Established in Mexico in 1945, Grupo Bimbo has grown into one of the world’s leading baking companies. With more than 100 brands and over 5,000 products, Bimbo currently operates in 17 countries throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Grupo Bimbo’s subsidiary in the U.S. was established in 1993 and today boasts a portfolio of popular brands including Oroweat, Mrs. Baird’s, Bimbo, Tia Rosa, Francisco, Marinela, Entenmann’s, Thomas’ and Boboli.
Seeking ways to further improve customer service while controlling costs, senior management discovered that implementing a wireless Automation Vehicle Location (AVL) solution for its truck fleet was a good strategy to accomplish this goal.
A solution developed by Vericom Technologies, an AT&T alliance partner, moved to the top of the list. “We already had a good relationship with Cingular [AT&T] and they had a group focused on wireless for businesses, as well as expertise in Direct Store Delivery (DSD),” said Jorge Diez, corporate director for shipping and product control in BBU. He also cites AT&T’s network and roaming voice and data capabilities as critical determinants since BBU has multiple distribution centers and a fleet of vehicles that travel across state lines and into remote areas.
Vericom Tech developed an AVL/GPS tracking solution suited for a medium-sized fleet of 350- 500 trucks and vans ideal for BBU. The plan includes timecard management for driver identification, 2MB pooled telemetry, and data connect SIMs. Vericom’s program also offers event and exception-based reports that allow the viewer (e.g., dispatcher, warehouse, or operations) to create reports effectively, filtering everything but the requested information. Vericom’s VeriVision Series provides BBU with a flexible and customizable portfolio of Fleet Management solutions, allowing BBU to select the type of services needed, the company says.
Vericom Tech’s Fleet Management solutions use a comprehensive and scalable data platform that combines GPS, wireless communications and the Internet. Data gathered from vehicle and driver activity are wirelessly transmitted to an Internet accessible, easy-to-use reporting system. BBU also accesses Vericom’s wide range of tools, including activity workflow, mapping and event and exception-based reports. These reports and tools are easily filtered and analyzed.
Vericom’s solutions for improving efficiency and productivity for the company’s fleet resulted in the following improvements:
drivers.
data. New runs can now be calculated more accurately.
Bimbo attributes their success to excellent planning along with a partnership approach. BBU, AT&T and Vericom Technologies clearly defined the roles and responsibilities and pre-assigned dedicated resources for implementation. They also had a clear understanding of Bimbo’s business and local operations, and used a specific set of metrics to determine success.
“The new system helps us meet our goal of being one of the world’s leading baking companies by evaluating and improving every process, every day” said Diez. “This program is one step in the right direction.”
