How Does the Milk Distribution Software Process Work?
The dairy product market is becoming quite popular, giving a push to small dairy businesses. Small dairy businesses entering the big market have started automating their businesses.
The milk distribution software automates the entire business process and removes the paperwork and the need for hiring extra staff.
According to a survey by Camunda, “67% of businesses have automated their businesses to improve their end-to-end visibility.
What is milk distribution software?
Milk distribution software is a SaaS-based solution that automates and optimises milk deliveries, reducing total turnaround time and saving money. The software aims at streamlining processes like ordering, payment collection and reconciliation, route planning and scheduling, and generating reports and analytics.
The milk distribution software offers three online platforms to achieve timely and accurate deliveries and increase customer satisfaction.
- The admin dashboard
- The customer’s mobile app for milk delivery
- The milk delivery driver mobile app
The admin panel, the customer interface and the driver application work in sync. Any changes made in the customer or driver application are reflected on the admin panel.
Process of delivering milk using milk distribution software
Using software for milk deliveries increases transparency between customers and businesses, as well as between drivers and business managers. The system provides complete visibility and control for the business manager. Drivers and customers have complete visibility of their tasks and orders.
5 steps involved in the milk distribution process
Order placement – The customers place a one-time or subscription order from the customer milk delivery app. They can customise their order. They can select their preferred product from the catalogue and the delivery schedule, frequency, and number of deliveries.
Order acceptance – The business manager operating the admin dashboard accepts the order. Customers are notified once the administrator has confirmed the order.
Order assignment and dispatching – The order placed is automatically assigned to the drivers to whom that specific route is assigned. The order is then dispatched and sent out for delivery.
Order out for delivery – The driver picks up the order on the defined schedule and delivers the order. The driver obtains electronic proof of delivery and payment through the picture, signature and OTP sent to the registered mobile number.
Order fulfillment – The driver marks the deliveries as completed. He can also reschedule or mark the order as cancelled as per the situation.
The features of milk distribution software that help your milk distribution business
The advanced features of milk delivery software solutions help you streamline your business processes like ordering, payments, deliveries and reporting. Automating these processes improves the customer experience, efficiency, productivity and profitability.
Some of the important features offered by the software are:
Order management – Online milk delivery management software allows customers to place their subscription or one-time orders from the customer interface. They can set the frequency of the order and the schedule on which they prefer to receive it. The order is then picked, tracked and shipped for delivery. The system auto-generates the order status updates and sends them to the customers. It also generates the order summary and the invoices sent to the customers via mail and SMS and can be accessed from the customer application. Business owners can track this entire order processing from the admin panel.
Payment management – The delivery software for dairy management generates invoices automatically, monthly or weekly, as defined by the business owners. Invoices are sent to customers via mail as well as SMS. Customers can also fetch their invoices from their customer application. The software offers multiple integrations for online payments (via credit and debit cards, payment gateways like SagePay, Paytm, Stripe, and many more). It also allows drivers to log in the cash received from customers in case of cash payments.
Route optimisation – The route optimisation feature is crucial to optimising the delivery route and reducing total turnaround time for the delivery drivers. This feature creates the shortest delivery path and schedules the order delivery so that the delivery person delivers the order on a single route. Having an optimised route helps reduce fuel costs and carbon footprints. According to a study by Business Insider, “last-mile delivery can account for 53% of a shipment’s cost.”
Stock management – The software generates a stock report that includes data on available stock, total stock required to meet customer demands, and extra stock to be procured. Having precise stock data ensures that businesses always have an optimal amount of stock available in the warehouse. It also prevents businesses from stock-outs or overstocking, which prevents losses due to spoilage or order unfulfillment.
Telematics – Telematics refers to the communication and use of IT to transmit, receive and store data. It helps in tracking the delivery vehicle and the order and generates the estimated time for delivery. Telematics allow business owners and customers to track orders and directly connect delivery drivers and customers in case of delivery delays.
Benefits of using milk delivery software in your milk distribution business
The advanced features of milk delivery software foster sustainability, which refers to reducing operational costs and increasing overall profitability.
Some of the benefits of this delivery software are:
Improved efficiency – Automation optimises and streamlines delivery operations, improving the efficiency of the business. It removes the need for the workforce to manage manual processes. It helps in reducing operational costs and improving productivity and profitability.
Enhanced customer satisfaction – Offering customers a milk delivery app to place and manage orders, track orders in real-time, and connect with drivers and business representatives fosters transparency and convenience. Offering these features improves customer satisfaction ratings for the business and the customer experience.
Increased profitability – Improved delivery efficiency allows you to serve more customers in the same time frame. Acquiring new customers and serving them scales the business. Automation streamlines business processes, which increases profits.
Sustainability – The software improves economic, social and environmental sustainability. It enhances the business’s efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Features of this software, like route-optimisation help reduce fuel consumption, reducing total delivery turnaround time. Reduced fuel consumption helps minimise the impact of carbon footprinting due to carbon dioxide emissions.
Milk management software is a complete suite and a perfect solution for dairy businesses to streamline and increase their efficiency, productivity and profitability. Automating the entire business allows them to focus on scaling and planning strategies for future sales. If you are looking forward to learning more about milk distribution software and seeing how it practically works: Book a Demo.
