CS Holdings tracks Delta

CS Holdings has been contracted to implement an intranet-based Distribution Tracking System (DTS) for Delta Motor Corporation, in a project worth R1.5 million.

Delta, the major motor manufacturer based in Port Elizabeth, boasts a countrywide distribution network of vehicles that extends across several right-hand-drive African countries, including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Mauritius.

"The system is geared to provide real-time visibility of vehicles across all depots in the distribution area of the supply chain, which includes the status of orders, and inventory at multiple depots," explains Danny Naidoo, director of CS Systems Integration. "Previously, Delta relied on assumed knowledge and tedious manual stock takes to determine the whereabouts of their 4 000 vehicles in distribution depots countrywide. The new tracking system will track the movements of the vehicles and link this information to Delta`s transportation carrier company, Southern Star Organisation (SSO)."

According to Guy Vellacott, General Manager Information Technology at Delta Motor Corporation, the implementation has made a significant difference to Delta`s ability to manage its business in a more effective, real-time manner. "Improved control, audit trails and management information mean we have a more effective means of tracking and predicting production and delivery, and our ability to make promises to customers is also significantly improved."

Business process flow for the DTS starts at the buy-off from the production plants and the bond stores (in the case of imported units). The DTS then tracks all vehicle movement transactions that are encountered in the Carrier Dispatches, and Depots, until the vehicles are handed over to the dealers or the customer.

According to Vellacott, the new tracking system enables the vehicles to be accurately monitored at each stage of the distribution. "We now have better control over SSO as far as the speed and quality of their performance is concerned," he says. "Additionally, statistics on vehicle damage are also readily available, as is information on vehicle delivery to dealers. The fact that we now know where the vehicles are at any given point means we have better control over returned vehicles, and are able to make more reliable promises to our customers regarding the delivery of newly purchased vehicles.

"The new system has also meant a substantial reduction in the paper trail," he continues. "Stocktaking, for example, has been reduced from several days to a few hours, and we can now do stocktaking whenever we want to quickly and easily using a batch scanner. Consequently, the quarterly company stock take is now far more accurate."

Another significant benefit of the DTS is the fact that it integrates fully with all other IT systems in the network. "The two production plants run on Wonderware, while all Delta`s business systems run on SAP," Naidoo explains. "These, together with the mainframe-based Vehicle Distribution System (VDS), the Magic information system at SSO, plus the financial software used by the bank, all interface with the DTS so that information is passed in real-time to the various systems. Additionally, all systems are in synchrony in terms of the location, state and destination of the units."

"We chose CS Systems Integration because they have a national presence and offered the best solution for our requirements. The success of the DTS is a clear indication that they completely understood our requirements," Vellacott concludes.