Cooperating logistics service providers make every delivery visible in real time with Control Tower

DHB and TeamTrans use Yellowstar's Star Portal Customers to make every shipment visible to the shipper, carrier and recipient in real time. Both distribution networks now have a comprehensive Control Tower to help refine their service provision to both business and residential customers. With around 500 trucks on their way to 12,000 addresses throughout the Benelux every day, delivery now takes place even more efficiently and completely transparently.

DHB and TeamTrans bring together twelve well-established family-run road transport companies who have combined their trans-regional distribution activities across the Benelux (DHB) and the Netherlands (TeamTrans) via a smart hub & spoke system. Following local pickup from the shipper, consolidated transport takes place overnight between regional depots. In each region, the logistics provider operating there handles final-mile distribution to end customers for its fellow carriers. The result: delivery anywhere within 24 hours with fewer truck miles, serving business customers and consumers alike. "The services provided by our distribution network go beyond what others can offer”, believes DHB Director Jeroen Hermus. "Inherent to family businesses is a strong desire to provide the best possible service to customers everywhere and at all times." 

Full transparency in the logistics chain

DHB and TeamTrans share the same overarching IT platform. All the participating family businesses are connected to this platform from their own decentralised Transport Management Systems. It is the foundation on which the trans-regional distribution networks have successfully operated for many years. However, over time, the need for even more and better information sharing has grown. IT manager Erik Heijstek: "Consumers have long been accustomed to being able to follow their shipments with track & trace, but businesses are also becoming more demanding in this regard. That was really given added impetus by the pandemic. Companies no longer want to be in the dark about delivery times."

Hermus adds: "What we particularly wanted to add to our service is real-time visibility from the moment a driver departs for local delivery. The logistics provider in question already had that information, but it was not centrally available. We have filled that gap with Star Portal Customers. Everything that happens is now fully visible to everyone in the network in the Control Tower. Any changes along the way are shown immediately; everyone has the same picture – the participating logistics providers, shippers and recipients." For example, thanks to the Control Tower, planners can immediately see when there is a risk that a delivery will miss its planned ETA or the recipient’s opening times. Which means they can adjust the delivery in time. Shippers also have perfect visibility regarding the progress of the delivery in their own dashboards.

Comprehensive track & trace

Recipients benefit from comprehensive track & trace via Star Portal Customers. All they have to do is click on the link they have been sent. Track & trace starts with a four-hour time window on the evening before the chosen delivery date. When the driver departs, this time window is refined to two hours, and then to just half an hour on route. Recipients can monitor shipments on their phones at any time. If there are changes on the road (congestion, etc.), Star Portal Customers automatically adjusts the displayed window time.

Making CO2 emissions measurable

Hermus: "Our new system perfectly matches the changing information requirements of shippers and recipients." It also supports the decision by DHB and TeamTrans to make the CO2 emissions from transport measurable via an additional module in Star Portal Customers. "Customers are increasingly requesting information on CO2 emissions. We therefore want to be able to provide that emissions data at shipment level as standard. Customers can then see for themselves the difference between using an electric truck, one running on biofuels, etc."

Customer-focused

DHB and TeamTrans are happy with the partnership with Yellowstar. Heijstek: "Everything starts with mutual transparency." And Hermus adds: "Yellowstar is very good at translating our requirements into actual functionalities. The company is tightly organised and it always thinks in terms of solutions."

Cooperating companies

The following six logistics service providers work together in DHB: Charlier Logistics, De Graaf Logistics, Distrilog, Thijs Logistiek, Tielbeke and Wesseling Logistics.

The ten logistics service providers that make up Teamtrans are: Beentjes Transport, De Graaf Logistics, Fox Global, Naeye Logistics, Portena Logistiek, Thijs Logistiek, Tielbeke, Visser Duiven, Van Eck Transport and Wesseling Logistics.