Ballingslöv is one of the leading manufacturers of kitchens in Scandinavia and Great Britain with brand names such as: Ballingslöv, SweNova, Drømmekjøkkenet, JKE Design, DFI, Multiform and Paula Rosa. In addition, in Scandinavia, Ballingslöv offers bathrooms and storage solutions. Manufacturing is carried out in Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain.

In Sweden, Ballingslöv now distributes with its own fleet and uses Plan LogiX with the DPS Sweden map. The system is intended to plan transport for all kinds of end customers, shops, building sites etc..

Halda AB is the biggest traffic management and payment administration company for the taxi business in Scandinavia. It offers the market's most comprehensive product range, including products with the well-known Trancometer® and Halda® brands. Halda's roots go back to 1985, when the original company was established. In 1999 it was acquired by Trancometer System AB. Halda works with information technology and has extensive expertise in three interacting key areas:

• Vehicle equipment, electronics and software
• Communications
• Computers, networks and software

Halda integrates the various areas of technology and supplies complete concept solutions. Halda and DPS now cooperate to offer optimisation and route planning in Halda's solutions.

We have recently launched a new product, logixcentral, which revolutionises the way businesses can perform vehicle scheduling. logixcentral is an Internet-based, pay-as-you-go service which can be used on any computer, anywhere without any software installed on your local computers.

logixcentral is a natural development of the long-established LogiX family of vehicle routing and scheduling software tools and we would like to offer you the opportunity to attend one of a series of open days to be held at our UK office on the following dates:

• Tuesday 19th July
• Tuesday 13th September
• Tuesday 11th October
• Wednesday 9th November

The agenda for the day is:

10.00 What is logixcentral?
10.30 How much could it save my company?
10.45 How else will it benefit my company?
11.00 How does logixcentral work and how easy is it to use?
12.00 How can logixcentral be integrated into corporate systems and what sort of reports can it produce?

12.30 Buffet lunch

13.00 Workshop and Training
16.00 Close

If you would like to attend an open day, please complete our online form.

We look forward to meeting you.

DPS is hoping to win a generation of new converts to vehicle routing and scheduling
with its pay-as-you-go online model

Whilst many forms of supply-chain software have been made available in hosted online versions in recent years, this approach has not so far been adopted widely for vehicle routing and scheduling systems. Now DPS International is planning on changing all that with a hosted version of its established LogiX suite, logixcentral.

Managing director Paul Palmer says the company "has done something very special" with this development, and believes it could open up a potentially huge new market for vehicle routing and scheduling of software, especially in the small business sector. He goes so far as to predict that the majority of future LogiX users could be running the system on a hosted basis within five years.

Historically, vehicle routing and scheduling software has usually been installed and hosted locally by operators, who pay for it on a classic per-user licence basis. Palmer reckons this approach can prevent users getting the most out of it.

"A company might only have enough demand to warrant a single software licence, yet need to run simulations in different parts of the country at different times. You can get the crazy situation where someone has to get in a car and drive two hundred miles to transfer the software protection 'dongle' between locations."

A hosted solution overcomes this problem, he says. "You can access the software from any computer at any time, so long as no more than the licensed number of users are accessing it at the same time. Schedulers won't even have to come into work at the weekend - they can do the job from home."

Not that the new version is limited to strategic planning. It has been conceived from the outset as a full replacement for the conventional version, capable of running both strategic and day-to-day vehicle routing and scheduling tasks. Palmer says the launch version has 90% of the functionality of the existing user-hosted version, "and it will have 100% of the functionality within six months."

The pricing regime behind DPS's hosted model brings a major change. Typically, according to Palmer, users might pay around £25,000 for a fully-fledged rouging and scheduling package, complete with all the attendant mapping, data and implementation costs. logixcentral, by contrast, costs just £300 per user per month, plus a one-off setup fee of £1,000 (this stays the same regardless of the number of users). That's under £4,000 for a single-user system in the first year.

The company recognises that larger users may continue to prefer hosting their own systems, so it is also offering an intranet version of the new system. In this case the user pays a more conventional one-off licence fee (currently £50,000 for up to ten users), and then deploys the system over its own internal network as required. But it gains the same flexibility to access the system on any computer at any time.

Palmer admits that setting up a vehicle routing and scheduling system remains a significant task with any type of deployment, but says LogiX has addressed this in the new system with a full range of electronic training resources, which include CD- and video-based presentations. "They talk users through the whole setup process," he says.

In use, the system imports locally-held data containing customer orders and available resources, optimises the schedules online at the server end, then delivers the results back in a range of report formats. Whilst these are presented by default as HTML pages, Palmer says they can also be downloaded directly into database or spreadsheet programs and saved for further local processing.

There is a provision for users to define 'public' areas of their system (available to all their own staff) and 'private' areas, where for instance confidential modelling exercises might be recorded.

Palmer reckons the change in philosophy could be a key to future sales of this kind of system. "In the past," he says, " it was the transport manager who would make the purchasing decision. Then five years ago responsibility moved up to the logistics director. Now it's increasingly the IT director who makes the decision."

Palmer reckons that nowadays people in this position are much more attuned to web-based applications, where the pay-as-you-go pricing model offers a clearer return on investment.

He readily admits that DPS had only limited success when it launched a budget-priced Express version of LogiX a few years ago. This was priced according to fleet size, and could cost as little as £10,000. "The trouble was that it cost us as much to sell and support as a full system. The sums simply didn't add up."

By contrast, he believes the online version will broaden the market sharply, providing a continuing revenue source with a much lower cost of sales. It also opens up new opportunities of sales abroad. "There's no need for us to set up sales offices in other countries," he says, adding: "We've already had significant interest from the Far East."

Since the company is insisting on payment by direct debit, there should be no risk that users might default on payment. "If there's a problem, we simply turn the system off."

DPS International have selected e-know.net to host and deliver our latest ASP offering of logixcentral. During the initial development and launch marketing of the new service, we had hosted logixcentral ourselves.

The decision to transfer the service to e-know.net was made in order to provide our customers with the specialist service needed for a complete solution with improved 24-hour support and security/backup facilities.

Using e-know.net to deliver the logixcentral technology allows us to provide an easy-to-use automated online vehicle scheduling system that requires minimal capital investment for our customers.

Paul Palmer, Chairman of DPS International said:

"When developing our new logixcentral.net service and looking for a partner to host the service, we needed to be comfortable that our partner not only understood the technical issues of ASP hosting but also the commercial aspects, as the ASP concept is new to our specialist business sector. We chose e-know.net because they were very responsive and flexible to our potentially changing needs as our customer base grows with SMEs."

DPS demonstrate logixcentral at The Logistics Event, UK

10th June 2005

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to talk to us at our stand and/or attend one of our vehicle routing and scheduling presentations at The Logisics Event this week.

Visitors were able to see logixcentral in action on the stand, and Wayne Savill carried out a presentation and live demonstration of logixcentral in the presentation theatre on both days.

Plan on the web
The following article appears in this month's Logistics Europe magazine.

May 2005

It's time to web-enable your vehicle scheduling and transport planning. By Paul Palmer.

It's eight years since IBM launched its global e-business campaign. The impact on business has been astonishing and it's now difficult to imagine what commerce was like before companies used the Internet.

The impact has nowhere been greater than on logistics and supply chain management. Almost all applications central to fulfiling customers' needs have migrated to Internet applications. ERP, warehouse management, order processing, inventory planning, advanced logistics and supply chain planning, CRM and production planning are all now web-based. However, there is a surprising omission from this list - vehicle scheduling and transport planning.

Vehicle scheduling and routing has traditionally operated under inflexible constraints. The most common grumble heard from users is about the computer equivalent of criminal tagging; electronic devices that limit the computers the software can be running on. The use of these devices - known as dongles - sounds reasonable but is in fact inflexible unless all users are at the same location.

One transport consultant told me recently of a 3PL client who asked him to travel to Newcastle to collect one of these devices so he could use their system for planning. Halfway through the project - which was putting together resource requirements for a major commercial outsourcing bid - the Newcastle office required the dongle back; after returning it, he collected it again two days later. Not an efficient use of resources, and not very green either.

In computing terms this is the equivalent of steam age technology. Planners must be able to access software and work on any computer, anywhere, any time. This means Internet access from any computer with a user ID and password.

Transport operations do not run in normal office hours and requests for outsourcing quotes will not wait until someone collects the control equipment. Operationally, if there is a problem at the last minute, it has to be dealt with immediately - which may be at night or weekends when the transport manager is at home.

Typically 3PLs have bid teams for contracts based around the country. They must be able to access the software when they need it.

And, of course, so much planning is not now limited to one country. European cross-border transport is growing and will continue to do so. Web systems allow multi divisional, multi national co-operation.

Why has it taken the software industry so long to acknowledge this problem and deliver a web-based solution? One of the main reasons is that many companies, particularly SMEs, have shied away from scheduling software because they perceived it to be too expensive. Therefore, the market is not as big as it could have been. In addition, there is a technical problem as many scheduling solutions have an inbuilt legacy of DOS applications and are difficult to rebuild as web applications

Delivering a web-based solution is a cost-effective way of providing vehicle scheduling. DPS has shown this by developing a web-based system, based on the LogiX family of scheduling systems, called logixcentral. Not only does this meet the need for flexibility but it also provides an ASP service for companies, including those with small fleets. Paul Palmer is CEO of DPS International.

Press Release

Internet and intranet vehicle scheduling and routing system -
New system to be launched at CILT exhibition 'The Logistics Event'

5th May 2005

UK company, DPS International, has now created and released the next generation of vehicle routing systems - an Internet- and intranet-based system. It eliminates the need for constraints such as dongles and brings computerised vehicle scheduling within the reach of most vehicle operators. This radical new offering is logixcentral (www.logixcentral.com).

Paul Palmer, Chairman of DPS International (www.dps-int.com) - a company he founded almost a quarter of a century ago to develop transport planning and operational systems - is convinced that logixcentral will appeal to companies who have shied away from vehicle routing systems in the past. It will also revolutionise the way the major 3PL companies use computerised scheduling tools.

DPS provides an ASP (Application Service Provider) service so that the smaller companies, including those with a small fleet, can now access logixcentral via the Internet and use the system on a pay-as-you-go basis. There is no need for an in-house system and no need for a licence. Because logixcentral is based on the DPS long-established, market-leading LogiX family of vehicle routing and scheduling products, the customer can expect a rapid return on investment.

The same product used in a different way can also solve the issues raised by large companies with a need for multiple copies. 3PLs with many accounts to manage nationally and even internationally can use logixcentral on their corporate intranet. The system can then be accessed on any computer, anywhere. This includes home-use, from a client's desktop or even while on the road by using a wireless hot-spot or a mobile connect 3G/GPRS data card.

The company provides the full range of options for vehicle scheduling and routing. The choice includes a range of applications for planning and scheduling, including mapping software for most major industrial countries. The solutions are available as an in-house licence, an ASP pay-as-you-go offering, a corporate intranet version and as a service through trade federations.

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Come and visit us at The Logistics Event (CILT) at the NEC, on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th June. You will be able to see logixcentral in action at our stand, B125 (next to the central café area).

Attend one of our presentations including a live demonstration in Theatre 2:

• Tuesday 7th June at 10.45
• Wednesday 8th June at 10.00

To register your interest in attending a presentation, please click here.

Novator - new Swedish partner for resource planning

3rd May 2005

Novator is a member of Asta Group with representation in the UK, Germany, Holland and Sweden. The resources and project management system Asta Powerproject has over 33,000 users in Europe. The system now has a link to DPS's route optimisation system Plan LogiX, which allows expanded control of routes generated in Plan LogiX. This also gives users better control of depot planning and salary calculations.

Waste Per Se benefit from using logixcentral

Managing Director, Ian Bryan, commented:

"We are delighted to have secured access to this innovative product which combines proven performance and a high level of functionality with a low entry cost per site. Since acquiring logixcentral we have already secured two multi-site accounts where the ability to confidently predict our base costs and service levels were key to securing agreement with new customers."

Read the full Press Release here (PDF).

The Swedish Dairy Association is the national industry organisation for Swedish dairy farmers and the Swedish dairy industry. It works on behalf of its owners, who are the seven largest dairy companies (jointly representing more than 99% of Swedish milk production), eight livestock cooperatives, two semen-producing companies and nine breed societies. The organisation makes over 1,000 client visits per day, 360 days of the year. On behalf of its members, the Swedish Dairy Association will make daily optimisation of their client visits with Plan LogiX from DPS. Data containing which farms to visit each day is matched with staff availability and their specific skills in Plan LogiX. After optimisation in Plan LogiX, efficient routes are returned and imported in the work order system. Planned operative start is scheduled for autumn 2005.

Press Release

Vehicle Routing and Scheduling - The Next Generation

Many companies have benefited from cost and resource savings by using computerised vehicle routing and scheduling over the last three decades. However, for several reasons, the majority of companies have not yet taken up this fundamental aid to transport efficiency.

UK company, DPS International, has now created and released the next generation of vehicle routing systems - an Internet- or intranet-based system - which overcomes the reluctance which these companies have had to employing such a system. This radical new offering is logixcentral (www.logixcentral.com).

Paul Palmer, Chairman of DPS International (www.dps-int.com) - a company he founded almost a quarter of a century ago to develop transport planning and operational systems - is convinced that logixcentral will overcome the perceived problems of companies who have shied away from vehicle routing systems in the past.

Mr Palmer said, "Most providers of vehicle scheduling and routing software have been putting their developments into peripheral issues around their solutions. The underlying algorithms have been established for some time and effort has been concentrated on making systems more user-friendly, improving mapping capabilities and tweaking parameters. The time has now arrived for a major review of solutions in light of some companies' reluctance to accept solutions which have a proven track record of resource reduction."

"The main reluctance is caused by two issues. Firstly, for smaller companies the cost of an in-house system is perceived too high; secondly, larger companies found the need to buy multiple licences could be expensive from some companies, while at the same time this approach caused lack of flexibility because some solution suppliers also controlled access with dongles and security keys. These issues are completely overcome by logixcentral," Mr Palmer said.

"We are providing an ASP (Application Service Provider) service so that the smaller companies, including those with a small number of vehicles, can now access logixcentral via the Internet and use the system on a pay-as-you-go basis. There is no need for an in-house system and no need for a licence. Because logixcentral is based on our long-established market-leading LogiX family of vehicle routing and scheduling products, the customer can expect a rapid return on investment."

The same product used in a different way can also solve the issues raised by large companies with a need for multiple copies. "For these companies, such as logistics service providers and 3PLs with many accounts to manage nationally and even internationally, the obvious solution is for logixcentral to sit on their own intranet. We will reach an agreement for the number of user accounts and these can be accessed from anywhere in the company - not just tied to one or a few depots," he said.

But there is a further application for an intranet version which could assist very small vehicle operators. "There are several trade federations representing a large number of small operators, sometimes with just a handful of vehicles. We are talking to some of them to enable them to take logixcentral onto their federation intranet and offer a commercial service directly to their members. This way everyone benefits, but in particular the very small operator, for whom this sort of technology was always beyond their reach, will win."

"As far as we are aware, we are the only company providing the full range of options for vehicle scheduling and routing," he added. "The choice we offer includes a range of applications for planning and scheduling, including mapping software for most major industrial countries. The solutions are available as in-house licence, an ASP pay-as-you-go offering, a corporate intranet version and as a service through trade federations."

Jackon isolation material - new Plan LogiX user in Norway

Jackon AS is a Norwegian company with its headquarters in Fredrikstad. They are one of Norway's leading producers of isolation material for the manufacturing industry. Today, Jackon has one of Scandinavia's most modern facilities for producing isolation and packaging material. It is a growing company group with many production facilities in Norway, Sweden, Germany and the Czech Republic and it exports to many European countries.

Jackon decided to buy the Plan LogiX optimisation system with the DPS map of Norway from Infomap, DPS's partner in Norway. Previous transport planning was done manually. In the first step, Plan LogiX will be interfaced with Microsoft XAL by Columbus IT Partner in Norway. Plan LogiX will give Jackon a better overview of planned orders and unexploited production capacity as well as better control of delivery times. Transport resources will be used more efficiently, giving better value and causing less environmental disturbance.

Important EuroMap update for Plan LogiX, Route LogiX and Track LogiX

Euromap has been updated with the latest postcode and road changes for 2005. One important road change is the Millau Bridge in France. A major overhaul of postcodes in Turkey has resulted in 100% coverage. EuroMap now contains 100% coverage for about 40 countries, the rest (under 10) having between 50% and 100% coverage. EuroMap is the de facto standard for European distance calculations based on cities and postcodes. The update is available for download.

ILVA Møbler & Tæpper AS (Furniture, Denmark)

ILVA's use of Plan LogiX has developed over the years. Initially, Plan LogiX was used to plan furniture delivery, now ILVA uses Plan LogiX to completely plan the entire distribution process. The catalyst in this project is the change from ERP system to MOVEX, which enables Plan LogiX to receive more detailed information about each specific transport order. This makes it possible for ILVA to plan collections, deliveries and the return of goods. ILVA uses Plan LogiX for the total distribution planning of several depots in Denmark for distribution to Denmark and Sweden.

iConsulting, Sweden - iC LogiX toolkit

24th November 2004

SpedSoft AB is the Microsoft MapPoint service provider in Sweden and Microsoft's right hand for Microsoft MapPoint. MapPoint is the only program in the world that is fully integrated with all of Microsoft's products. SpedSoft AB makes use of MapPoint's development environment to enhance and visualise information on the map so that complex data is presented in a simple manner. SpedSoft is active in various segments and have a strong presence in the logistics sector. DPS and SpedSoft cooperate in projects related to DPS world leading position in route optimisation and vehicle scheduling, and SpedSoft's unique competence in MS MapPoint. DPS optimisation tools Plan LogiX and LogiX IE are supplied as integrated tools in the MapPoint environment. This allows MapPoint applications to contain the most advanced optimisation solutions available for users in transport, service and society paid transport.

Under the theme "Route LogiX 5 is like a walk on the Beach", DPS and Cargoware invited customers and potential customers to a presentation in Johannesburg.

The improved functionality and user-friendliness was demonstrated by Tracy Cheetham and welcomed by the audience.

One of Poland's leading transport companies is a new user of the advanced optimisation system Plan LogiX. DPS local partner Comp-Win is responsible of sales and support of DPS systems in Poland. A detailed road network is supplied, based on data from Imagis in Poland. This map is sold by DPS converted and adapted to DPS solutions.