Velant Announces Technology to Improve Efficiency of Truck Fleets
ATLANTA--Oct. 10, 2001--Velant, Inc., the leading provider of transportation planning solutions, today announced the launch of its Transportation Management Center (TMC) solution, promising to greatly improve the efficiency of the nation's truck fleets.
Harvey Donaldson, Director of The Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech, commented, "The U.S. trucking market grew to nearly $500 billion in 2000, representing more than half of total logistics spending and nearly 5% of the U.S. economy. Yet, while trucks are so essential to many enterprises, moving more than 80% of the country's freight, the trucking industry is rife with inefficiencies. Today, with a slowing economy, companies must find ways to trim transportation costs, while increasing service levels. There's an enormous opportunity for companies to improve operations if they have the tools they need to address the shortfalls in planning and execution. Tens of billions of dollars can be saved across the industry."
The majority of the more than 3 million trucks operating in the U.S. are part of large and complex supply chain operations. Virtually every fleet, regardless of size, wastes time and money as a result of inefficient operations. Common problems faced by businesses operating truck fleets include:
| -- | Excess miles traveled. Because of the difficulty of local and long-haul loading and routing decisions, many trips are not optimally planned, resulting in extra miles run by trucks and drivers. This is especially true for trucks that make multiple stops. Excess miles translate into additional costs associated with driver pay, equipment, fuel, tires, maintenance, etc. |
| -- | Wasted capacity. Many trucks have additional space onboard for all or part of each trip. In many cases, trucks are completely empty during the return (or "backhaul") portion of their routes. As a result of this wasted capacity, many trucks run inefficient routes, and many companies operate more trucks than necessary. With the average annual cost of running each truck topping $100,000, eliminating just a few such unnecessary trucks can result in significant cost savings. |
| -- | Poor service. Inadequate planning often results in poor delivery service. For example, trucks often arrive at their destinations at the wrong time, wasting valuable hours and complicating the delivery process for all parties. Service issues are becoming increasingly important as modern firms must maintain small, just-in-time inventories to be competitive, while also coordinating with their suppliers, distributors and customers. To survive and succeed, today's businesses must find new ways to reduce their transportation costs, and simultaneously provide higher levels of shipment service. |
| -- | Lack of control. Due to the decentralized and people-intensive nature of most supply chain processes, management often has minimal control over day-to-day trucking operations and has very little information on asset cost or performance. Without this insight, corporate leaders find it difficult to make changes and improvements to this key part of their business. With recent demand for increased security measures, especially in large cities, managing everyday delays and changes has become essential. The inability of managers to quickly and effectively respond to customer demands, and to adapt to broader business and technology changes, impacts the performance of their entire businesses. |
Velant's Transportation Management Center(TM) Solution
Velant has developed a transportation planning solution that helps companies operate both local and long-haul truck fleets much more efficiently. The Company's Transportation Management Center (TMC) solution, offered as a managed service, uses advanced technology and an automated process to determine the optimum way in which every truck in a fleet should be loaded with products and routed to suppliers, warehouses, distribution centers, customers, or stores.
Velant's President and CEO, Dr. Don Ratliff, said, "Every company that uses trucks in its operations - for pickup and delivery, for moving raw materials, or for transporting goods to warehouses or consumers - probably has significant room for improvement. All of the decisions that go into operating trucks, especially large fleets, are very complex because of the vast number of possibilities for every load and route, as well as the unique and ever-changing sets of constraints faced by each company, every day. In order to process all of this information in an efficient and effective way, advanced technology must be used."
Ratliff continued, "Velant has developed a solution that leverages state-of-the-art technology and also provides companies with a streamlined and cost-effective process. The result is a new approach to transportation planning that promises to save companies 10 to 30% on transportation costs, while delivering the flexibility and control today's environment demands."
Velant's TMCs provide value to companies by reducing the large costs of operating trucks, helping businesses improve service, and improving management control over transportation operations. Benefits of Velant's TMC solution include:
-- Reduction in miles and assets from optimized routes and loads.
Velant's TMCs are powered by a next-generation optimization
engine that evaluates enormous numbers of potential logistics
plans to find the best routes and loads in every case.
Velant's technology has the unique ability to simultaneously
optimize both routing and loading, allowing it to create far
more efficient and operationally effective plans. The overall
result is a sizable reduction in costs as fewer miles are
traveled, truck capacity is maximized, and assets are adjusted
for more efficient operations.
-- Highest level of service for Velant clients and their
customers. Velant works with each client in an ongoing
partnership. Centralized by design, a TMC brings together the
planning functions of even the most disparate supply chain
operations. The result is a more coordinated, nimble and
efficient transportation operation, which is able to adapt to
change and to offer continuously improving service.
-- Full control over operations and assets. By automating the
planning process and streamlining the internal resources
required to operate truck fleets, Velant's TMC solution
provides management teams with newfound flexibility and
control over the transportation segment of their businesses.
The planning process also becomes much more accountable, as
managers' visibility over assets increases significantly. In
addition, personnel requirements are greatly reduced as
expensive teams of dispatchers, as well as additional planning
personnel, are eliminated.
Dr. Ratliff added, "Trucks are the glue in the supply chain, connecting manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, and customers. Despite this importance and the complexity of managing truck fleets, transportation planning is one of the few business functions that remains people intensive. Velant's TMC solution now provides companies the technology to automate and optimize key processes such as vehicle routing and scheduling, load planning, and backhaul coordination."
About Velant(TM)
Velant provides transportation planning solutions to companies utilizing private and commercial truck fleets in their supply chain operations. Velant's Transportation Management Center (TMC) solution combines next-generation optimization technology, a fully automated process, and a team of logistics specialists, to deliver more effective transportation planning. The company is backed by Waltham, Mass.-based Matrix Partners, one of the country's leading venture capital firms. For more information on Atlanta-based Velant, visit www.velant.com.