Shawston Fire Protection Boosts Delivery Performance with Podfather

September 11, 2024

Shawston, a distributor of fire sprinkler products, is supporting its environmental and social objectives with the roll-out of Podfather logistics software. The only multi-depot supplier to the Mechanical Services, Fire Sprinkler and Dry and Wet Riser markets, Shawston offers next day delivery, across the UK. Delivering 1 million items a year, Shawston has already achieved significant increases in operational efficiency, boosted its customer service levels, and improved the management of its delivery operation and resource using the Podfather system, and is now working towards its goal of 100 percent paper free deliveries.

Shawston initially trialled the Podfather system, which includes planning and optimisation tools, tracking and notifications, and ePOD processes, at its High Wycombe branch before rolling out to the remaining customer focussed depots and service hubs. By replacing manual planning and load allocation processes, Shawston is predicting savings of around 3,000-man hours a year which will be used to unlock other efficiencies within the business.

Podfather has also given managers better visibility of the delivery operation and the flexibility to review schedules and adjust to provide parity between drivers, vehicles and branches. Additional benefits include reduced mileage, potentially as much as 30,000 miles per annum, and the intelligence to review the type of vehicles that are required to transport 6,500 tonnes of goods a year.

Prior to the implementation and roll-out of the Podfather system, Shawston had trialled a number of other solutions. An inability to integrate with its Sage accounting system coupled with high implementation costs and non-negotiable contracts led the Manchester headquartered business to look for an alternative option. “We are an employee-owned SME that has a truly people centric approach,” commented Gareth Thomason, Operations Director at Shawston International. “This goes way beyond our staff, extending to customers, suppliers and the communities in which we operate. We want to work with like-minded organisations, we want to develop relationships and partnerships, and with Podfather we felt this was possible.”

Automated and improved communications between customers, drivers and branches is further supporting Shawston’s ESG (environmental, social, and governance) ambitions. Customers automatically receive delivery confirmation and an ETA meaning they can focus on getting the job done rather than worrying about when their order will turn up. This has dramatically reduced the number of calls received and made by branch staff. Capturing and sharing ePOD evidence, including date, time and location stamped photographs and signatures is also improving customer service levels and reducing queries.

“Before Podfather we meticulously checked our performance,” Thomason continued. “Every week I would review every reported error and explore and implement ways to prevent it happening again. With Podfather this information is instantly accessible, I can see, in real-time, what’s happening, where it’s happening and what I can do to keep the delivery operation on track. This is a significant contributing factor which means we can maintain a 98 percent Customer Satisfaction rate compared to an industry average of just 85 percent.”

Using Podfather Shawston is now working towards a goal of 100 per cent paper free deliveries. With around 3,500 deliveries a month, each resulting in at least two sheets of paper, this equates a saving of a tree a month on dispatch notes alone. Like Podfather, Shawston is supporting Trees for Life, a Scottish charity that is working to rewild the Scottish Highlands. By giving back some of the environmental and cost savings achieved through the use of Podfather, Shawston hopes to support the planting of hundreds of trees.

Shawston was founded in the 1970’s in Hyde, Manchester. Originally a pipe fabrication business, it entered the fire market in the late 1990’s when fire protection was starting to become a big growth market in the UK. In 2001, Shawston was the subject of a MBI (management buy-in); at the time it had an annual turnover of just £750k per year and employed 10 people out of a single depot but has since blossomed into the 170 people business it is today with an annual turnover of £40m. In 2015 Shawston officially became an employee-owned business and today over 95 percent of employees own shares in their business.

To read the full article, see our last issue here.