• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » AKI Group Transforms Routing Operations, Saves $1 Million
Case Study

AKI Group Transforms Routing Operations, Saves $1 Million

AKI Group Transforms Transportation Operations, Saves $1 Million
August 1, 2020
SupplyChainBrain

Al Khayyat Investments (AKI Group), a family-owned company based in Dubai, has grown into a $1.6 billion business in only 38 years. It operates in a diverse range of verticals including retail, consumer, contracting, healthcare, strategic investments and automotive. AKI prides itself on developing powerful partnerships with leading international brands, and has a strong workforce and state-of-the-art logistics center.

In reaching the billion-dollar mark, AKI’s in-house transportation operation had a problem. With around 25,000 orders a month, typically equating to 12,500 monthly deliveries to as many as 5,500 customer sites across the United Arab Emirates (UAE), manual delivery route planning was causing huge operational inefficiencies. The team had the advantage that delivery planning was ripe for centralization and better control, as deliveries were all coordinated out of its logistics center in Dubai to the UAE’s seven emirates. But because of the sheer range of products and customers, the transport operation has to deliver to a wide variety of customer locations, including hospitals, pharmacies, shopping malls, retail stores and restaurants. This meant it was challenging to incorporate into route plans the myriad of different protocols, driver skill requirements, time-to-complete and other factors that impact vehicle and driver utilization. Some deliveries might take five minutes and require no special skills, while others might take an hour or more. Without the right technology to crunch the huge amount of route-planning variables, the company’s delivery service was suffering, and costs were escalating.

AKI selected routing and scheduling software from Paragon, now part of Aptean, to transform the performance of the company’s huge, multi-drop distribution operation.

Having implemented the Aptean Paragon Routing and Scheduling solution, the AKI Group saw significant operational improvements across a number of essential transport KPIs:

  • Reduced fleet size from 84 to 52 commercial vehicles,
  • Increased average deliveries per vehicle from 4.7 to 12.4, a rise of 164%, and
  • Improved management of delivery volume peaks, which see around 45% of orders being placed in the last four days of the month.

The benefit to the bottom line has been remarkable, according to AKI Group.

“By better managing our vehicles and drivers, we have dramatically improved the productivity and efficiency of our transport operation, making annual savings of more than $1 million,” explains Gary Grindlay, Group Head of Logistics at AKI Group.

Within the UAE there are strict regulations governing commercial vehicle usage for food, non-food and pharmaceutical loads. The AKI Group operates a mixed fleet of 4.5-, 10- and 12-ton delivery vehicles — including a number of multi-temperature, compartmentalized bodies — to handle the needs of the different business units. The transport team is now able to use Aptean’s Paragon Routing and Scheduling software to automatically factor in vehicle restrictions when planning deliveries, so the company can maximize capacity while achieving regulatory compliance.

The responsibility of the delivery staff extends beyond delivering goods to the unloading bay. Each vehicle is typically staffed by a driver and one or two unloaders. The need for a multi-person delivery team not only creates increased workforce costs, but can often result in unexpected delays or increases in vehicle waiting times. It was therefore imperative that the AKI Group was able to use the routing and scheduling software to identify where issues exist, and to address areas of underperformance.

“Today, transport operators need to focus far more on efficiencies than they have in the past,” says Grindlay. “By integrating our planning, transport management and supply-chain systems, we are leading the way in the region and ensuring we are best positioned for pressures such as fluctuations in the economy and rising wages.

“We are bringing together the best technology solutions available to address these challenges, with Aptean’s Paragon Routing and Scheduling software now a crucial part of our commitment to operational excellence, Grindlay adds.”

Since adoption of the advanced routing and scheduling software, the AKI Group has consolidated its planning resources from four independent sets of planners to a single, centralized planning team, responsible for managing all deliveries in real time, and analyzing planned versus actual performance to target continuous improvement.

“In partnership with our business — and working closely with our planning, transport and I.T. teams — Paragon has helped us maximize the return on our investment,” Grindlay says. “As a result, we have already achieved significant value and expect further gains moving forward. For me, this is the number one provider of routing optimization software.”

    RELATED CONTENT

    RELATED VIDEOS

    Logistics Transportation & Distribution Transportation Management Technology Consumer Packaged Goods Food & Beverage Healthcare Retail
    KEYWORDS consumer packaged goods Food & Beverage healthcare Middle East/Africa Retail Transportation & Distribution Transportation Management
    • Related Directories

      Kuebix

      Tecsys, Inc.

    SupplyChainBrain

    Mars Responds to Child Labor Accusations

    More from this author

    Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

    Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

    Popular Stories

    • A YELLOW CORP TRAILER IS BEING TRANSPORTED BY A FREIGHT TRAIN.

      Yellow Considering Offer to Revive Company, Rehire Thousands

      Global Logistics
    • AMAZON TRUCK ON HIGHWAY

      Amazon is Now the Biggest Delivery Business in the U.S.

      Last Mile Delivery
    • SHIPS SAIL THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL

      The Panama Canal Is So Backed Up Ships Are Rerouting Through the Suez

      Ocean Transportation
    • A WOMAN SITS AT A DESK, RUBBING HER EYES BEHIND HER SPECTACLES.

      How to Save Your Supply Chain Project from Failure

      Technology
    • WORKERS IN HI-VIS VESTS DISCUSS A SHEET OF PLANS IN THE MIDST OF CONSTRUCTION IN A WAREHOUSE SPACE.

      Lessons From the First Wave of Warehouse Automation

      Technology

    Digital Edition

    Scb nov 2023 lg

    2023 Supply Chain Innovation Award

    VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

    Case Studies

    • A GRAPHIC SHOWING MULTIPLE FORMS OF SHIPPING, WITH A HUMAN STANDING AT THE CENTER, TOUCHING A SYMBOLIC MAP OF THE WORLD

      Enhancing High-Value Electronics Shipment Security with Tive's Real-Time Tracking

    • A GRAPHIC OF INTERLACING HONEYCOMBED ELEMENTS REPRESENTING GLOBAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

      Moving Robots Site-to-Site

    • JLL Finds Perfect Warehouse Location, Leading to $15M Grant for Startup

    • Robots Speed Fulfillment to Help Apparel Company Scale for Growth

    • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

    Visit Our Sponsors

    Antuit Zebra Anvyl AutoStore
    BEUMER Group Blue Ridge Global Brightdrop
    Brother CHEP Cleo
    Coenterprise Comarch Data Capture
    E2open Enveyo Eva Air
    ForwardX Robotics Frayt GAINSystems
    Generix Geodis GEP
    Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit GreyOrange Here
    HICX Holman Logistics Infor
    Inmar Kinaxis Lexis Nexis
    Locus Robotics Logility LogistiVIEW
    Lucas Systems MCA Connect MCA Connect
    Moody’s Analytics MPO Old Dominion
    OneRail Overhaul PartnerLinQ (Visionet)
    Port of Virginia Rockwell Automation Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash
    Saddle Creek Logistics SAP Servicon
    Shyft Sourcemap SPS Commerce
    Tecsys TGW Systems Thomson Reuters
    Veho Verusen Walmart
    Workshop
    • More From SCB
      • Featured Content
      • Video Library
      • Think Tank Blog
      • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
      • Whitepapers
      • On-Demand Webinars
      • Upcoming Webinars
    • Digital Offerings
      • Digital Issue
      • Subscribe
      • Manage Your Subscription
      • Newsletters
    • Resources
      • Events Calendar
      • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
      • Supplier Directory
      • Case Study Showcase
      • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
      • 100 Great Partners Form
    • SCB Corporate
      • Advertise on SCB.COM
      • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact Us
      • Data Sharing Opt-Out

    All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing