Gist's central Network Planning Centre recently celebrated a string of record-breaking vehicle-fill results.

“Not only did we achieve our greatest network vehicle-fill in a single week in February, but we actually broke that record again the following week,” explains Adam Gough, Team Manager.

Valentine’s Day week saw Gist's Contract Logistics sites achieve a record number of trays per vehicle, only to rise again the week after. “Naturally, the high volumes of a peak week help our tray fill, but it’s up to our teams to ensure they are planned correctly and we continue to drive our service levels to the customer,” says Adam. “To go on to a ‘normal’ week and successfully plan an even higher tray fill is a testament to the consistency of performance and the collaboration between the teams.”

Usually, January and February present lower volumes and, therefore, vehicle-fill challenges for food logistics providers. “We’ve put a strong emphasis on cost-saving due to the typical lower volumes we expect after Christmas. This focus has brought real results from the team,” says Adam. “Planning the vehicle fill is only part of the process – the plan needs to be executed at our sites with minimum wastage and good accuracy. The depots have worked with us in ensuring these plans actually come to life.”

Gist's Network Planning Centre efficiently schedules customer orders, planning not only the routes of Contract Logistics vehicles but also the palletised volume of over 1,000 daily network routes across the entire temperature controlled network. Using bespoke software applications, Gist's network planners monitor our transport network 24 hours a day, re-routing any delayed vehicles and ensuring that they are on track each and every day.