JCB benefit from 3T’s ‘extensive logistics knowledge’

Set up in 1945, JCB is a British success story, with 18 factories and over 2,000 dealer depots worldwide. Good customer service and support has always been the core focus of its business model and JCB Service, the division responsible for providing replacement parts, aims to support 95% availability of all requests within 24 hours through its global distribution network.

As experts in transport management, 3T was first engaged to work with JCB Service in 2008. Whilst the service business had grown significantly since the year 2000, associated transportation costs had increased disproportionally. A drop in machine sales of 40% caused by the global recession also made cost reduction initiatives a priority. 3T was brought in to help the company understand these costs in more detail and to implement both cost reduction and service enhancement initiatives. Areas for action included; Replacement of the transport management system in the European Parts Centre, ensuring effective carrier selection, track and trace and data capture. End of month financial reporting, which was based on carrier invoiced costs. There was no auditing or drilling down into the detail and accounts were presented by carrier invoice date rather than transaction date. An understanding of the company’s carbon footprint in the face of future carbon tax legislation.

Stage one – The European Parts Centre Global Carrier Manager (GCM) was implemented in the French based European Parts Centre (EPC). A software tool developed in house by 3T for its customers, GCM is designed to meet the specific transport management needs of any shipper. It facilitates the automation of all transport administration and optimises the transport plan. Introduction into the EPC consisted of six key elements: Carrier tender: to manage a European transport tender, identifying the optimum carrier partner for each service level and geographic region. Systems integration: to introduce and integrate GCM with the JCB order management and warehouse management systems, creating track and trace visibility for dealers. This system also provides a complete carrier invoice audit process ensuring the correct tariff is applied to each delivery. Ongoing transport control: to manage the transport operation, producing detailed monthly management reports including a breakdown of cost by dealer, carrier and service level. Carrier integration: including label printing in the carriers’ own formats. Each label has all the necessary transport information, reducing administration at the warehouse and carriers’ hub as well as providing end to end visibility to the point of delivery. Visibility for JCB dealers through a web dealer portal: this enables all JCB dealers to view their order status via the 3T website. Dealers can log onto their own private web page and search for their orders by date and reference. Accessible data includes information such as the date and time their order was received by JCB, when it was processed and picked by the warehouse right through to delivery by the carrier, including which items are in each box. Management reporting: all carrier invoices are now audited automatically by 3T with reports produced on a monthly basis. These include standard cost per dealer and country and service level, as well as bespoke JCB reports such as cost per part category and cost to service each dealer. Sales invoices are imported into the system to enable 3T to calculate transport. Stage two – The World Parts Centre After the model generated significant benefits for JCB it was rolled out to the World Parts Centre -. The focus here was capturing accurate delivery and cost information to enable JCB to more accurately measure their transport costs and service with a view to introducing a programme of continuous improvement. This involved further integration with the WPC warehouse management systems plus additional carrier integrations.

• The implementation of GCM in the European Parts Centre facilitated the automation of all transport administration and optimized the transport plan.
• The system integration created track and trace visibility for dealers, providing a complete carrier invoice audit process ensuring the correct tariff is applied to each delivery.
• The web dealer portal enabled all JCB dealers to view their order status via the 3T website, providing end-to-end visibility from order receipt to delivery.
• Management reporting was enhanced with detailed monthly management reports, including a breakdown of cost by dealer, carrier, and service level.
• The model was successfully rolled out to the World Parts Centre, capturing accurate delivery and cost information to enable JCB to more accurately measure their transport costs and service.

• A drop in machine sales of 40% caused by the global recession made cost reduction initiatives a priority.
• JCB aims to support 95% availability of all requests within 24 hours through its global distribution network.