“Our target was to be able to take new orders up to five pm and deliver the next day – and we’ve done it.” Philip Courtenay-Luck, Managing Director, Bonds Confectionery
Established in 1895, Bonds Confectionery has a long history as one of the country’s leading traditional sweet manufacturers. Yet in the last five years the company has completely revolutionised its approach to the market and the way that it trades. Two new hanging bag ranges have been successfully launched - a “three for a pound” pre-pack range for children and adults which has quickly become the largest selling small bag in the UK, and a Sweetstars large bag of old-fashioned favourites. Bonds also buy in key lines from around sixty other confectionery manufacturers for the children’s market. Carrying out a unique category management role, the company now supplies a mix of fashionable and traditional sweets to multiples and independents, including the handling of changing merchandising and displays.
Bonds’ 37 representatives based around the UK and Northern Ireland visit retailers to introduce new promotions carry out merchandising and take regular orders. Working to stock lists that change over ten five-weekly cycles each year, they rely on good support from the head office team for the timely supply of new order forms, samples and promotional leaflets. Historically, the reps used to fax completed order forms back to the office from home each evening. This could often cause problems with legibility – as well as the risk of lost, misplaced or delayed orders if fax machines were out of action at their end or out of paper at head office. Manual inputting of the orders would take place the following day, with delivery the day after that.
As part of a drive to improve all aspects of customer service, Bonds set out to speed up the whole process – from getting order forms rapidly back from the field, to being able to carry out next day delivery ... even if the order was received as late as five in the afternoon. After considering and trying out handheld terminals, which they found too complex and intimidating, they settled on digital pen technology.
One of Destiny’s initial tasks was to digitise the four page order form of around 450 lines. Formulated from the product file, it includes dummy codes which make updates easier and avoid the need to recode. Shortly into each new five-week cycle, Destiny is notified of the new product lines for the next one. They upload the new data, and generate the template for the new order forms which are then printed in digital format.
Another requirement of the new system was that incoming data from the field should be able to integrate closely with Bonds’ M4 stock, sales order and pricing system from VSc Solutions. Destiny’s project management team developed the technical specification to automatically generate an xml data file from each incoming form, and route it into the M4 system to create a new order without manual intervention.
As far as the reps are concerned, the new process is very simple and user-friendly. Having taken the order from the retailer and written out the order form using a digital pen, they simply tick a “send” box on the form to transmit the data via their mobile phones in the form of recorded pen strokes to Destiny’s secure servers. This data is converted by Destiny into a data file, and also into a text format version of the handwritten form. Both are transmitted on to Bonds’ head office within a minute of the order form being completed and sent by the rep.
Auditors at Bonds have secure access to Destiny’s hosted manage service which enables them to look at and validate the incoming orders online – ensuring that the data is 100% accurate before it enters the M4 system. Comparing a recreation of the original handwritten form side by side with a graphical image of the text version, they can check the customer details and also verify that the quantities on the order form have converted correctly. They then simply click to approve, and send the order into the system for fulfilment within the hour for next day delivery. The speed of the process is such that in many instances they can even call the rep while he’s still with the customer if they need to confirm a detail or discuss a credit issue.
The main benefit of the new system, according to MD Philip Courtenay-Luck, is the leading edge it gives Bonds in terms of fast delivery and customer service. ”Our target was to be able to take new orders up to five pm and deliver the next day – and we’ve done it. It’s an unbeatable service, and we’re now able to give customers exactly what they want. As the first FMCG company to take advantage of digital pen technology from Destiny, we really can move our goods fast.”
Speed is the key. A fast electronic process now covers everything from receiving the orders from the reps, transmitting them straight into the logistics system without manual inputting, and rapid fulfilment and delivery. Even generating the invoice is faster – a critical issue for improving cash flow.
Environmental performance is greatly enhanced – along with operational cost-effectiveness. The new system has brought dramatic savings in the costs of data transmission, and the consumption of paper and toner. Instead of burning miles unnecessarily, GPS functionality enables the reps to organise their route planning efficiently. And the same functionality provides more visibility on a daily basis, enabling managers back at base to check the regularity of calls and orders.
Best of all, says Philip Courtenay-Luck, they’ve been able to introduce the new system with little or no training, and without having to ask the reps to make any major changes to the way they work. “The training only took an hour or so, and they took to it quickly when they saw the benefits to customers of next day delivery. And they don’t really have to do anything differently. Once they’ve written out the forms, the system does the rest for them – it’s brilliant.”
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