Food wholesale distributor Butterfield & Vallis has installed a new hi-tech dispatching system, which the firm hopes will ramp up the efficiency of its operations.The system, which uses global positioning satellite (GPS) technology to monitor the company’s fleet of 17 delivery vans as they traverse the Island making deliveries to customers, has been used on a limited trial basis for about a year.Last month, Butterfield & Vallis installed a new “command centre” at its Woodlands Road warehouse, which served to fully implement the new system, which computerises and monitors the complex business of ensuring that customers from delis to hotels get what they ordered, on time.This month the firm is also celebrating the tenth anniversary of its online ordering system by offering a ten percent discount to customers who are up to date with their payments. About 60 percent of customers order online.Technology has had a positive impact in logistics management of the business and the latest development, the new dispatching system, will help the business and those who work in it, said Alun Hughes, president and general manager of the company’s Foodservice Division.“This allows us to be more efficient and to answer more questions from the customer,” Mr Hughes said. “If they want to know what time their delivery is due to arrive, I can tell them.”Efficiency is all important in these testing times. As many of the company’s major customers are hotels and restaurants, Butterfield & Vallis is sensitive to the ups and downs of the tourism industry. The firm suffered an immediate hit after the financial market meltdown of 2008 persuaded many to scrap their travel plans.The Island’s economic travails have meant demand has remained on the low side, although sales were up last year. Despite the downturn, Butterfield & Vallis has not laid off anyone.It has achieved this by removing overtime costs, through employees working shorter hours on full pay during the quiet times of the year in exchange for them working longer hours during the busier summer period.The new dispatching system is a major efficiency aid. On the wall of the command centre are two big screens that offer a real-time view of the delivery day. One of the screens shows a map of Bermuda, dotted with markers indicating the whereabouts of vans, colour-coded to show whether they are stationary or moving. The GPS even monitors their speed so drivers are discouraged from putting their foot down to make up time.The other screen is somewhat reminiscent of an arrivals and departures board at an airport or bus station. It shows which driver is out in which van, their route, their time of departure and their estimated time of return to the warehouse. It also indicates which of the ten loading bays each van should reverse into when it returns, so the next load of food is on the appropriate ramp and ready to be loaded up.Estimated times for deliveries, based on driving times and level of difficulty of delivery at each location, are built into the system and drivers are handed a copy of the timetable and delivery details of their drive before they leave the warehouse. Schedules can be adjusted in the system when drivers suffer unexpected hold-ups.“It’s based on a philosophy of information sharing, so the people responsible for carrying out tasks have the information so they can use it,” said Butterfield & Vallis vice-president Spencer Butterfield.Mr Hughes said the time schedules and the GPS monitoring had been embraced by the drivers.“The biggest frustration for a driver is a badly organised operation,” Mr Hughes said. “The driver would usually prefer to be in the van, rather than hanging around at the warehouse, observing inefficiency.“The drivers are frontline ambassadors for Butterfield & Vallis and deal directly with the customer. A controlled and tight system helps them get to the customer on time.”Useful website:www.butterfieldandvallis.com