DPS International has marked its silver jubilee in the best possible way – by winning the prestigious award from the Institute of Transport Management (ITM) for the ‘Best Vehicle Routing System 2007’ ITM Award. The award was made for the excellence of the desktop solution Logix and the Software as a Solution web based solution, Logixcentral. To mark his silver jubilee, Paul Palmer is now incorporating Green features in all of his systems to enable companies to measure the carbon footprint of their fleet and the impact of any fleet changes.
Twenty-five years ago, Paul Palmer left the logistics division of the Unilever Group to set up his own business helping companies become more efficient in running their freight transport operations. From that one-man consulting business has grown a business that developed to be one of the most advanced vehicle routing and scheduling systems providers in the world.
DPS International - www.dps-int.com – led the way in the development of state-of-the-art desktop solutions (LogiX) and recently introduced the only web based pay-as-you-go routing and scheduling system, logixcentral. Because Paul Palmer is always looking to provide his clients with fleet efficiency, he has now developed a module to let them measure their fleet’s carbon emissions and the impact of introducing different vehicle types, and reducing mileage and numbers of vehicles.
For many years, DPS customers have been reducing their carbon emissions by using the DPS LogiX routing and scheduling software to optimise their vehicle use. In 2006, DPS customers saved around 15,000 tonnes of carbon by using LogiX software. Companies can estimate how much carbon emissions they are generating, and how they could save both financially and in terms of carbon emissions by using the DPS calculator, which can be downloaded by following this link: Financial and Carbon Savings (FACS) Calculator.
Mr Palmer has also decided that it is time for DPS UK to become carbon neutral. “We have worked with the Climate Care organisation to offset all of our carbon emissions generated over the past year from our energy use within our offices and from business travel. Because the nature of our business inevitably leads to significant reduction in road miles and vehicles, we feel that overall we are making a very real difference to the environment.”
“In the last quarter of a century I have witnessed major changes in the approach to fleet efficiency” Mr Palmer said. “When I started the business, there were massive changes happening in logistics. Tesco and Sainsbury were introducing their central distribution strategies; the resulting impact on food and grocery manufacturers was leading to the dramatic growth in out-sourced logistics; and computers were becoming more powerful and much cheaper, bringing a revolution to the management of transport and logistics.”
This technology is now driving significant change in business practice and in transport operations. It used to be a rule of thumb that in order to benefit from powerful routing and scheduling systems a company needed at least 20 to 30 vehicles. This was to cover the cost of a software licence (up to £50,000); computer hardware; maintenance agreement; internal IT support and upgrades.
“We now have customers with as few as ten vehicles using Logixcentral over the web. Because of the low up-front investment and our pay-as-you-use model the return on their investment (ROI) is extremely rapid and is measured in months rather than years,” Mr Palmer said.
This web-based model has also meant that companies in sectors that would never have used this technology are now doing so and gaining significant business. Some recent examples are:
• Culligan – Bottled Water
• UPL – Utility Resource Management
• Home Care Nurses – Planning home visits
What is the future for transport planning software? “Computing speed and capacity is no longer really an issue – we have the computing power we need now in lap-tops and desktop PCs. I believe that we are coming to the end of the dedicated PC world for most software. IBM, Oracle, and SAP have all got behind the Software as a Service model and indirectly because of this they are also making it easier for best of breed companies to compete with enterprise solutions providers.”
In awarding DPS the “Best Vehicle Routing System 2007’ award, the ITM citation commented “It is product innovation and market responsiveness like this that makes it hardly surprising that DPS are the market-leaders in providing software solutions for both inbound and outbound transport and logistics planning. Thus, making them deserving winners of the ‘Best Vehicle Routing System 2007’ ITM Award.
Commenting on the Research Report and DPS’s success in this award category, Mr. Patrick Sheedy, Media & PR Director for the Institute said: “DPS provide an invaluable service to clients who want to overcome traditional logistics scheduling obstacles and fully maximize all the information available on their travel routes in order to make the best decisions for themselves and/or their business and improve traffic fluency. The proven trustworthiness of the company coupled with the innovative approach to launching new products in response to growing market needs makes them the ideal candidate for this award.”