Customer Story:
Involvement

Industry

Warehousing
Distribution

Business Size

Medium

Product

Access MaxOptra

Challenge

Involvement had tried multiple routing solutions but struggled with system integration, particularly after migrating to Microsoft Dynamics Business Central.

Route planning was taking around 20 hours per week, creating a significant operational burden.

Managing both deliveries and collections simultaneously added further complexity, and label creation for different packages and routes was handled manually.

Approach

Access MaxOptra was selected for its ability to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics Business Central.

The platform was configured to manage both deliveries and collections in combined, optimised routes.

Label creation was also brought into the Access MaxOptra workflow, enabling packages to be correctly identified for different vehicles and routes.

Results

Planning time was reduced from 20 hours per week to 8 hours, a 60% reduction.
Route efficiency improved, delivering savings on fuel, maintenance, and resource costs.
Customer service improved through better visibility and communication, and the business now has a scalable platform to support its ambitious growth plans across all divisions.

About Involvement

Involvement is a family-owned, award-winning group of companies operating across the fulfilment, industrial packaging and technology sectors. The group prides itself on being the best team-led business in the UK, with this approach leading to supercharged growth in recent years.

The business was set up in 1974 as a UK distributor of industrial plastic (PP) buckets to the food, chemicals, and coatings industries, and quickly became pioneers in their space as they introduced new products and developed the market for plastic containers in the UK.

Today, what Involvement offers goes beyond packaging. They have been trusted for decades by thousands of companies to deliver their products to market with confidence, which has resulted in them receiving the highest AA rating and BRC accreditation at all of their depots. As well as being the first packaging company in the market to receive a Feefo Trusted Gold Service Award, and being positioned in the top 2% of companies on Feefo’s platform.

Invopak and Invo Fulfilment are key divisions within the group which utilise their fleet for transporting goods for customers across the UK. Invopak provides an unrivalled combination of high-quality products, competitive pricing and a world-class customer experience. And utilise their own fleet of delivery vehicles, meaning that customers’ packaging is looked after at every step of the journey, from factory, to warehouse, to end customer.

Invo Fulfilment focuses on providing a straightforward pallet storage and distribution service from their immaculate BRC accredited distribution centres and newly commissioned fleet.

The challenge

Before Access MaxOptra, Involvement had tried multiple solutions but were facing issues with integrating their current systems. Notably, the business had moved to Microsoft Dynamics Business Central which was an essential system to integrate with their routing solution.

Additionally, their previous routing system required significant amounts of customisation. And even after tailoring the system to their needs, the cost had become high and the solution was still not fit for purpose.

Routing was taking significant time and resources, with Involvement requiring a dedicated staff member to manage the process, which took up to 4 hours per day to complete. Furthermore, the solution was not user-friendly, meaning they suffered from single-person dependencies as other staff members would struggle to learn the system in time.

This was exacerbated by Involvement‘s need to also complete collections, which was not viable using their current solution. Instead, this process would have to be managed completely separately, on an entirely manual basis.

The solution

Involvement was recommended by Access MaxOptra through their Microsoft Dynamics Business Central supplier. They were immediately impressed by the solution, and after agreeing to move ahead, were implemented and trained in the Access MaxOptra system swiftly.

Involvement could seamlessly and easily integrate with Microsoft Dynamics Business Central through Access MaxOptra’s open API. Allowing them to benefit from better data management, route optimisation accuracy, vehicle and driver visibility, and real-time customer order statuses.

With regards to routing, Involvement has been impressed by Access MaxOptra’s dynamic routing capabilities, finding the routes generated to be accurate and faster than those they were previously utilising. Also customers can now have real-time tracking of their orders which has resulted in a more efficient use of driver hours.

Involvement is also able to manage collections through the Access MaxOptra system, combining collection addresses with their deliveries for more efficient routes and better use of the fleet assets, and of course more straightforward processing and planning.

And if that wasn’t enough, Access MaxOptra has supported Involvement with appropriate label creation, allowing the business to label and easily identify different packages to fit different vehicles and routes.

The results

Involvement has seen a drastic reduction in planning time, which has been reduced from roughly 20 hours per week to 8 hours per week. That’s a 60% reduction in planning time!

And due to the generation of more efficient routes, Involvement has benefited from reduced fuel, maintenance, and other resource costs.

The business has seen huge benefits in customer service with the use of Access MaxOptra’s live tracking, widget, and email and SMS notifications, meaning that customers can be sent accurate ETAs, keeping them up to date whilst also reducing customer service calls.

This has been mirrored in feedback and reviews from Involvement’s customers, who are impressed with the speed, flexibility, and communication of their deliveries.

“I am thrilled to see the significant improvements achieved by Involvement through the use of Access MaxOptra. Their remarkable reduction in mileage, fuel consumption, and delivery times showcases the transformative impact of our technology on logistics operations. This case study illustrates our dedication to revolutionising route planning and empowering businesses like Involvement to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.”

Sanjay Gandhi
Managing Director, Access MaxOptra

The future for Involvement

Involvement has big plans for the future, including expansion of all divisions across the group as part of their ambitious growth plans. This of course will mean an increase in fleet size and resource, which they are confident in with the help of Access MaxOptra.

“Access MaxOptra is the best system I have worked with. The implementation for planners and drivers has been fantastic, and the system has been easy and straightforward for everyone to learn.
The support team are always on hand if we have any questions, and is really quick to respond. And their excellent communications keep us up to date with what is happening”