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All Organic Treasures – From Four to Zero

The All Organic Treasures Warehouse in Wiggensbach. (Photo: AOT)

Waiting times at the ramp have been a thing of the past for a few months now at the medium-sized organic raw material supplier All Organic Treasures in Wiggensbach, Bavaria. The introduction of the time slot management system SLOT by Cargoclix has significantly optimised the logistical processes and ensured numerous improvements. 

Freiburg i.B., 28 September 2020. Apricot kernel oil, almond oil, sunflower flour: the range of products offered by All Organic Treasures (AOT), a producer and trader of organic oils, fats and proteins from the Allgäu region, reminds one a little of a walk through a fragrant and blossoming orchard. The family business, founded in 2003, supplies its products from controlled organic cultivation to manufacturers of natural cosmetics and natural foods for further processing. However, the fact that things have been running like clockwork on the ramp at the headquarters in Wiggensbach in the Oberallgäu region for a few weeks now is not due to the consistency of the products. Since 1st of June the time slot management system SLOT by the Freiburg-based software company Cargoclix is in action.  

 Logistics Manager Arndt Schleuter (r.) has been proactive for the introduction of SLOT. (Photo: AOT)

One of the people who has pushed hard for the introduction is logistics manager Arndt Schleuter. He has been with the company for about one and a half years. “Before, the trucks came unscheduled at any time of the day or night. Sometimes up to five 40-ton trucks would suddenly appear in front of the door and we knew nothing about it,” he remembers. It was not uncommon for the staff in the incoming goods department to have to drop everything and react ad hoc – or for the truck drivers to have to wait up to four hours on some days for their unloading. An unsatisfactory situation for everyone involved. But how should things continue? 

“It became clear to us very quickly: this has to be plannable,” emphasises Schleuter and suggested SLOT from Cargoclix. There was a reason for choosing the Freiburg-based provider: “We had already worked with SLOT at my old employer and had good experiences,” he says. “So why not use a system that has proven itself in practice elsewhere?” No sooner said than done. An average of five trucks per day are now handled with SLOT in the incoming and outgoing goods departments – on some days significantly more, on others less. Those who want to book a time slot have the opportunity to do so as early as ten days in advance. But spontaneous bookings are also possible – until 4 p.m. the day before. AOT does not charge the service providers the costs of 50 cents per booked slot, but bears them itself. “After all, it is us who have great advantages by using the system,” Schleuter explains. “So we didn’t want to charge the entrepreneurs with additional costs.”

The fact that the use of a time slot management system also pays off for smaller and medium-sized businesses and is not just a helpful tool for large companies with many ramps and busy truck traffic is reflected in the high level of acceptance. “The majority of all trucks now only come after prior registration,” Schleuter reports. In his opinion, the system not only provides significantly more planning security, but also improves the well-being of the employees in the goods receiving area. “They are much more relaxed now because they know what goods are coming at what time and what exactly has to be done then,” he says. In addition, the employees can be scheduled much better. “This is especially important in medium-sized businesses, where staffing levels are somewhat thinner anyway.  We can deploy our people in a much more structured way,” emphasises the logistics manager.  

But what happens to the trucks that don’t play by the rules, don’t book a time slot and still simply drive into the yard without registering? In this case, Arndt Schleuter remains firm: “Those who do not abide by our rules simply have to wait. It can take one or two hours to unload – and on certain days even longer. “For example, we don’t unload on Friday afternoons,” Schleuter says, “our warehouse gets too full over the weekend. If a fully loaded truck nevertheless arrives on Friday afternoon, the driver may be sent away again and not allowed to come back until Monday. “Because if no one adheres to this, even the best time slot management system is of no use,” he makes clear. 

Despite this adherence to principle, one thing is very important to Arndt Schleuter: “I have a broad back and am tough, but still always friendly to the drivers,” he says. “They can’t help it if there are problems and they’re just doing a job.” He says that the announcement to work only with a time slot management system in the future was not only met with a positive response during the introduction. “Many of our service providers have accepted it right away, but others still do not adhere to the booking requirement,” Schleuter complains.  

AOT has a lot of plans for the coming years and wants to grow further. In the medium term, the number of ramps at the Wiggensbach site is to be expanded first, and another site is to be built at some point. For Schleuter, one thing is certain: even then, SLOT will continue to play a major role in the company. The handling of the trucks at the ramps should be organised and run smoothly from day one without any waiting times. Just like clockwork. 

CARGOCLIX SLOT  

CARGOCLIX SLOT is a web-based time slot management system for optimising the loading and unloading processes at the ramp. Recipients of goods can set free loading dates, forwarders and carriers book their desired delivery time. Internet access is all that is needed for booking by forwarders and carriers. 

Costs per slot booking: 0,50 cents. These costs are borne either by the company making the booking or, optionally, by the consignee.  

System description 

– Interface to ERP system or as stand-alone solution 

– Variable ramp opening times and flexible time slot lengths according to number of pallets, tonnes, vehicle type, etc. 

– Individual setting of break and holiday times, shift changes, booking limits, etc. 

– Storage of capacity limits such as personnel, forklifts or processing capacities – Layouts and assignment of rights for re-bookings and changes 

– Plausibility checks of booking data through duplicate checks, comparison of number ranges, etc. 

– Event-based notifications and alerts 

– Recording and evaluation of incoming goods flows with punctuality and handling times 

– Real-time comparison of booked and unbooked time slots (prerequisite: ERP interface) 

– Tracking of loading and unloading processes in real time with selectable screen display as schedule with ramp view, tabular booking list, traffic light system with colour symbols 

– Recording of incoming flows of goods with planned/actual time per truck, quantity and quality per delivered consignment as well as comparison of delivered actual and target quantities from contracts 

– KPI tool “CARGOCLIX Logistics Monitor” for controlling ramps with the help of individual KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) 

– “CARGOCLIX ETA App” for dynamic arrival time calculation at the ramp by intelligent calculation of the “Estimated Time of Arrival”. 

– “CARGOCLIX TERMINAL” realisation of the “Gate 4.0” without the use of personnel. 

About AOT 

The company All Organic Treasures (AOT) has its origins in the Allgäu organic movement. The aim of the family business is to supply the natural cosmetics and natural food market with vegetable oils from controlled organic cultivation. The range includes various oils, fats, protein extracts such as jojoba oil, coconut oil, mango butter or glycerine. AOT is based in Wiggensbach in the Allgäu region of Germany. 

About Cargoclix 

Cargoclix is a neutral internet marketplace for the electronic tendering of transports and logistics services as well as a provider of modular time slot management systems.  

The range of services offered by the logistics platform “Cargoclix TENDER” includes worldwide tenders for contracts for road, rail, air freight, sea and inland waterway transport, courier express parcel services and logistics services such as warehousing. With over 28,000 registered members from industry, trade and freight forwarding, TENDER is one of the leading international tender platforms for transport and logistics. 

The central product of the time slot management business unit is the modularly adaptable software “Cargoclix SLOT” for optimising processes at the ramp. With more than 65,000 members, SLOT is one of the most widely used time slot management systems. 

Cargoclix is a brand of Dr. Meier & Schmidt GmbH. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Freiburg i.Br. www.cargoclix.com 

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