Vinnies picks Infor, TransLogix for logistics revamp

Stephen Withers
Monday, 03 January 2011 15:11

Business IT - Technology

A well-known charity has used IT to help meet the its clients' needs in days rather than weeks.

The St Vincent de Paul Society in Victoria had a problem caused by its success. The number of potential donations of furniture had grown, but donors were having to wait two, three or even four weeks for collection. Consequently, a proportion elected to dispose of their items in other ways.

Logistics manager Louis La Sala told iTWire that the adoption of Infor's SCM fleet routing software and a reduction of manual processes has slashed this to two to three days, resulting in better service for donors and recipients. Some of the goods received by Vinnies Centres are provided to those in need, and others are sold to the general public

As part of the implementation, the Society also combined four of its seven metro sections into one for the purpose of allocating vehicles to pickup jobs.

The number of pickups increased by 60 to 70%, La Sala said, partly because the vehicles were being used more efficiently, but also because fewer donations were being lost because the Society could not collect them quickly enough.

"The Infor product gives me the ability to provide drivers and jockeys with a fair work schedule," he said.

How SCM helps save working hours - page 2.