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Europa launches Leonardo IT system

[ September 9, 2016   //   ]

Europa Worldwide Group has launched its Leonardo IT system across its road freight operations, following a “challenging” four weeks post launch period.
It gives Europa in-house control over its systems and will improve responsiveness, efficiency, productivity and scalability across its 11 UK sites.
Richard Litchfield, IT Director, said: “It is rare for a logistics business to move from outsourced software, and invest and employ a dedicated team of IT developers and designers to build a bespoke IT system on this scale from the ground up.”
He added: “We had little option but to launch all areas of our road freight management system in one go. We are a 24/7, £100 million turnover business and we anticipated problems in replacing a 15-year-old system which manages the process from data entry to invoice. However, when you are in the thick of it, dealing with over a thousand tickets raised in four weeks, we felt the pain, with the software team working very long hours.
“On balance we are very happy with the launch…in the context of the complexity of the project.”
The benefit would be the rapid enhancement of systems and processes and “the ability to convert ideas into operational systems, at speed, without the complexity of dealing with a third party. We don’t have to write long specifications, or negotiate prices for amendments. We focus on the creation of ideas, and their rapid translation into reality, without any administrative burden.
“Often the complexity of getting an IT improvement agreed within organisations can be so painful, that it stops it happening at all. We have set out to make it easy and quick to amend our systems, and this will pay significant dividends over time.”
A further £400,000 investment has given all staff upgraded or new PCs.
LeoRoad includes real time operation monitoring of shipments, discrepancy management, workflow management, and proactive customer and partner daily reporting. The system is fully integrated with internal CCTV, Masternaut truck and trailer tracking solutions and Europa’s national telephone system.

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