Mountains of the Plata
Efficient and innovative solution to manage arrival of third-party timber trucks to the Industrial Complex.
1
About MONTES DEL PLATA
Mountains of the Plata is a forestry-industrial company dedicated to the production of Eucalyptus cellulose pulp. It was founded in 2009 by Arauco (Chile) and Stora Enso (Sweden-Finland), two leading companies in the forestry sector worldwide.
2
Context
Montes del Plata receives around 20 trucks of wood from third parties per day. To manage their arrival, the daily limit of units to be unloaded by each company was associated with the Montes del Plata forest management system. Once the drivers arrived at the Industrial Complex, they interacted with a totem to register their trip and then go to the scale if there were available spaces.
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Project Objectives
The main objective of the project was to coordinate the arrival and unloading of third-party timber trucks at the Industrial Complex, in order to shorten waiting times. of drivers and promote better supply planning at the logistics level.
4
Focusing on the challenges
Before implementing the new system, they faced several challenges:
Lack of predictability in arrivals:
There was no schedule with assigned times, which made it more difficult to plan the unloading according to the attributes of the wood. In addition, the driver did not have a reservation in advance, so he did not know the estimated time he would have to wait at the waiting area.
Long wait times:
If a driver arrived and the daily quotas had been reached, delays in entry could occur.
Technical support:
The previous system required considerable support from operations and IT, being a highly customized solution for that purpose.
Hardware failures:
The delivery note scanner was experiencing recurring problems.
Large number of users:
The solution had to be intuitive and easy to adopt, so that driver training was as easy as possible.
as pleasant as possible.
Lack of anticipation of documentary problems:
Drivers detected that there was some irregularity with their document or that of the truck once
who had arrived and interacted with the totem. When faced with a problem, it was not possible to solve it before the
arrival, which could also lengthen the wait.
Data & Analytics Leader
Victoria Fernandez
"Until the third-party timber driver arrived at the Industrial Complex, there was no certainty of having a quota for that day. In addition, since there were no hourly quota limits, it was not possible to distribute the arrivals, which made the operation more complex."
5
Solution
To overcome these challenges, an agenda management system for the arrivals area was developed and implemented through WhatsApp, a familiar and easy-to-adopt channel that includes:
Arrival schedule:
Documentation control:
Automated Arrival Registration:
Data & Analytics Leader
Victoria Fernandez
“Now supporting drivers is more intuitive than before, as we can simulate the same steps through the bot. We also avoid errors associated with the delivery note scanner; currently, this photo is sent via WhatsApp and we automatically store it on a shared site, according to the arrival date.”
To overcome these challenges, an agenda management system for the arrivals area was developed and implemented through WhatsApp, a familiar and easy-to-adopt channel that includes:
Arrival schedule:
Documentation control:
Automated Arrival Registration:
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How does it work?
Reserve your spot via WhatsApp
Notify arrival at the Industrial Complex
Data & Analytics Leader
Victoria Fernandez
How quickly did drivers adapt to using the tool? “It was better than we expected. Coordination was done with both supplier companies and wood operations to provide support for any queries. The process was very guided, through videos with examples. In addition, all the steps of the bot were designed to be easy to interpret, and in the event of any error, the message is very specific, so that it can be resolved as soon as possible.”
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Results
The implementation of the new system resulted in a number of significant improvements:
Reduction of waiting times:
Waiting times have been reduced as drivers book according to their estimated arrival time and can modify their booking in case of delays.
Major organization:
The flow of third-party timber trucks was made more orderly and predictable.
Better user experience:
Scheduling their arrival in advance improved the experience of the drivers, avoiding waiting and optimizing their time.
Predictability of wood:
It allows for better control and forecasting for the efficient management of the wood mix received at the Industrial Complex.
Data & Analytics Leader
Victoria Fernandez
For third-party timber suppliers, it was a great help because it gave them greater visibility into unloading schedules. They now know if their trucks have already been booked and what time they will arrive. Custom Power BI reports were created, which help them on a day-to-day basis to track bookings.”
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What else do you value about working with Simpletech?
Data & Analytics Leader
Victoria Fernandez
"We valued the speed with which we implemented the WhatsApp bot rules and made the required changes. We also highlight the training in the use of the tool, allowing us to make edits ourselves.”
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Conclusion
This case demonstrates how WhatsApp can be used to implement a scheduling system that helps improve operational efficiency, reduce wait times and enhance user experience.
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