When one of our newest users contacted us to help them make critical deliveries to over one million farmers In Eastern Africa, we were glad to help and provide some novel solutions. Months of manual planning was usually required to load trucks efficiently with seed and fertilizer for deliveries that required ordering the right number and size vehicles to meet daily requirements.
Logistix Solutions tailored Its software to optimize vehicle selection reducing the number of vehicles and making sure that only the right sized trucks were ordered with smaller trucks providing significant costs savings for lighter loads and larger trucks required for multi-stop loads.
Vehicle size optimization Is now standard In the Logix Transportation Optimization software. We've also extended this capability to consolidate shipments and and multi-stop truckloads at the lowest LTL (Less-Than-Truckload) or FTL (Full-Truckload) cost for maximum savings. The latest Rate Optimization feature produces results In minutes and immediately points out shipments that are better suited for Single-Stop LTL, Single-Stop Consolidated LTL or Multi-Stop Consolidated truckload shipment. Shippers relying on LTL and Truckload shipments will find this capability will save shipping cost while also producing reports and trucking manifests automatically saving time.
Logix8.0 Is also transitioning to a new "Look and Feel" to help make Logix even more user friendly. Over the years, new features that help make Logix one of the most used Supply Chain Optimization tools available have also added some complexity. The latest updates to Logix8.0 have simplified standard processes and added new mapping and reporting features to improve useability while retaining all the features for our power users.
From Seed to Soap: Delivering a Health Response to COVID-19
Last year, Logistix Solutions partnered with non-profit One Acre Fund, which provides agricultural products to smallholder farmers across six countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. One Acre Fund was founded In 2014 and has been a huge success growing to over one million member farmers in order to build communities and combat hunger.
Sarah Hylden, Global Supply Chain Director for One Acre Fund, approached us nearly a year ago with a clear need to optimize their routing, transport, and deliveries to farmers in several main regions in Kenya and Rwanda. Transitioning from spreadsheets to Logix allowed for time savings, better ease of use and testing of multiple ‘What-if’ scenarios producing better results and some nice cost savings.
And, then the world changed. Logix' Transportation Optimization software had been used by One Acre Fund's transport team with good results for roughly six months before the world was affected by the global Coronavirus pandemic. Logix had transformed the usual spreadsheet driven process saving months of manual effort and cutting key expenses by optimizing the number and size of trucks used for daily deliveries.
When borders shut down and economies were halted nearly overnight, the priority had to shift. Farmers can’t farm if they become seriously ill. Some of the first news that came out regarding staying healthy and COVID-free was instructions to wash hands every 30 minutes, as this would break down and kill the virus. So, the focus shifted from delivering seeds and fertilizer to delivering soap and other hygiene products to farmers so that they could continue to grow food.
Shifting Focus and Using Logix to Save the World (or at Least Parts of Africa)
Spring is usually the time to prepare for growing season in Kenya, where 408,000 farmers are served by One Acre Fund. When the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Kenya, there were 175,000 remaining deliveries of seed to be made, which would normally take 25 days. Within eight hours of hearing of the first confirmed case, distribution and delivery networks were quickly scaled to complete the deliveries in just nine days, allowing all of the farmers in Kenya to continue food production without disruption.
The next challenge was the need to keep farmers healthy. One Acre Fund had to adapt quickly by planning to deliver soap and disinfectant, rather than seed and fertilizer. They were able to respond as quickly as they did in part thanks to Logix’ speed and flexible ease of use.
With Logix, multiple scenarios were run to help ensure that deliveries were optimal for both cost as well as efficiently getting 2.3 million kilograms of soap to farmers quickly.
"It was a huge lift, actually -- because we needed to prep a variety of scenarios as we worked through understanding the changes in local regulations so that we could make sure we delivered safely and in compliance with government and health standards.”, says Sarah Hylden.
In the areas where soap is being delivered, farmers say the soap is supporting them and helping to keep them safe during an uncertain time. "In the midst of everything, One Acre Fund is making some pivots to supply free soap to our clients to help in hand-washing and hygiene efforts to prevent/slow the spread of Covid-19. Diana Kajigi, Logistics Global Projects Lead for One Acre Fund, has been doing a bunch of delivery scenario modeling using Logix to help identify the cheapest / fastest way to get that soap out," commented Sarah Hylden.
"We're very proud to be working with One Acre Fund and their talented and dedicated professionals," says Robert Camozzo, President of Logistix Solutions.
"It's been such a positive experience to lend a hand during this global crisis and to help keep people safe and productive. That’s a benefit we could hardly have foreseen and we're especially proud that One Acre Fund was recognized for their efforts by the media for keeping their part of the world safe during this global crisis."
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