Savings of 7% in fuel usage and 15% in vehicles were some of the results achieved by Empresas Najri in the Dominican Republic after implementing a Transport Management Software (TMS) in partnership with Cerca Technology.

Empresas Najri is a business group in the Dominican Republic with over 70 years in the productive sector. Currently, they manufacture, import, and market products in various areas such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, personal care, among others. Their value proposition from the beginning has been to offer the best service to their clients. With the expectation of improving logistics, delivery services, and product distribution, Login was founded in 2010. It’s a 3PL company responsible for managing logistics and distribution for the pharmaceutical and personal care businesses within the group.

To achieve their goals, the company has been investing in the digital transformation of their supply chain for over 10 years. They first implemented Infor WMS to optimize their CEDI (Distribution Center); then strengthened their picking process with automation. Their most recent project was the implementation of the Routing, Tracking, and Mobile modules of the Transport Management System (TMS) by Cerca Technology for a fleet of 31 vehicles.

What was the company’s distribution like, and why was a change necessary?

The challenge lay in reaching each delivery point quickly and efficiently where their products are sold. Thus, service level was one of the most critical indicators for the company, necessitating the use of appropriate tools to ensure products reached the end consumer on time.

The company previously used a basic routing system where only invoices were loaded, and a settlement process was carried out. While GPS validated routes, stops, and trips, there was no statistical analysis or information control for decision-making.

This resulted in resource losses and operational strain as routes were executed based on planners’ and drivers’ knowledge. To understand closely the advantages gained by the company through this solution, here are some of the changes obtained by each module:

• Routing (Optimal Distribution Planning Module):

The company needed to start with optimal route planning that allowed them to configure business rules tailored to clients, orders, products, zones, and distribution centers, among other aspects. This would help identify which products to send and obtain detailed fleet information. With this module, the company moved from a simple «basic routing» system to route planning with multiple options at just a click away.

• Tracking (Execution Monitoring and Control Module):

Najri sought real-time access to the status of ongoing trips, making this module important for them. The tracking module shows the statuses of each shipment, Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), and other relevant trip information such as which client is to be visited, trip observations, and alert data. This detailed tracking allowed the company to visualize the delivery sequence in real-time, observe vehicle stops, and changes in deliveries. Furthermore, they now have the ability to compare planned routes with their execution, optimizing fleet usage.

• Mobile (Delivery Confirmation Module):

Through mobile implementation, they now have tracking via a mobile application, allowing them to access detailed stop information. For example, they can obtain reference numbers, client names, addresses, schedules, delivery specifications, and observations. This allowed them to establish direct communication with the driver, view the complete map for delivery, review loaded item details, and modify delivery status. Real-time delivery confirmations have significantly improved customer service levels.

Making quick data-driven decisions

«Offering the right product at the right time» is part of our client’s value proposition, and they have been achieving it since implementing the Transport Management System (TMS). Route visualization and optimizing fuel and vehicle resources are results that have been evident early on.

Sandy Tejada, Logistics Manager and project leader at Najri, also highlighted improvements in data collection, organized through dashboards configured by Cerca Technology’s team. From there, he can monitor KPIs and make decisions based on real-time execution information. Here are some of those indicators:

• Fuel savings of 7%
• 15% reduction in kilometers traveled
• 97% increase in successful deliveries
• 12% improvement in vehicle occupancy
• 15% reduction in daily vehicles used
• 6% decrease in order rejections
• 25% reduction in calls to the call center
• Regarding service level, customers have positively perceived being able to track order statuses, directly impacting service improvement.

«UNIGIS and Cerca Technology offered us what our transport operation needed»

Sandy Tejada, Logistics and Transport Manager of the group, stated: «We were looking for a world-class TMS, but the options we found nationally and internationally did not meet our requirements. When we learned about the UNIGIS TMS solution, it met all our expectations. Furthermore, our previous experience with Cerca Technology was a decisive factor.»

What’s next in the company’s digital transformation process?

The goal is for the WMS system to integrate seamlessly with the TMS, consolidating to load orders immediately to continue the transformation process as operations require it. Automation focused on customer service, possible automated conveyor belts, Pick To Light implementations, and sorter combined with OSR for full case picking are being considered.

«Our objective at Grupo Najri was to help improve their service level by implementing the UNIGIS TMS solution, automating processes to make them more efficient, and transitioning their team to perform more strategic tasks that add greater value to operations. We are satisfied with the results and proud that the Dominican Republic business group continues to trust Cerca Technology as an ally in their digital transformation process.» Carolina Garzón – Digitalization Specialist for Transport.