Roadfreight system updates customers on manifest status

More than ten years since the launch of its software solution for the courier industry, Parcel Perfect has added several modules to cater for the needs of the roadfreight market. The programme has developed from a core system providing a generic nucleus around which industry-specific modules have been built. These include collection, manifesting, tracking, imaging and billing modules. Of particular importance to the roadfreight operator is the manifest consolidation system, which provides vital and easy-to-access information as well as the ability to update affected customers on manifest status. “If, for example, a vehicle breaks down on the highway, all customers will be notified by email or SMS that there will be a delay. They are informed before they have to find out for themselves.” As system developer John Henderson points out, it’s not the 100 deliveries that work that customers of transporters are concerned about, it’s the one that fails. “The margin for error in terms of operational processes is very small,” says Henderson. “The accuracy and proactivity with which manifests are done and the error checking is what makes the difference.” The system also has a strong parcel tracking component built into the manifesting. “If you have 20 different manifests you can, from your control centre, see which ones are being offloaded, which have been completely offloaded and which have been offloaded with missing parcels. And all are colour coded for easy reference.” Parcel Perfect developers are all too aware that margins in the roadfreight industry are so thin that you can’t lose a single piece. “If your software allows you to lose a piece it’s a very expensive piece of software.” And when it comes to costs, Parcel Perfect has truly put its money where its mouth is. So sure is the company of the effectiveness of the system that installation comes with no contractual obligation. “This makes our credibility very vulnerable,” says Henderson. “If we don’t deliver what we promise our customers can stop using us at zero cost – but that has never happened.”