Case 02 Logistics · 2025
Twelve depots, one way of working.
After three acquisitions, every depot planned routes its own way. We standardised planning around the best depot’s method and cut planner overtime by two thirds.
- Client
- A regional cold-chain distributor with twelve depots
- Services
- Operations advisory, Digital operations
- Duration
- 16 weeks
- Team
- Maya Bennett, Sofia Lindqvist, Iva Stoyanova
What changed
Illustrative outcomes for a fictional client.1
87%96%
On-time delivery across the network
14045
Planner overtime, hours per week
112
Depots on the standard planning day
The story
The situation
Three acquisitions in five years had turned a single-site distributor into a twelve-depot network. Each depot kept its own planning method: one used routing software, four used spreadsheets and the rest relied on a whiteboard and a very experienced planner. On-time delivery ranged from 79% to 95% depending on the depot.
What we found
The best-performing depot was not the one with the software. It was the one that planned the next day by two in the afternoon and froze changes after four. The others planned late, re-planned often and paid for it in overtime and missed delivery windows.
The best-performing depot was not the one with the software.
What we did
We turned the best depot’s routine into a standard planning day, rolled it out in three waves of four depots, and only then configured the existing routing software to support it. Each depot manager owned their weekly on-time and overtime figures.
What changed
Network on-time delivery rose from 87% to 96% over two quarters, planner overtime fell from about 140 to 45 hours a week, and all twelve depots now run the same planning day.
Timeline
16 weeks
- DiagnoseWeeks 1–3
Shadowed planners in all twelve depots.
- DesignWeeks 4–6
Codified the best depot’s planning day.
- ImplementWeeks 7–14
Three waves of four depots, then software configuration.
- Hand overWeeks 15–16
Depot managers own the weekly figures.
The team
- Northbridge and this client are fictional. Figures are demo content written to show how outcomes would be reported, not results of a real engagement.