Part 2: Jongeneel Transport live with NOTIME

Family-owned Jongeneel Transport is a modern and professional transporter of gases in bulk and bottles. The transporter was founded in 1956 and its management is now in the hands of the third generation. Jongeneel Transport has its own modern fleet of 170 tractor units, 150 towed units and ten transportable forklift trucks. The company employs 185 of its own drivers and 30 regular charters. At the Valkenburg and Europoort branches, 35 office staff work, all of whom have access to the current customised applications for managing fleet data, workshop planning, rate agreements, transport planning, invoicing, inspection assignments for the drivers and time registration by the workshop.

Digitalisation has been a spearhead of Jongeneel Transport for years, and partly thanks to the custom-made application Assets, developed in-house, the company is growing fast. "We have been developing this application since 2008," explains chief executive officer Ruud Jongeneel, "the functionality is very extensive. Yet the time has come to replace this application in phases with a thorough and complete standard application. While Assets is complete, certain process innovations do not fit and our software developer is no longer 25."

“For this reason, at the end of 2022 we began a reorientation using the BusinessITScan and a process analysis, with the aim of harmonising processes and ultimately selecting a suitable TMS.” We previously published Part 1 of this customer case study, which covered the 10 steps in that phase. In this Part 2, Ruud and his colleagues give an open insight of all the steps, challenges, setbacks and benefits of the NOTIME project: New Organizational developments take Time, but provide new Inspiration, Motivation and Energy.  

After the software selection process, Ruud Jongeneel said, “Buying a new TMS is not the same as buying a new jumper…. Of course, the implementation will be quite a challenge, but we are very confident that, working together, we can prepare Jongeneel Transport for the next ten to fifteen years.” And indeed, the implementation proved to be quite a challenge! Now that phase 1 of the implementation is complete, we look back with Ruud Jongeneel (CEO of Jongeneel), Reinder Stolte (IT Manager at Jongeneel) and Anton Dijkhuis (Project Manager at IT’s Teamwork) on the implementation of iXolution’s TMS iXSuite and AddSecure’s Mission Planner on-board computer application.

Already during the software selection process, we realised that our combination of self-scheduled transport and customer-scheduled transport (where Jongeneel Transport effectively acts as a fixed charter) was not available in any standard TMS solution. This was one of the reasons why we asked the TMS supplier: “Would you be willing to develop this for us and add it to the standard solution”. iXolution was willing to do so.

As with many projects, Jongeneel also wanted to free up its best people for the project. Ruud explains: “Anton estimated that the best people would be working on NOTIME for two days a week throughout the project. At first, that seemed a bit much to us, but we nevertheless took on additional permanent staff to free up the core team. We also clearly explained what the work priorities were during the project’s peak periods: the fleet had to keep running, but the project took precedence over timely invoicing and monthly reporting. That clarified things a great deal. Even so, we still noticed that the core team found it difficult to postpone invoicing and monthly reporting. I understand that, because normally we’re right on top of those things!”

The implementation certainly did not go smoothly. Anton explains: “During the process, the project team had to deal with illness amongst some key personnel, which had a direct impact on progress. As a result, we were unable to avoid project delays and the project schedule had to be revised several times. Furthermore, it became apparent in practice that, despite a comprehensive gap analysis carried out beforehand, additional functionality was still required to properly support all processes. This required further coordination with the IT suppliers and additional development cycles.”

Reinder: “Nevertheless, it was precisely during this phase that Jongeneel Transport’s strength became apparent. The team did not let themselves be discouraged and clearly grew in terms of collaboration, flexibility and problem-solving ability. By staying focused on the shared goal and continuously adapting, obstacles were overcome step by step. Looking back, it’s clear that these setbacks only served to make the project team stronger. A true group of go-getters who are now better equipped than ever to successfully implement complex changes together.”

Anton: “Although we deliberately opted for a standard solution, we were able to have additional functionality developed, which is now maintained within the standard solution. That additional functionality was thoroughly discussed, set out in functional designs, developed by the TMS supplier and then tested in blocks by the core team. The core team drew up the work instructions in parallel and then carried out Sim1a: the comprehensive test in which the core team demonstrated all functionality, data structures and processes using multiple scenarios. As we had expected, this went only partially well. Following further adjustments to the work instructions and functionality, Sim1b then went smoothly and we were able to train the end users.

We had already kept the end users informed about the project in the meantime, but the core team only began training them after Sim1b. This was a deliberate decision: all changes to processes, functionality and data had only been approved in Sim1b. This allowed us to train them as smoothly as possible. Although the core team also carries out day-to-day operational tasks, the end users still provided very useful feedback. Some of this has been implemented in the TMS, whilst some has been put on hold. The end users were then able to carry out Sim2a on behalf of the core team: the demonstration of the primary process in the new TMS and the new on-board computer application. Where areas for improvement were identified, these were implemented, thoroughly tested and approved. 

Following that approval, we were also able to start training the drivers. A senior planner, one of the members of the core team, used AI to create training videos and trained a number of drivers so that they could carry out all the processes in the test environment based on real journeys. This allowed us to thoroughly test all driver processes and interfaces, make improvements in a few areas, and train all approximately 200 drivers (both our own and those from charter companies) with a training team. Some drivers took to it very well, whilst others were offered more personalised support upon their return to base.”

Ruud: “NOTIME is a really huge project for us, one that we’ve been rolling out whilst the whole company continues to operate as normal. A new TMS, a new on-board computer application, a different data structure, new interfaces, training our colleagues, keeping our customers informed, and so on. As we’d never undertaken such a large project before, we asked Anton to lead it. With his experience, the weekly project management meetings and the monthly steering group meetings, he did an excellent job. At times it was even quite challenging, as he had to keep both the supplier and Jongeneel on track to ensure the project’s success. But it helped us achieve our shared goal!”

Anton: “As you can imagine, transitioning a full fleet of over 190 vehicles operating across Europe is no mean feat. To ensure the transition went smoothly, we drew up a detailed roadmap in the months leading up to go-live, setting out all the steps, the people responsible and the dates on which we intended to take those steps. Once we’d made the ‘go’ decision, we reviewed progress daily in short stand-up meetings. During a busy but successful weekend at the end of March, we then switched from the old TMS to the new TMS, with different interfaces, different working methods, the new on-board computer application and so on.”

The introduction of the new TMS has brought about immediately noticeable benefits on the shop floor. As all processes and data are now centralised in a single system, there is much greater clarity and consistency. Whereas previously work was carried out using separate Excel files and client-specific working methods, planners and administrative staff can now rely on a single source of truth. This prevents errors, speeds up communication between departments and makes the work far less dependent on the knowledge of individual staff members. Ruud cites three practical examples of the benefits on the shop floor:

1. Scheduled leave entered in the HR system is immediately visible in the TMS thanks to the new interface: very handy for the planners!
2. For all the regular journeys we are authorised to carry out for our customers, we now have a journey calendar that automatically generates transport orders.
3. Once the driver has scanned the journey documents in the cab, we review them in the TMS. Approved journey documents are emailed automatically to customers by the TMS.

Reinder adds: “Data-driven working has become much more effective. Because all journey details, rate agreements and work carried out are recorded directly and in full in the system, invoicing can be done much more quickly and accurately. Less manual research is required, and the risk of missed or incorrect invoices has fallen significantly. This not only improves administrative efficiency but also has a positive impact on cash flow. In addition, staff experience greater structure and clarity in their day-to-day work: processes have been standardised and are better supported by the system, leaving less room for differences in interpretation. This not only makes the work more efficient, but also more enjoyable and future-proof. Speaking of future-proofing: “Previously, the entire process from pricing through to invoicing depended on the TMS Assets system, which I had been developing as a bespoke application since 2008. Assets is stable, but I felt that the reliance on me was really too much. Now there is a reliable TMS supplier and I can also relax (a bit more) whilst on holiday – a nice bonus!”

Ruud: “With the go-live, the seed has been sown. Now we need to ensure that the new TMS flourishes in our family business! That phase, too, requires close cooperation between all parties. We are fully confident that we will be able to achieve this together with everyone involved.”