Adelaide courier company Aceit Transport Solutions has more than doubled its turnover in the past three years using state-of-the-art technology developed by Australian transport specialist JAIX Software.

Aceit uses the JAIX MetroLink software, which includes GPS (Global Positioning System) and digital communications technology, to manage its fleet of more than 90 couriers. This has allowed the company to boost deliveries by more than 20 per cent in the past year.

During 2007, JAIX has provided Aceit with a new generation of smart software that integrates satellite navigation and digital communications technology into a system that makes life easier for Aceit, its couriers and their customers. The GPS version of MetroLink provides:

• Customers with self-service via the Internet for placing bookings and job “track and trace”

• Couriers with handheld computers that seamlessly record every delivery detail, and

• Dispatchers with GPS map-based tracking of every courier, customer and booking.

Aceit Managing Director Mal Geddie said the technology has transformed the Aceit Dispatch room from an adrenaline-driven nerve centre to an office epitomised by quiet efficiency. “Back then, our stress levels were always high. The adrenaline was running all the time,” he said.

“Now we have all the information at our fingertips. Anyone sitting at a desk can get access to the information they need at any time. Using technology to solve these problems was the essential step.”

As well as the JAIX MetroLink software, which runs in Aceit’s Franklin Street office in central Adelaide, the system provides each courier with a handheld data capture unit, called a Datalogic JET, which displays pickup details to the courier and captures the delivery signature. The JET uses Bluetooth to communicate with a GPS unit located in the courier’s vehicle. This is the link that allows real-time monitoring of the status of jobs by the Aceit dispatcher and by its customers on the Web.

Mr. Geddie said the company had gone from strength to strength since it started using the JET unit in April. “The JAIX software now makes the whole process instantaneous,” he said.

“The speed of booking is incredible. It happens within a second, so the dispatch time is absolutely real time, whereas before it could take six or seven minutes or longer. The process is also much more efficient and accurate. This way every detail from the booking goes straight to the driver whereas previously, when we relied on radio, the drivers would never get all the special instructions.

“Because the GPS tracking lets us know exactly where the drivers are, and how close they are to their destination, we don’t have to waste time calling the driver to find out how far away they are. This means if a customer rings to enquire, you simply look on the map to see where the driver is and then tell them how long until pickup.”

Mr. Geddie said business was booming with a growing number of customers placing and tracing their courier orders via the Web. “This makes them happier and reduces the pressure on our office,” he said. “Since we started using the GPS system, deliveries have grown by 20 per cent to more than 600 a day, but the number of phone calls we receive has dropped by 40 per cent.

“Business-wise, we’ve grown by about 20 per cent this year. In the first year after we took it over, we turned over about $1.6 million. This year, we’re on track to exceed $4 million.”

Mr. Geddie said the key to the success of Aceit’s technology was the strength of its partnership with JAIX Software. “JAIX is so good because it has been designed as a working model over time,” he said. “JAIX has designed, tested and improved the system over the past 12 months. It’s not until you put something into practice that everything falls into place. JAIX didn’t just give us the software and then walk away. They stand behind their software, they accept our suggestions and then they come back with a system that is even better than we first planned.”

JAIX Software www.jaix.com.au delivers software built on more than two decades of experience in the freight, transport, courier and warehousing industries. JAIX provides customers nationally with customised information management solutions that equip them to improve productivity and profits in these competitive sectors.

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