xTrack POD – Axes Software’s delivery management system
Transport plays a very important role in the supply chain at any level (international, regional or local), as rapid access to products has become a priority. How can carriers act to meet the requirements of consumers, especially now, when the online shopping segment is also growing fast as a complementary solution to traditional trade? There is only one answer: automating transport management by implementing TMS software solutions. Digitization solves many of their logistical problems, and transport costs do not increase but decrease as their activities are optimized. And if managers also want to monitor deliveries in real time, they can turn to POD applications to complement TMS systems.
To help distribution and courier companies needing proof that products have reached their clients or customers on time and in optimal conditions, the Axes Software team has developed its own POD application for managing deliveries, called xTrack POD. This was made possible thanks to the co-funding from the European Social Fund through the Competitiveness Operational Programme 2014-2020. The development of this software solution represents one of the objectives of Axes Software’s proposed project 129490: “Innovative platform for artificial intelligence management of work processes in factories and warehouses“.
What is POD?
xTrack POD (Proof of Delivery) is an application designed for companies whose workload requires them to have strict control of the trips they make. This control is reflected in the close monitoring of deliveries in progress and access, if needed, to the history of shipments already made, which also includes details of each trip.
The POD application allows easy task management, based on a system of tasks and options that mark the delivery processes of transport orders. Each transport order entered into the application comprises one or more deliveries, each treated as a separate process. The completion of each task is confirmed and recorded in the application, and the information is saved in a database during each delivery process execution.
The application has been designed to serve the interests of two distinct categories of users, with different roles and levels of access in managing transport orders. Administrators (managers) have access to all transport orders in order to track the execution of deliveries in real time, while drivers have access only to information and tasks related to deliveries assigned to them according to their priority.
By using the application, drivers know exactly what they have to do, track milestones easily, don’t miss essential steps in delivery processes and confirm completed tasks on the spot. At the same time, managers can see in real time how the completed driver operations are progressing on the route and at the destination.
xTrack POD solution features
The structure and interface of xTrack POD is intuitive and user-friendly, and the application can be used without special training. The system can be installed on smartphones, tablets or mobile computers without special hardware configurations, being easy to adapt to the operating systems of the devices on which it is used.
The tasks the driver has to perform during a delivery, from viewing the details of the assigned trip to completing the transport order, are structured in stages in the application. The options included are predefined, set according to the stages of the delivery process, and the search filters make it easy for users to quickly access the information in the database of the application.
The application windows open gradually as drivers select an option and confirm completion of the task, automatically moving to the next step in the delivery process. A transport order comprises one or more deliveries that are treated as repetitive processes with the same options and tasks. When all deliveries are completed and confirmed as such the completion of the transport order is also confirmed and recorded as having been executed in both the TMS and the xTrack POD applications.
The xTrack POD system is not rigid or unidirectional. On the contrary, some variables have been taken into account, such as the cancellation of an order by a customer after the goods have left the warehouse. Users can also return to a previous window and use the options they need during the delivery process.
Another feature of the xTrack POD application is that the software solution can be used not only for the delivery of ordered products, but also for picking up returns or goods from suppliers.
POD system integration
The xTrack POD application is flexible and can be integrated with other systems such as TMS, WMS, ERP.
Integrating xTrack POD with a TMS (Transport Management System) ensures the management and optimization of all delivery-related activities, from loading onto trucks to delivering goods to their destination. To facilitate the delivery process, POD applications can also be integrated with applications such as Waze, Google Maps or other similar apps to allow drivers to see the route they are taking.
The xTrack POD app can also be connected with WMS or ERP systems to ensure traceability of goods and efficient inventory management.
Activities covered by POD systems
The tasks and options in the application windows mark all the stages of a delivery trip. The activities that drivers have to carry out are many and varied, and the existing options allow them to:
- view the details they need to make each assigned trip: customer identification data and the locations where they have to deliver goods on the route, photos previously taken at the destination locations, the route on the map,
- upload, on the spot or later, to the application’s database, photographs of documents or delivery locations, which have been taken in the field with mobile phones/devices, and to which all those who will later make trips to those addresses will have access,
- to report breaks taken on the route and their duration,
- cancel a delivery order (or several) when unforeseen problems occur after they have started their trip (e.g. one of the customers cancels an order),
- confirm the delivery of goods whenever they have reached a customer on the route,
- select one of the specific delivery options,
- while they are making the trip, enter or modify data relating to the goods delivered (quantity/number) or the amounts to be collected,
- confirm receipt of the value of the goods delivered, if applicable,
- confirm the completion of each individual delivery at the end of each cycle of activities associated with it, and the completion of the execution of the transport order at the end of all the deliveries made during the trip.
Benefits of delivery management
Optimizing activities and tracking deliveries through xTrack POD helps both drivers to complete their assigned trips on time, and managers to monitor in real time how shipments are progressing.
In practice, the functionalities, flexibility and logical ordering of options in the application structure brings a number of benefits:
- streamlining and optimization of workflows,
- traceability of goods and improved data accuracy,
- storage of collected information, easy access to the database,
- tracking of deliveries during or after delivery of goods,
- less time, effort and money spent to manage deliveries.
Do you want to know more about xTrack POD delivery management application? Fill in any form on the website and Axes Software consultants will contact you in maximum 48 hours.
