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Customer Story:
Wellocks
Challenge
When the pandemic forced Wellocks' usual high-end hospitality customers to close, the business launched 'Wellocks at Home' - delivering premium produce directly to consumers.
However, the existing fixed-route, reactive planning model wasn't suited to dynamic home delivery.
Managing changes to orders, delivery times, and customer requests manually was creating significant operational strain.
Approach
Access MaxOptra was implemented to replace the fixed-route model with dynamic, optimised daily planning.
The system gave the Wellocks team the flexibility to manage variable home delivery addresses, handle order changes in real time, and plan efficient routes across their growing fleet.
Results
- Wellocks successfully pivoted to a direct-to-consumer model without compromising on the premium service levels their brand is known for.
- The business - now part of William Jackson Food Group - operates a fleet of 180 vehicles, supplying high-end hotels, football clubs, and Michelin-starred restaurants, with Access MaxOptra underpinning the logistics operation at scale.
About Wellocks
Wellocks was originally a family-owned company spanning four generations. It was started by its original founder in humble beginnings of a small market stall selling fruit and veg.
Fast forward to today, and Wellocks is owned by William Jackson Food Group. A similarly family orientated business that owns numerous brands in the food sector.
William Jackson Food Group was able to continue to take Wellocks on their journey where they now run a fleet of 180 vehicles to supply high-end hotels, football clubs, and restaurants such as Foodwell in Manchester, Michelin starred The Angel at Hetton, and Wild Restaurant in Harrogate.
The challenge
However, after the pandemic in 2020, Wellocks faced a new challenge. Many of their usual customers were temporarily closing due to lockdown measures, meaning Wellocks had to change their strategy.
So Wellocks set up Wellocks At Home – delivering the same top-quality produce they supply to Michelin-starred restaurants, straight to customers’ door. From seasonal fruit and vegetables, artisan cheese and speciality eggs, to trade-secret pantry essentials.
However, Wellocks were running on a fixed route, reactive basis. Meaning they would manually have to manage changes to orders, delivery times, customer requests, and schedules.
Wellocks knew that they could not execute Wellocks At Home working in this manner without a considerable amount of extra man-hours. They would not be able to supply specific time windows, have any measures in place, and would not be able to identify if the drivers and routes were working efficiently and effectively.
The solution
Fortunately, Wellocks already worked with Access MaxOptra on a fixed route basis, so contacted their Account Manager for advice and support.
Wellocks knew that their route scheduling would have to be instantaneous due to the varying orders and customers they would now be supplying. But due to Access MaxOptra’s ease of use and dynamic routing capabilities, this has been a breeze.
Wellocks at Home were set up in 2 days and at their busiest period, Wellocks were putting 9,000 orders per day through the Access MaxOptra system. Totalling 530 routes per week.
The results
Since using Access MaxOptra in this way, Wellocks have been reaping the benefits.
They have been able to keep drivers on rota and always on time, and they have utilised operational windows to improve their customer service levels.
MaxOptra was able to integrate into all areas of their business, with vehicle integration for drivers being particularly useful. And the supply of live data back to support teams has significantly improved efficiency.
The system has allowed Wellocks to identify cost and carbon saving opportunities. And has also integrated with their other sister companies.
Importantly, Wellocks are now able to drill down into KPIs and manage their fleet and resources far more effectively. This has been particularly important over Covid-19, as they needed to utilise resource as best as possible, and determine the most cost effective routes available.
The future for Wellocks
Wellocks have also begun exploring more functionality in Access MaxOptra. Such as SMS communications for both their Wellocks and Wellocks At Home customers.
And they have just implemented the customer service element offered by Access MaxOptra, so that all sales teams have updated ETAs on routes in real-time.
"Without Access MaxOptra we would not have been able to get Wellocks At Home off the ground, and I don't know where we would be right now. The customer service has been exceptional, with all queries resolved easily. The system has allowed us to move the business forward, and we're excited to use more functionality to improve our offering"
Craig Coupe
Head of Transport, Wellocks
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