Modernising transport management to streamline planning, proof of delivery, invoicing and communication will help an operator become more efficient and lay the foundations for growth.
Now Bowmans (Locheil Logistics Ltd) is benefitting from that decision to upgrade. Founded in 1966 by Ewen Bowman, the Bowman Group is a family‑run waste management, skip hire, recycling and transport business based in Duisky, near Fort William.
It offers a diverse range of services, including, commercial waste collection, recycling, general haulage, plant and lorry hire, tipper and bulk aggregate transport, crane‑lift and specialised load transport, as well as skip hire from small domestic skips up to large containers.
Its wide-ranging operations reflect decades of industry experience, with a loyal, multi-skilled workforce and a customer base spanning private individuals, trade customers, local authorities and commercial clients.
From one vehicle, it has expanded to a fleet to 34 vehicles and 38 trailers, today operations director Michael Bowman runs the firm. His aim was to digitise the operation from its more traditional approach of manual inputs.
“Mainly, we were using spreadsheets,” he said.
“Sometimes it was the whiteboard, and the occasional pen and paper. We were getting by, but the planning was tough to keep on top of. It became a nightmare actually!
“Once you added a job into Excel, and something changed, you had to remember to manually change it. If you didn’t, everything went wrong. There was much higher risk of human error.”
A new contract with an expanding fleet forced change. “With our remote location in the Highlands, we do many different types of work,” he explained. “When we expanded our fleet, we knew we couldn’t continue managing work the way we were.”
First choice
Mandata was chosen because it stood out from the crowd, explained Michael, as having the right solution with the flexibility they needed to manage all the different types of work they do and drive Bowman’s ahead.
“We looked at other systems, which covered some of what we do, but Mandata covered the lot,” he said. “After speaking with Dan Marshall [Mandata’s regional sales manager] we saw the benefits immediately from our demo.
“A key feature that stuck for me was the ability to easily split loads. It’s a key part of haulage, and other transport management systems (TMS) systems we looked at didn’t offer this.
“We’d have to create two separate loads for one job. That would mean double the paperwork, double the invoicing, and double the effort.
“With Mandata, you literally right-click, press ‘split’, and it’s done instantly. You can even allocate the percentage of that rate to whichever leg you need.
“For me, that put Mandata head and shoulders above the other TMS systems out there.”
Splitting loads in Mandata, simplifies job management; allowing hauliers to break jobs into stages, optimising vehicle and driver use, reducing empty runs, streamlining planning as well as reducing admin and simplifying invoicing.
This improves operational efficiency, fleet utilisation, and cost-effectiveness, particularly for complex, operations planning multi-stage jobs.
Time Saving
With the nature of Bowman’s customer-base, they needed a versatile system that could react as quickly as they needed to, for new work, and for existing jobs that needed monitoring and amending.
“A lot of the work we do is fast-changing,” Michael explained. “Last-minute cancellations or last-minute jobs added in. That adds potential human error. However, with Mandata, the layout and ease of the system vastly reduces the risk, which reduces delays and issues occurring with jobs.
“As an example, the Job Templates in the system are brilliant. If we have a customer calling with an urgent job, we can add it into the TMS, before the call is even finished.
“Being able to complete job entry this quickly, is cutting down on admin time and errors immensely.”
Mandata stores customer details, previous job information, and job rates, meaning that for users, creating new customer jobs is quick, and reduces the risk of incorrectly entering data, as the information can easily be pulled through into future jobs.
He added: “Ninety-nine percent of our customers are repeat customers, so having our customers’ details stored in Mandata, and having the standard job templates too, means creating new repeat jobs is easy. It’s just made everything so much quicker for us.”
Digital Operation
Michael also wanted to digitise their communication with drivers. Through the Mandata driver Manifest app, job information is shared and live status updates made into the TMS, including instant job amendments made at the point of collection or delivery.
Michael explained how it was adopted by his team: “After initial mild resistance from the drivers, they now see the benefit of the app. And they picked it up quickly, and I mean really quickly!
“After one or two loads dropped off, they were comfortable with the Manifest app. It’s great for me too. Now, I rarely need to take any calls from them, they have everything they need to know about their jobs on the phone.
“Looking at Mandata, the ease of the system is what really stands out for me. It’s easy to use, yet provides us with so much of what we need.
“I was using Mandata for three-to-four hours on the first day, and I went to our finance director Jacqueline and said to them, ‘this thing’s incredible. It’s very early days but, this is incredible’.”
Michael credits the service they received from Mandata as the main reason the team at Bowmans were able to get started so easily with the TMS.
“The work we did with Dan really helped us see the value of the system, and then our sessions with Joe Wilkinson (implementation consultant), meant that the team were able to get started really quickly,” he said.
“Our implementation was so straightforward, and we got all the answers to the questions we had. It was a great experience.”
Invoice & Payment
The Manifest app also facilitates the capture of digital proof of delivery documents (PODs), helping to reduce paperwork, and speed up POD returns to the office.
Michael said: “Before, we’d be relying on the driver returning to the depot with the paperwork, before we could invoice, in some cases, this could be weeks. Now, it’s instant.
“The risk of losing paperwork is significantly reduced, therefore our invoices aren’t getting delayed, meaning we get paid quicker for our work.
“I’ve actually seen instances of when we’ve had the invoice out to the customer and the trucks still on their site.”
For the accounts team, Mandata has been a game-changer, and transformed invoicing. “Before going live with Mandata, I knew there would be benefits for invoicing. But I had no idea it would help this much,” he added.
“It’s transformed my day-to-day, but it’s Hannah, in accounts, who deals with mostly invoicing. It’s absolutely changed her job. Invoicing is done in minutes. Before Mandata, she would sit all day having to go through everything.
“All it takes is a few clicks, then customers have their PODs and invoices emailed over.
“I’ve now got my team saying, ‘why didn’t we do this years ago?’.”
#manual2digital
Mandata has enabled Bowmans Skip Hire to move from manual, error-prone processes to a fully digital, efficient operation. From planning and scheduling to driver communication, POD capture, and invoicing, Mandata has transformed the way the company operates, boosting accuracy, speed, and customer satisfaction, and setting it up for further growth.
For businesses looking to streamline transport management, Mandata provides one integrated TMS solution that saves time, reduces errors, and enhances operational efficiency.
Image: Volvo.
