The Aim
Delifresh needed to improve the efficiency of their order management process to keep pace with the growth they were experiencing.
Delifresh were using an outdated, inefficient order process, with customers placing orders via email and leaving voicemails.
Orders are often placed by chefs and can be received by Delifresh at any time of day.
It’s crucial that Delifresh react promptly, as some orders are for high volumes of produce and require a quick turnaround — in some cases as quickly as three hours for drivers to deliver fresh food a host of other kitchen essentials to clients.
Email orders were being received through traditional email providers such as Outlook, without a centralised management process for dealing with them.
Voicemails were recorded through their phone system and managed by an application built many years ago, in an obsolete, unsupported piece of software.
There was a potential for things to go awry - and our aim was to create a bespoke B2B solution that would give Delifresh a competitive advantage and, importantly, deliver valuable efficiency savings.
What We Did
We kicked off by analysing Delifresh’s system infrastructure, thanks to a combination of on-site visits, remote access and meetings with key stakeholders.
We determined that replacing the voicemail system was the priority, as the existing software was effectively obsolete.
It also became clear that Delifresh also needed an email system to work in tandem with the voicemail system and help improve efficiency.
Their main website had previously been built by our developers using Craft CMS, a modern PHP framework that lends itself well to being extended to include the latest features and updates.
Our team utilised this extensibility to create the new areas required. Development focused on the ability to split orders into ‘waves’, which allows for location-based priorities to be created.
Functionality also allows two-way customer communication, as users can request confirmations of items or find, review and update their order based on stock queries.
Alongside a clean, modern UX for the admin team, the site also features easy-to-learn search and reporting capabilities so that Delifresh’s management team have everything they need in one place.
Once the voicemail system was rolled out the new email order management system was then created, piggy-backing onto the same search process and reporting methods.
Due to the scale of orders Delifresh receive, AWS was chosen as the hosting platform and the accompanying applications utilise micro-services to aid performance.
The website and email and voicemail systems all work as part of a new integrated order process.
The Results
The bespoke solutions we developed vastly improved the efficiency and performance of Delifresh’s order capture process, permanently saving them time and money and unlocking their plans for growth.
‘Project Capture’ was delivered on time and within budget and allows the Delifresh Customer service team to operate remotely, enhancing overall business functionality.
What Delifresh said…
This has revolutionised the way we handle our orders and has been invaluable to us as part of our growth plans.
Handling extensive volume orders in short timeframes is a challenge for any business, especially when fresh food is involved.
Implementing the new order capture platform that Ascensor created has undoubtedly streamlined our internal processing of orders, enabling faster integration, faster responsive search and most importantly less risk to this business-critical task.
Delifresh are an integral arm of the hospitality supply chain, enabling ingredients to be ready for when the chef requires. With incredibly short order lead times from our customers, accuracy and speed of processing is imperative.
‘Project Capture’ was executed by our fantastic friends at Ascensor with a brilliant responsive professional mindset. We now have an order capture process that we are continually developing with the team to ensure a future-proof method as our business scales going forward.
Fantastic ideas coupled with great people brings efficient and dynamic innovation even in the world of veg. Amazing work!
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