Bakker Logistics is currently in the process of implementing an advanced planning and scheduling system (APS) from Ortec. This system will enable the company to coordinate back office data and standardize planning activities as much as possible.

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The location of Bakker Logistics
in Zeewolde gives the
appearance of warehousing
being the core task of this
logistics service provider. Large
buildings dominate the
property. Yet Dirk-Jan de Ruiter
and Frank Smith refute that this
is the primary focus. Both are
involved in the APS project, De
Ruiter as strategy manager and
Smith as project manager.
“Transport continues to be
extremely important. We take
care of 95 percent of all
transport with a fleet of around
650 vehicles.” According to De
Ruiter and Smith, the two most
important advantages of fleet
ownership and management are
greater control and less pressure
on the available capacity of
vehicles. The investment in APS
became a necessity due to
increasing fragmentation in
terms of IT at the company. This
resulted in insufficient
monitoring of transport
activities. “Obviously, we are
fully aware that we operate in a
market with high price pressure.
Our systems and working
method were effective, all things
considered, but insufficiently
standardized. The time had
come to look ahead, to invest in
a good system. Naturally, we
want to outperform the
competition - preferably with as
short lead times as possible at
favorable prices,” says De Ruiter.
Takeovers
Bakker Logistics recently
acquired Gebr. Huybregts
(February 2012) and Ploeger
Tilburg (November 2012). In
May 2013, the company decided
to participate in European Food
Transport and, no less than a
year later, took over this Belgian
company. As a result of these
acquisitions, there were four
different planning systems in
use, in the form of a TMS at
three locations. This logistics
service provider aims to make
the planning process more
standardized. The software has
been in operation at Bakker
Logistics for several months
now. The further roll-out is
scheduled to take place in
phases. The full name of the
software is ORTEC Routing and
Dispatch (ORTEC RD).
Umbrella system
According to De Ruiter and
Smith, an APS was chosen due
to the complexity and scope of
transport planning and
scheduling. “We deliberately
chose an ‘umbrella system’ to
replace the planning tools at the
various locations. This APS will
enable us to make considerable
strides in terms of planning,
tracing and monitoring the
progress of shipments being
transported. We schedule
hundreds of routes daily in
Zeewolde alone.
We want to be able to inform
customers quickly about when
we expect to arrive. A standard
TMS was insufficient for this.”
The predecessor to the APS at
Bakker Logistics was PTV
Intertour.
Open heart surgery
The roll-out of the APS is taking
place in steps and is partly
completed. Operations at the
various locations must not be
disrupted, making the
replacement of software for
planning and following up on
transport equivalent to open
heart surgery. “An important
reason for the gradual
implementation is also that ORD
can only work effectively with
pure data.
To be honest, it turned out to be
quite a challenge to provide the
data at the desired level,” explains
Smith. Both managers were
forced to face facts. He continues,
“Basic data combined with the
knowledge of our planners was
sufficient for many years, but
unacceptable for the future. The
complexity of the data will only
increase and what happens when
a planner gets sick?” The ultimate
solution for ensuring pure data
was found in constructing a new
database, linked to a new order
management system.
This order management system
was purchased from MP Objects
and the first implementation
phase will take place in early
2017. In order to take advantage
of all the possibilities of the APS
in the meantime,
Bakker Logistics is currently in the process of
implementing an advanced planning and scheduling
system (APS) from Ortec. This system will enable the
company to coordinate back office data and standardize
planning activities as much as possible.
PRACTICES by Ferdi den Bakker
BAKKER LOGISTICS INTRODUCES
ADVANCED TRANSPORT IT
“The complexity of the data will
only increase”
Better data and a new IT system should lead to efficiency gains of
between 5 and 8 percent. “The expected gains are primarily the result of
optimizing existing networks and comparing them to current trips”

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LOGISTIEKNOVEMBER2016|
a number of changes have been
made within the IT landscape.
These are aimed at purifying the
source data and achieving the
desired data level for ORD. Smith
explains, “Once the order
management system has gone
live, we plan to simplify this. We
will know exactly what kind of
information we have on each
customer and can then use that
information to improve our
service.”
From four planning
systems to one
The order of ORTEC RD
implementation has been
decided. The first phase of the
roll-out is the transport activities
in Zeewolde. The refrigerated,
conditioned and ambient
activities switched to ORTEC RD
in May. This roll-out is now also
scheduled for Tilburg, Willebroek
and Bakker Logistics’
international activities. Once
implementation is complete, the
number of planning systems will
be reduced to one. Working with
better structured data and using
a more sophisticated routing tool
will lead to efficiency gains of
between 5 and 8 percent, claims
De Ruiter. “The expected gains
are primarily the result of
optimizing existing networks and
comparing them to current trips.”
In these calculations, the
software also considers which
distribution centre has which
service area, the delivery time
windows and the loading or
unloading criteria that apply to
each shipment. “These
considerations are currently
based on past experiences.” De
Ruiter and Smith also expect
benefits in the form of time
savings thanks to a smarter
follow-up to trips and more
efficient response to exceptions.
De Ruiter adds, “We aim to
automate 80 percent of
schedules. Provided the data is
pure, Ortec can have a schedule
ready in twenty minutes and
our planners can then
manually check the schedule
and devote their efforts to the
exceptions.”
Dedicated transport
network
Once the roll-out of the
sophisticated planning tool is
complete, the logistics service
provider will have more time
and energy to focus on the
further growth of the company.
A dedicated transport network
has already been implemented
for Coop Supermarkets
(Deventer/Gieten) and Arla
(Nijkerk). This collaboration
has proven to be fruitful. De
Ruiter adds, “These are
strategic partnerships in which
working together more closely
enables you to work more
smartly and efficiently. We
definitely see a future in this.”
With the current large-scale IT
adaptations, Bakker Logistics is
preparing for the future on both
the organizational and planning
levels. According to De Ruiter
and Smith, further growth is only
possible if the internal
organizational processes are in
working order and standardized.
“Our processes are complex
enough. But we are absolutely
moving in the right direction.
The positive effects of these
investments are already visible
and we are convinced that the
efficiency gains will be even
greater than the savings we
achieve by removing the servers
and simplifying the IT
landscape.”
TRANSPORT / AUTOMATISERING
Dirk-Jan de Ruiter (l) and Frank Smith: “Our systems and working method were effective, all things considered, but insufficiently standardized.
The time had come to look ahead. We want to outperform the competition.”