Member Article

A leap forward for Europa with speedy tech solution

Piles of paperwork is a thing of the past for Europa Road’s Forwarding department with the introduction of a cutting-edge IT system that has slashed administration work by a staggering 75 per cent.

Based in Birmingham, Europa Forwarding is part of Europa Road, one of four dedicated divisions operated by independently-owned UK logistics provider Europa Worldwide Group. The forwarding department is last in the division to be integrated into the company’s bespoke IT system Leonardo. The team of six supports Europa Road’s other services and handles full load, part load and express van deliveries, with a focus on providing custom solutions for customers to complement the network services.

Europa’s very own in-house developers built the Leonardo IT system from scratch, tailoring each function to the specific requirements of the four departments. LeoForwarding was completed in March this year and National European Forwarding Manager, Simon Hucks, said the benefits were noticeable immediately.

“The new IT system has totally transformed our operations to the point that we’ve recorded a 75 per cent reduction in administration work, cutting out old-fashioned paperwork and removing unnecessary duplication across the business.

“It’s meant we’ve been able to broaden our supplier base to deliver greater choice to our customers and focus more time and attention on providing cost-effective solutions which makes us more competitive and efficient.”

As a result of slicker processes and more capacity in the team, Europa Road’s Forwarding department experienced its busiest month on record in May, with a 36 per cent increase in the number of bookings handled compared to May 2017.

Dionne Redpath, Sales and Branch Network Director at Europa Worldwide Group, said, “The results we’ve seen since the introduction of LeoForwarding is a great example of how technology can enhance and augment the brilliant work of our teams. Ultimately, we are still a business built around human and customer interaction and cutting-edge technology like LeoForwarding is allowing our teams to dedicate more time to customer solutions.”

The impressive results have also been reflected in earnings, with May’s total monthly revenue increasing by 50 per cent to £1.28million, compared to May 2017.

Simon said, “Naturally the technology has enabled us to convert more jobs without increasing the workload of our current team, or the need to recruit additional staff. It’s been a win for us and our clients and we expect this success to continue.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Maryke Penman .