Dot Transportation Inc (DTI), the logistics affiliate of food industry redistributor Dot Foods, has selected Quintiq to provide a planning solution that offers a 100% fit to its unique constraints and processes. Quintiq, a Dassault Systèmes company, will enable DTI to optimize temperature integrity, loading and routing of its multi-compartment and multi-temperature logistics assets.
Quintiq’s implementation at the Dot Foods distribution center in Mt Sterling IL is expected to increase efficiency in DTI’s logistics operations through loading and routing optimization. It will allow DTI to maximize the capacity of each movable multi-temperature compartment in the trailer and plan deliveries more efficiently. This will help DTI better manage its physical equipment and specific network constraints to reduce empty miles, increase asset utilization and maintain cold chain integrity. Additionally, the company will be able to accommodate last-minute changes in demand and reduce the cost of disruptions.
Dan Overton, DTI routing manager, explained the complexity of the firm’s operations.
“We buy food from manufacturers and resell it in less-than-truckload (LTL) quantities to distributors on a weekly basis,” he said. “Many of our customers require smaller, multi-temp shipments. The vast majority of our loads are not a straight dry, refrigerated or frozen truckload of goods, but instead a collection of orders each with mixed temperatures. Temperature integrity loading requires optimized and accurate planning of nearly 100 different trailer configurations. Our trailers give us a lot of flexibility, but we still have standards we must load within. Not only will Quintiq handle the multi-compartment planning for loads of all sizes, but it will do so while creating more efficient optimized routes. We’re essentially taking the traditional routing approach and now including pallet placement on the trailer into the scenario.”
Peter Shin, director of logistics at Quintiq North America, explained how Quintiq will transform DTI’s operations.
“Our highly configurable solution allows us to achieve a 100% fit for DTI’s complex supply chain,” he said. “Taking into account DTI’s overall KPIs, and its material and capacity constraints, Quintiq will create optimized plans that allow for real-time changes in demand and accommodate flexible soft time windows. Our work with DTI confirms the versatility of Quintiq and will further advance our expansion in the food logistics sector.”
For complete information, see www.DotFoods.com.
