Scheduling: ePlan™
ePlan™ is Transtech's multi-trigger scheduling product. ePlan will generate orders based on a number of criteria: fixed time intervals, customer request, demand forecast algorithms, telemetry input, or any combination of these. It is especially powerful in a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) environment, where delivery cost is borne by the supplier.
ePlan interfaces with Direct Route and vTrack, but can also be used stand-alone or with other vendors' products. It is also designed to integrate with standard ERP offerings such as Oracle and SAP.
The ePlan advantage
With ePlan you can:
- Lower transport costs through reduced number of deliveries
- Lower transport costs by aggregating geographically
- Reduce customer stockouts
- Reduce inventory
- Improve customer service by meeting customer time windows
A powerful customer database
ePlan can store all of your customer information in an easy-to-use Windows style application. This allows multiple users to view and modify information, meaning your customer service department and distribution department are always looking at the most up-to-date information.
If a customer notifies your service department that they will not require a delivery until, for example, next month, the date is entered into ePlan and no deliveries will be scheduled until this new specified date. All entries and changes are tracked so all delivery and customer information is available for analysis and problem solving.
ePlan can be modified to ensure that any and all relevant information is available in a manner that suits your business requirements; this allows the customer service ePlan interface to look different to the scheduling department, which is different again to the distribution department.
All deliveries can be recorded in ePlan with time and date stamps. This information can be entered manually; automatically direct from your existing delivery system; or even via a spreadsheet. Usage rates are calculated automatically, providing the scheduler with a valuable tool to help calculate the next delivery date.
Flexible scheduling
ePlan is an incredibly flexible scheduling tool. Deliveries can be scheduled based on weekly or monthly cycles, such as "every Monday" or "on a Tuesday every 28 days". Deliveries can also be scheduled on a non-weekly cycle such as every ten days, every 13 days or even every 365 days. This is decided by the scheduler and entered into ePlan. If the scheduler is unavailable or away sick, all of the information is there for their replacement to take over without any hiccups.
To improve the efficiency of your delivery fleet, ePlan can schedule delivery windows that are then output for use with a routing package (we recommend Direct Route from Appian Logistics). The scheduling details can also be output to an Excel spreadsheet, printer or even faxed direct to the delivery contractor.
Delivery windows can be based upon your weekly delivery frequencies +/- 1 day, for example, or ePlan can calculate the best time to make a delivery based on the customer's forecast usage. Again the routing package or scheduler can then use this information to place the delivery on the most cost efficient day. This enables the workload to be evenly spread throughout the week.
Delivery forecasting made easy
ePlan includes a forecasting module which can calculate the best time to make a delivery based on customers' consumption of the scheduled commodity. ePlan can also take into account outside influences such as weather information, holiday periods or pricing information. ePlan can automatically update weather information or pricing information (where available) from the internet, or the scheduler can enter dates such as school and public holidays manually into ePlan. These details will then be taken into account when deliveries are scheduled.
ePlan contains a number of tools useful for checking the accuracy of past forecasts as an indicator of future performance. The safety margin for the forecasted date range can be set by the user to be conservative (thereby ensuring the customer will not run out) or alternately with a low margin of error (to increase the efficiency of the delivery vehicles) or anywhere in between.
