Helping to ensure ultimate safety while accelerating product
Ensuring ultimate safety while accelerating productivity at Chemical Express
Delivering efficient, reliable, and safe logistics services is challenging. However, the ADR-compliant logistics of dangerous goods is even more demanding, due to the most stringent legal provisions. Italy-based Chemical Express has been an expert in the field for almost 45 years. To stay on top of their game, they decided to integrate the broad portfolio of ZF's solutions.
In today’s volatile and uncertain economy, business has become more challenging, according to Francesco Mattozzi, account manager, Chemical Express: “Costs are rising, and the competition is fierce. Moreover, the complex ADR rules and regulations put us under great pressure and make it even harder for us to find drivers, as they need an ADR certificate. Considering that over 40% of the handled products are classified as dangerous, this represents a further challenge.”
The importance of safety and compliance
“For three generations, we’ve been offering safe and efficient transport solutions, ensuring timely delivery, cost awareness and respect for the environment,” says account manager Francesco Mattozzi.
In today’s volatile and uncertain economy, business has become more challenging, Francesco admits: “Costs are rising, and the competition is fierce. Moreover, the complex ADR rules and regulations put us under high pressure and make it even harder for us to find drivers, as they need an ADR certificate. Considering that over 40% of the handled products are classified as dangerous, this represents a further challenge.”
Fleet management by ZF: everybody wins
The company strongly believes that the digitization of transport offers huge benefits to overcome these hurdles and adopted a wide range of ZF solutions for fleet management in 2020. From our touch-screen onboard computer, mobile app, and powerful back-office platform to a range of dedicated tools that help reduce costs while increasing productivity and safety throughout the company.
Here’s how every stakeholder at Chemical Express benefits:
- Drivers work more efficiently and win time, thanks to easy, real-time information and document sharing (truck data, temperature data, signatures, digital documents, …) via our on-board computer and the mobile app.
- Planners can make faster and smarter decisions: they get real-time information about every shipment’s status in the back-office platform and can quickly find alternative solutions to avoid late arrival, missed loadings or other problems.
- Finance and HR work faster and more accurate, as our intuitive social data software package simplifies payroll administration.
- The management gains more insight and is happy to see costs drop, while safety and sustainability increase: the information provided by the back-office platform allows Chemical Express to improve workflows, drive productivity and ensure the safety of the fleet and cargo. Our Big Data applications to optimize refuelling enable considerable fuel-cost savings.
- Customers enjoy outstanding services: thanks to easier, stricter planning and real-time status of the fleet, planners can guarantee them timely deliveries and relevant updates.
Safety first
Francesco further highlights the benefits of ZF's web service platform, which ensures smooth integration between ZF’s solutions and other applications: “For a while, we’ve been using the sensors from IMT, a specialized ADR solutions provider, to monitor the temperature in our tank containers. The sensor data are swiftly transferred to our back-office platform, where they are consolidated with other data and visualized in a clear dashboard. This is hugely interesting for us, as temperature control is vital to ensuring the safety of our cargo.”
Embracing the future
The roots of Chemical Express go back to Naples in 1979, when Salvatore Romano started shipping liquid chemicals throughout Italy. The company that Salvatore founded has grown exponentially ever since, to become a leader in bulk liquid transport. With a fleet of 163 vehicles - including sub-contractors - they carry out transport services that meet the strict ADR transport requirements, while ensuring outstanding customer services.
“For three generations, we’ve been offering safe and efficient transport solutions, ensuring timely delivery, cost awareness and respect for the environment,” says Francesco. With ZF’s solutions, Chemical Express confidently embraces the future.
“ZF makes our complex operations easier by managing big data and making it easily accessible to us. They really are a valuable partner in our digitalization process and we would highly recommend their services to any chemical transportation company.”
Francesco Mattozzi, account manager, Chemical Express