees step by step through the entire work process, which is thus completely and digitally documented. The bandwidth ranges from the departure check and loading to navigation, unloading scanning and delivery receipt. If damage occurs during delivery, this is clearly documented with the help of the TISLOG app and the photo function. But even in normal cases, the drivers take photos of the delivered goods in order to counteract later complaints.
"Not only do our own processes benefit from the digital delivery receipt, but above all our trading partners, who now receive the digital receipt by e-mail immediately after delivery and can issue their invoices," reports logistics manager Dennis Südbeck.

From a single source at a fair price
The state-certified technician had already initiated the continuous digitization of delivery in 2018 and, together with colleagues, set out to find a suitable IT partner. "In 2019, the decision was made in favor of TIS because we can get all the partial solutions and modules from a single source at a fair price," recalls Südbeck, who wants to keep the number of IT systems used as low as possible. In addition to TISLOG, only the route planning software from PTV is used in the logistics of fm Büromöbel. "In addition, the reference visit to another TIS customer from the furniture industry with similar requirements and the high level of competence of our contact person Oliver Krahmer convinced us."
In the first step in 2020, the vehicles were equipped with TIS telematics boxes Truck. Depending on requirements, they provide comprehensive telematics data for scheduling and fleet management. The robust hardware is equipped with a powerful GPS receiver and its own SIM card. At fm Büromöbel, the boxes are connected to the truck's CAN bus and the digital tachograph via an FMS interface. "This means that our dispatchers are reliably supplied with the current driving, working and rest times as well as position data," explains Südbeck. The processing and analysis of the tachometer data runs continuously via the TISLOG office portal. The data from the drivers' mobile scanners also flows in here, so that the current shipment status can be called up at any time.

High level of acceptance among drivers
In 2022, fm Büromöbel invested in the second expansion stage of the system and purchased mobile computers from Panasonic with integrated scanners in smartphone format for each vehicle. These are managed centrally via the TISLOG MDM mobile device management developed by TIS. All updates work centrally for all devices at the push of a button. The MDM not only simplifies device management, but also speeds up urgent troubleshooting. "If our drivers report a problem with their scanner, we can analyze the case immediately and usually solve it via remote maintenance," says Südbeck. For this reason, TISLOG is also very well received by the drivers.

Automatic driver's license check
The drivers quickly got used to the new way of working with the TISLOG app, which also enables regular driver's license checks. This is ensured by a solution developed by TIS, which only requires an NFC-enabled Android smartphone and forgery-proof RFID tags for the driver's license. This means that the 36 drivers can prove that they are in possession of a valid driver's license at any time, even while on the move. The personal presentation of the driver's license to the fleet manager is no longer necessary. Instead, it is sufficient to call up the TISLOG app and then hold the driver's license with the RFID tag close to the Panasonic scanner. Drivers are automatically reminded of the regularly required proof.
The TISLOG office portal shows at a glance which driver's licenses have already been registered and when they must be checked at the latest. In addition, the solution generates automatic e-mails with the current status reports that remind you of upcoming appointments. In order to be able to prove that a driver's license test has been carried out, the data is stored in the logbook of the portal, so that the employer's obligation of documentation is fulfilled.

Digital departure control
The departure check, which every driver has to carry out before loading begins, works in a similar way. The digital departure check appears on the driver's mobile device as an additional menu item. The function provides drivers with a uniform control procedure for tractor units and trailers during the small and large departure checks. Damage and defects can be ticked off using pre-formulated descriptions and, if necessary, additionally documented with photos.
At the end of the control process, the drivers decide whether their vehicle is ready for use and sign their entries on the device display. The digital departure check is then transferred to the TISLOG office portal and archived there as a PDF document. In this way, fleet managers and dispatchers have access to all logs at all times.
Detected defects, comments and the availability of photos can be seen at a glance in the control report. Vehicles that are not roadworthy are highlighted in color in a list view so that the necessary repairs can be initiated immediately. The available photos make it much easier to estimate the effort and plan the workshop. "This type of safe and simple documentation saves us some discussions because it clearly proves when which damage to the vehicle was reported," emphasizes Südbeck, who wants to expand the TIS solution even further.

Further steps planned
As a next step, the logistics manager plans to record working hours and automatically create expense reports with the help of TISLOG and an interface to a specialized TIS software partner.
In addition, the forwarders will soon be connected to the digital order management. fm Büromöbel outsources around 10 percent of the tours to external service providers. "Then we can track all orders seamlessly and offer our customers an even better service," plans Südbeck.

Conclusion: fm Büromöbel consistently uses TISLOG for the digitization of its own logistics and thus ensures maximum transparency, accelerated processes and increasing customer satisfaction.