UK national courier courier company Topspeed Couriers has announced that it has reduced the time to plan its daily work programme by up to 80% after the company started using the Maxoptra dynamic routing and scheduling system.

Topspeed is a provider of courier services to the government under the Crown Commercial Services Framework and now uses the Maxoptra system to improve the management of key government contracts.

Maxoptra has been developed by a division of Magaenta Technology. Topspeed can now automatically produce optimised daily schedules as well as driver routes that in turn contribute to an improvement in customer services and reduce operational costs.

Topspeed Couriers provides same-day and next-day courier services across the UK, specialising in the transport of biological samples, radioactive material, criminal evidence and other restricted or prohibited materials. The company has contracts with a number of government organisations in the public health, criminal justice and environmental and food testing sectors and operates a nationwide fleet of more than 90 Mercedes Benz vans from its HQ in Knutsford, Cheshire.

“Prior to the introduction of Maxoptra, the time taken to plan the next day’s schedule was around five hours, with one of the biggest bottlenecks being the gap between our sales order processing software and our fleet tracking system,” commented Phil Mason, Operations Manager at Topspeed Couriers. “Using Maxoptra, we have been able to bridge this gap, which is contributing to a saving in operational planning of up to four hours every day – equivalent to nearly 1,000 man hours per annum.”

Technology is increasingly being used to speed up courier and delivery operations by companies competing in the bear pit of the delivery industry. Such advances will give the likes of Topspeed a competitive edge.