Bishopsgate goes paperless for greater efficiency and visibility

Bishopsgate Specialist Logistics and Installations specialises in the National and European transportation, storage and installation of fragile, sensitive or outsized equipment for the healthcare, IT, telecommunications, banking, safe and UPS, office machine, fitness and vending sectors as well as high end home delivery.

Transporting and delivering high value goods into often tricky locations within sites has earned Bishopsgate a reputation for being no ordinary transport company, but a trusted technical delivery partner to blue chip companies the likes of Schneider Electric, Draeger Medical, Carl Zeiss, Getinge, Glory, Unilever and Gunnebo.

Running a fleet of 60 vehicles and employing a workforce that includes more than 100 drivers and installation specialists, Bishopsgate, which was founded in 1992 and currently has sales forecasted to exceed £11m this year, also provides UK-based warehousing and distribution services for hi-tech equipment as part of a 24/7 operation.

Investment in transport management technology deliberate strategy to support growth

The company has been using Mandata transport management software since 2001 as part of a deliberate strategy, built around technology to improve its services, achieve efficiencies and drive growth across frontline operations.

This investment has been a vital cog in helping to power 25% year-on-year growth for a business that’s also a shareholder and key partner in one of Europe’s largest multinational high-tech transport businesses, TENESO, which has operations across 25 countries.

Over the years, the Wootton Bassett company has extended the capabilities of its transport management system to meet the needs of a growing customer base. The integration of added value features have also helped the firm meet the challenges of operating in an international market place where cost pressures, distance, remote locations, JIT customer service and business development present significant challenges.

“Staying ahead of change, running an effective business in a constantly evolving economic landscape and harnessing the benefits of technology have certainly been challenging,” said Bishopsgate’s managing director Tim Bloch.

“Mandata has helped us to achieve this, while the addition of bolt-on services to enable customers to book their own jobs, improve warehouse stock control and monitoring, and the introduction of DIP scanning and RF handhelds have all played their part in meeting the challenges.

“Scanners in every vehicle enabled complete visibility of each piece of equipment handled, through every stage of its journey with Bishopsgate. The introduction of a customer mobile phone app enabled customers the chance to enjoy all the benefits of the on-line portal and tracking tool, which they had enjoyed for many years, on the move. This meant customer mobile workers could track the impending delivery themselves without delay having already booked their exact requirements on-line considerably reducing their administrative burden.”

Continued innovation resulted in greater efficiencies and cost savings

Costs and staffing levels have reduced over the years as greater efficiencies and savings have impacted on the business which continues to innovate and achieve growth thanks to technologies like Mandata.

In 2013 the company acquired the specialist services division of Allports Cargo Services, a global multi-modal operator. This merger resulted in significant growth and improvement not least by streamlining IT systems and processes which provided sound foundations on which to build further growth.

Paperless since 2015

Bishopsgate went paperless in 2015 in an initiative designed to provide total transparency at every stage of a delivery’s journey, from initial booking of the job to the final acceptance and installation of the shipment.

“Customers want to know where their goods are at any one time,” said Tim. “With Mandata systems, staff and customers have the visibility they need. We are completely transparent and they can see if we have or haven’t delivered.”

“Our systems provide instant access to real-time information and they are user-friendly. In fact recent innovations from Mandata have made our systems altogether more flexible and more manageable, enabling us to deliver more value into the customer base,” Tim goes on to explain:

“The ability to share pictures quickly has made communication throughout the business so much simpler and processes such as driver training and sharing information with customers quick and easy not to mention “instant photo POD’s” which are standard on every delivery.”