Involvement benefits from seamless MaxOptra integrations and reduces planning time by 60%

Involvement is a family-owned, award-winning group of companies operating across the fulfilment, industrial packaging and technology sectors. The group prides itself on being the best team-led business in the UK, with this approach leading to supercharged growth in recent years. 

The business was set up in 1974 as a UK distributor of industrial plastic (PP) buckets to the food, chemicals, and coatings industries, and quickly became pioneers in their space as they introduced new products and developed the market for plastic containers in the UK.

Today, what Involvement offers goes beyond packaging. They have been trusted for decades by thousands of companies to deliver their products to market with confidence, which has resulted in them receiving the highest AA rating and BRC accreditation at all of their depots. As well as being the first packaging company in the market to receive a Feefo Trusted Gold Service Award, and being positioned in the top 2% of companies on Feefo’s platform.

Invopak and Invo Fulfilment are key divisions within the group which utilise their fleet for transporting goods for customers across the UK. Invopak provides an unrivalled combination of high-quality products, competitive pricing and a world-class customer experience. And utilise their own fleet of delivery vehicles, meaning that customers’ packaging is looked after at every step of the journey, from factory, to warehouse, to end customer. 

Invo Fulfilment focuses on providing a straightforward pallet storage and distribution service from their immaculate BRC accredited distribution centres and newly commissioned fleet.

Before MaxOptra, Involvement had tried multiple solutions but were facing issues with integrating their current systems. Notably, the business had moved to Microsoft Dynamics Business Central which was an essential system to integrate with their routing solution.

Additionally, their previous routing system required significant amounts of customisation. And even after tailoring the system to their needs, the cost had become high and the solution was still not fit for purpose.

Routing was taking significant time and resources, with Involvement requiring a dedicated staff member to manage the process, which took up to 4 hours per day to complete. Furthermore, the solution was not user-friendly, meaning they suffered from single-person dependencies as other staff members would struggle to learn the system in time. 

This was exacerbated by Involvement‘s need to also complete collections, which was not viable using their current solution. Instead, this process would have to be managed completely separately, on an entirely manual basis.

Involvement was recommended by MaxOptra through their Microsoft Dynamics Business Central supplier. They were immediately impressed by the solution, and after agreeing to move ahead, were implemented and trained in the MaxOptra system swiftly. 

Involvement could seamlessly and easily integrate with Microsoft Dynamics Business Central through MaxOptra’s open API. Allowing them to benefit from better data management, route optimisation accuracy, vehicle and driver visibility, and real-time customer order statuses. 

With regards to routing, Involvement has been impressed by MaxOptra’s dynamic routing capabilities, finding the routes generated to be accurate and faster than those they were previously utilising. Also customers can now have real-time tracking of their orders which has resulted in a more efficient use of driver hours.

Involvement is also able to manage collections through the MaxOptra system, combining collection addresses with their deliveries for more efficient routes and better use of the fleet assets, and of course more straightforward processing and planning. 

And if that wasn’t enough, MaxOptra has supported Involvement with appropriate label creation, allowing the business to label and easily identify different packages to fit different vehicles and routes. 

Involvement has seen a drastic reduction in planning time, which has been reduced from roughly 20 hours per week to 8 hours per week. That’s a 60% reduction in planning time!

And due to the generation of more efficient routes, Involvement has benefited from reduced fuel, maintenance, and other resource costs.

The business has seen huge benefits in customer service with the use of MaxOptra’s live tracking, widget, and email and SMS notifications, meaning that customers can be sent accurate ETAs, keeping them up to date whilst also reducing customer service calls. 

This has been mirrored in feedback and reviews from Involvement’s customers, who are impressed with the speed, flexibility, and communication of their deliveries. 

“I am thrilled to see the significant improvements achieved by Involvement through the use of MaxOptra. Their remarkable reduction in mileage, fuel consumption, and delivery times showcases the transformative impact of our technology on logistics operations. This case study illustrates our dedication to revolutionising route planning and empowering businesses like Involvement to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.”

• Sanjay Gandhi, MaxOptra Managing Director