Heras Mobile Fencing & Security goes digital with the TransFollow eCMR
At many construction sites and festivals you will come across the fencing and solutions of Heras Mobile. With their fences and associated smart technical solutions, they secure fields and keep them safe. These solutions are temporary placed on construction sites and festivals.
The materials are regularly placed, picked up and transported. This process of Heras Mobile is now digitalized with the eCMR of TransFollow and supported by our Dutch distributor Beurtvaartadres. Colleagues, external carriers, drivers and ERP supplier are joining step by step.
An extra challenge in the process: one of the most important Heras-factories is located in Belgium. That’s why the internationally recognized (e)CMR is mandatory as the consignment note.
The motivation
At Heras Mobile, Elke Lubse manages the digitization process together with René Verbree. Elke: “At Heras Mobile, we are constantly looking for smart improvements. The transition to TransFollow is an important step forward. Our construction branch continuously delivers our materials to various locations in the country. These deliveries are composed differently each time. Therefore it is nice that we can now immediately use the eCMR as a packing slip. This works more efficiently! ”
Elke continues: “We were looking for a long time for an option to replace the paper consignment note, because we were facing some practical problems. For example, we had delays on a regular basis after a consignment note was incomplete or lost, or the handwriting was illegible. In addition, the intensive use of paper bothered us. Transport Company Van Uden, one of our partners, recommended TransFollow”. “Sometimes, there was a disagreement about the deliveries. Now, we can share the realtime status of the transport and signing can be done immediately. The safeguarding and communication has improved a lot. This also provides positive side-effects: every transport is now transparent, fast and insightful! For everyone in the supply chain. ”
Specific wishes
Elke and her colleagues had a specific number of wishes. The most important one: Connecting TransFollow to the ERP system. “We use the eCMR as a packing slip. A good functioning ERP system is very important to enable this.” Elke explains. “Our second wish: easily modifying the packing slip. Now this connection is working properly, it is also the basis for our invoicing, stock management and deliveries. By digitalizing this, we save a lot of time on our administration.”
“Our last wish was to attach photos. It often happens that the fencing is damaged or that the numbers are incorrect. We can capture and share this directly with a photo. Or if no one is present at the pick-up locations, we register the pick-up and share it realtime with the client. ”
Collabaration with Beurtvaartadres
Heras Mobile started the digital transition in February 2020. Step by step, the eCMR was introduced. Since the summer, they have been driving completely digitally, with the digital consignment note. The start of the project was supported by Marcel Salakory, supply chain supporter at Beurtvaartadres. Elke: “Marcel and his colleagues helped us with a good transition and implementation of the software of TransFollow. They also helped our partners, such as the ERP supplier, along in the project. ”
“It was nice that the Beurtvaartadres team looked closely at our specific wishes and actively contributed to them. The communication lines are short and all possible pitfalls are well overcome. They work close with you for the best results. Now that everything is up and running, we have a permanent contact person for questions and support. This gives us the feeling that we are not alone in this. ”
International roll out
“Now that we are driving with the TransFollow eCMR in the Netherlands and Belgium, we are expanding to other countries. An important condition is that the countries and our partners are at the same digitization level as we are. They should be digitally ready. We will first start with a rollout in the United Kingdom. Preferably in the first six months of 2021. The knowledge and experience we have gained in the Netherlands will certainly help us with that! ”
