A new transport management system for Waller Transport Services

The system Waller Transport was using to manage their day-to-day business was reaching its end of life, and they were looking for a replacement system which could not only replicate the functionality they have now (to aid the transition to the new system), but also add new features including:

• A mobile app for hauliers enabling job tracking via GPS
• Proof of delivery capture and delivery via the app
• Improvements to the main screens and workflows to enhance the visibility of job status and progress
• The ability for customers to also have visibility of the progress of their jobs via the web and email
• Web service integration to greatly improve invoicing processes
• New features and process automation around the management of customers, suppliers and jobs to reduce workload and remove repetitive tasks
• New dashboards and reports to support the smooth running of the business

From our initial discussions with the team at Waller Transport, it became clear that while the core functionality of their existing system worked well for them, they needed a new web-based solution that was built on a more modern and maintainable codebase, would enable them to more easily grow the feature set and move their day-to-day management to the next level.

The requirements capture phase included sessions observing the various team members to understand how they used the legacy system and help identify any new features or processes that could make their lives easier.

Our modular CMS product, Doddle, was the ideal platform for the new system, delivering the core framework they needed for a secure, permission-based management system out of the box. From this solid base, we could add the bespoke modules that would first replicate the features and processes the team were familiar with and add the enhancements that would greatly improve the overall usability of the system.

The mobile application was a key part of the project, providing Waller Transport with real-time visibility of the progress of a job, along with the ability for the haulier to send them the proof of delivery (POD) documentation directly back into the management system, rather than waiting to receive it days later in the post. This removes the overhead of managing PODs and enables timely invoicing of customers.

Another area needing improvement was the invoicing process, particularly as Waller Transport were migrating to a cloud-based service. We managed this integration with the assistance of their accounting partners, enabling the new system to seamlessly send and receive invoices, enabling a fully automated end-to-end management process.

The dashboards and new reporting tools we also developed greatly assist the management team at Waller Transport in getting a deeper insight into the business - an aspect they were missing with the legacy system.