PC Plays Dispatcher For Couriers
Newmarket firm goes paperless. Software does all the heavy lifting
Toronto Star Business Section
DAVID BRUSER
BUSINESS REPORTER
It's eerily quiet in the dispatch room at A&B Courier in Newmarket.
Waybills and manifests are scarce and chatter among the guys working the phones is at an all-time low.
And that's a good thing.
Two years ago, co-owners and brothers Dean and Dewane Smalley grew weary of the clutter and din, the disorganization that is a small courier company, and decided to go virtual.
"We said, well we want to control the business. We don't want the business to control us," Dean said. "Getting a computer to eliminate all tasks, that's what our focus was — basically to become as paperless as possible."
Before, a customer would call and a dispatcher would write the order on a piece of paper, clamp it on a clipboard and decide which driver to assign it to. The package was then manually priced.
Now, a computer program does it all. Not unlike how courier giants FedEx and UPS operate, Smalley's family business allows customers to order a delivery, pay and track packages online.
What's unusual is how aggressively Smalley's small courier business went after a technology solution, says Tony Lourakis, whose Richmond Hill-based Complete Innovations Inc. makes the courier software A&B uses.
Lourakis targets the smaller courier companies — basically everyone but the top few players. He estimates there are 8,000 couriers in the U.S. and 2,000 in Canada. His website claims his courier management software is the most widely used in North America.
Incorporated five years ago, Complete Innovations now serves 50 couriers in the GTA, charging $5,000 for the first software user in a client's company and $2,000 for each subsequent user.
"We give companies like A&B technology that enables them to be FedEx and UPS, so they can offer their customers Web-order entry, real-time tracking over the Internet," said Lourakis, 26, and a native of Brampton.
The software also makes the computer the dispatcher, automatically assigning a package to a driver based on his or her proximity to the pick-up point or other criteria already entered into the system. The driver receives the order from the computer via a handheld phone that also displays text, and then sends a message signalling that the message has been received. It's a feature that A&B has embraced more readily than others, Lourakis said.
"The nice thing about A&B is they use 100 per cent of our product and then some," he said. "Their business is almost entirely automated. It's like a virtual courier company."
Smalley says many in the courier business fear the cost of revolutionizing how they do business, knowing they can't pass that cost on to the customer.
"It's a nickel-and-dime business in a lot of aspects. People change (courier companies) over 10 cents difference (in) delivery," said Smalley, 39.
But after spending two months learning the system and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on training, time, software and equipment, Smalley says the firm has only grown.
A&B really started as a Newmarket cab company run by the Smalleys' father David. But Newmarket residents began soliciting the cabs to ferry envelopes stuffed with legal papers or other documents across town in a hurry. The brothers Smalley bought the company in 1988 when the fleet consisted of two cars.
A&B now has 67 drivers of cars, vans and trucks, a 56 per cent increase since 2003. The company also just bought a smaller Markham courier operation. A&B operates throughout the GTA.
"It's so simple. When you walk in, it's quiet in here. If I took you to any other courier company, it's crazy," he said, adding that dispatchers now spend more time training new drivers.
"It makes us more accountable. We wanted to set it up so that it was like our customers (are) right in our office seeing what we're doing, so we have nothing to hide," he added. "So we can't B.S. them."
But not all drivers welcome the new way of shipping at A&B.
"It's harder for some than others. They don't like change," Smalley said. "Some of their drivers didn't want to come on board with us. They're used to using the radios. They were so afraid of the (new) system, they just said, `I don't want anything to do with it.' "
And some customers still prefer to pick up the phone, with about 40 per cent of orders made verbally.
"Some guys just love phoning our guys. They really do. They like the human touch," Smalley said.
"As much as we convince them (of) the benefits of the Web, they don't want to change."
Courier Complete
Courier Complete is an easy-to-use, Windows-based courier operations solution specifically designed for the courier, messenger, expediting and distribution industries. Courier Complete automates the front office, back-end business and in-field courier processes, including online customer order entry, accounts receivable, real-time deliver tracking, and account information.
About Complete Innovations Inc.
Complete Innovations Inc., based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, is a leading global provider of mission critical operational solutions for mobile workforce and transportation-related companies. Renowned for excellent customer service, Complete Innovations Inc. has over 300 customers throughout North America and its various international resellers. For more information, please visit www.completeinnovations.com or contact Christy Dagonas at (905) 709-0863, ext.245. <Back
