CCP Builds Customer Service Improvements with Podfather Delivery Software
CCP Building Products, a manufacturer and supplier of aggregates and concrete blocks for more than 60 years, has introduced delivery software from Podfather to improve its customer service. Serving builders merchants and construction projects, across the north west of England and Wales, CCP can make up to 90 deliveries a day using third-party haulage contractors. Since implementing the Podfather ePOD solution, CCP has significantly reduced the amount of paper it uses, and the resource associated with producing and processing it, and has improved customer service by capturing and sharing, in real-time, comprehensive digital evidence of deliveries made.
“Before we started using Podfather it almost felt that we were drowning in paper,” commented Zoe Scourfield, Company Secretary at CCP Building Products. “Every delivery had a triplicate paper job sheet that we produced and drivers collected from the depot. Once the delivery had been made, and signed for, this then had to be returned to the office for filing and, in the case of a query, we had to physically find the relevant paperwork, scan it and email it to the client.
“All this took time and paper and, as we operate deliveries from two sites, it could introduce significant delays when dealing with customers which potentially impacted on our cash flow.”
Since implementing the Podfather delivery system earlier this year, CCP has eliminated paper from its delivery operation saving around 60,000 sheets of paper per annum; the equivalent to 7 ½ mature pine trees. Additional savings, both environmental and economic, have been achieved as a result, as paper no longer needs to be stored or accessed in case of query.
On top of the benefits of paper free deliveries, CCP is also realising significant improvements in customer service with the capture of date, time and location stamped photographs and signatures at the point of delivery. Using the Podfather app, running on any mobile device, drivers can record, in a matter of minutes, and share, in real-time, this information with the back-office team and even the customer. This is reducing the number of inbound calls about deliveries and the time taken to resolve the few queries that do still occur.
“It’s still early days for us and Podfather,” Scourfield continued. “But each day we discover something new, and each day we realise how that can positively impact our staff, our customers and the environment. We are confident that in time we will adopt other aspects of the Podfather system such as automatic ETA notifications and updates, load planning and route optimisation.”
CCP are a trade supplier producing over 24 million precast concrete blocks annually. CCP, previously Cheshire Concrete Products, has supplied aggregates and concrete blocks for over 60 years. With manufacturing facilities for concrete blocks in Middlewich and Llay, CCP offer full coverage to builder’s merchants in the North West and North Wales from the south of Birmingham to the north of Lancaster. Following the acquisition of Aberdo Quarry, CCP is also able to supply both premium and non-premium aggregates to the building trade.
CCP is part of Sigma PPG – a cluster of companies specialising in the manufacture of precast concrete products. With locations in East Anglia, the East Midlands and London, Sigma PPG supplies a wide and diverse range of industries, ranging from house builders and agriculture through to sea defences and car parks contractors.