With Opheo 6.0 from initions, lower freight costs thanks to increased performance

The initions AG has now introduced the transport control system Opheo in the new version 6.0, which supports the selection of the cheapest carrier, simplifies the mobile scanning of documents, and facilitates the automatic notification of appointments. With this, Opheo 6.0 offers further potential for digitizing processes, associated with cost savings and higher performance. With the now also available real-time planning in teams, Opheo additionally simplifies the simultaneous processing of the same tours in larger teams.

(Hamburg) The new feature “Carrier Optimization” was primarily developed for shippers and logistics service providers who work with multiple transport companies. This makes it possible to find and select the cheapest service provider for both individual orders and multiple tours. The carrier optimization is directly integrated into the OPHEO dispatch cockpit. With just a few clicks or optionally via drag-and-drop, all available carriers for an order or a tour, along with the expected costs, are listed. Based on this, the cheapest transport company can be identified, selected, and informed about the new order. The optimized and automated carrier selection relieves the dispatcher while reducing freight costs.

Another innovation of Opheo 6.0 concerns the mobile scanning of documents using the telematics app Opheo Mobile and the integrated cameras in mobile devices. With the new feature, for example, delivery or weighing slips can be digitized directly by the driver and linked to the respective order. The driver is guided safely through the process with easy-to-understand instructions. The initions AG utilizes the technology of the leading provider “ScanBot,” which has been integrated into the Opheo Mobile app. “The mobile document scan by the driver is an additional building block for a consistently paperless operation,” explains Opheo product manager Toralf Kraft. This also ensures that “the previously unavoidable analog documents handed to the driver during the tour by customers and recipients are reliably digitized and archived.”

Improvement in automated notifications

The third novelty of Opheo 6.0 improves the automated notification of ETA times. The web-based function introduced last year has been expanded to include another process step. From now on, the customer can confirm or reject a notified appointment window with just one click. However, this new functionality is not just for the mere exchange of information between the dispatcher and the customer. Rather, the confirmation of the appointment window activates further automated functionalities in Opheo: Once the customer has confirmed the time window, it is automatically considered in the system like a regular appointment in the planning. This means that the entry automatically becomes part of all further forecasts and the entire tour planning. Should changes occur in the tour process or if the dispatcher wants to reschedule confirmed notifications, the system will now actively alert and warn him of deviations. This new function further integrates customers into the planning of goods deliveries and optimizes customer service.

The expected time window for the arrival of the shipment (ETA) was already provided to end customers in the previous version of Opheo. For this, the recipient can access a web link via PC or smartphone, which contains all relevant delivery information about their shipment. The quality of the ETA data is particularly high, as upcoming driving breaks are also automatically included in the calculation of arrival times. Alternatively, Opheo users can proactively and fully automatically inform their end customers via notification dispatch. For this, the Opheo user defines in advance for which customers and at what trigger point a notification dispatch should occur. Trigger points can be, for example, the completion of loading, reaching a specified remaining driving duration, or entering a specific radius around the delivery address. The dispatch can optionally be done via email or SMS.

Multiple dispatchers can work on the same tour

Another highlight of the Opheo development is the now possible real-time planning in teams. “By shifting compute-intensive planning tasks to the server and designing processes asynchronously, multiple dispatchers can now work efficiently on the same tours simultaneously,” explains Kraft. Planning steps and changes made by one dispatcher can be immediately seen by team colleagues and incorporated into their own planning work. This allows for additional flexibility in collaboration within larger teams. A side effect of the new real-time planning in teams: High computing power only needs to be maintained centrally at one location, while the decentralized clients can be configured to be much smaller and cheaper. This brings significant advantages not only with multiple branches but also with increased outsourcing of work to home offices.

Photos: © initions