Samsara for Food & Beverage: Schwebel’s Case Study

• Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS)
• Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
• Sensors - GPS

• Food & Beverage
• Transportation

• Logistics & Transportation
• Business Operation

• Fleet Management
• Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

• System Integration
• Training

One of Schwebel’s challenges was maximizing driver productivity. It was not uncommon for routes to be delayed, as drivers made unplanned detours and stops on their way to sales agencies. Because Schwebel’s drivers are paid hourly, delayed routes result in higher costs and more unpredictable customer wait times. Schwebel’s previously relied on a passive GPS solution to track drivers’ routes; however, data from that system could only be synced via WiFi, which could only happen once deliveries were complete. As a result, the distribution team only saw drivers’ routes and stops at the end of the day. It was difficult to see when drivers deviated from their routes, where they tended to go off course, and how long they were delayed. By the time the distribution team noticed deviations, routes were complete and there was no way to make up for lost time. Adam knew that it was time to invest in a more robust solution.

Dora and Joseph Schwebel started baking bread in their Campbell, Ohio kitchen in 1906. At first, they went door-to-door to sell bread to their neighbors. As their reputation for freshness and quality spread, the Schwebels turned to horse-drawn wagons and, eventually, trucks to expand from their local neighborhood into northeastern Ohio and beyond. Today, Schwebel’s is headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio and has become a major distributor of baked goods in the Midwest. Schwebel’s uses seven production lines to bake three to four million pounds of bread and buns every week, operates 34 sales agencies and retail outlets across seven states, and services customers in a ~90,000 square mile area with its in-house delivery fleet. Although many aspects about the baking industry and customers’ tastes have changed in the 112 years since Schwebel’s founding, one thing has remained constant — Schwebel’s commitment to excellence.

Adam and the Schwebel’s team evaluated seven to eight GPS tracking solutions to replace their previous one, but none seemed quite right — they were either too expensive, too complex to use, or didn’t have the right functionality. As soon as Schwebel’s undertook a free trial of Samsara’s fleet management platform, however, they knew that Samsara was the right choice. Not only did Samsara provide the live data that Schwebel’s needed to drive efficiency across its entire fleet operations, but it was also affordable, reliable, and easy to use. With Samsara vehicle gateways (VGs) installed in every Schwebel’s tractor-trailer, Adam and the distribution team now have live-to-the-second GPS tracking of the fleet. In addition to helping Schwebel’s improve its fleet operations in real-time, Samsara helps the company identify other opportunities for efficiency by analyzing historical trends in fleet and driver performance. With the Time On-Site Report, for example, Adam and his team can see whether drivers make a habit of spending time outside the parameters of their delivery route. Armed with that data, they can more effectively work with the drivers to correct that behavior.

• From the time the first VGs were installed, Samsara has helped Schwebel’s smooth its operations by increasing visibility between drivers, dispatchers, and sales agencies.
• Dispatchers no longer spend valuable time on the telephone calling individual drivers and sales agencies; they can see at a glance when a truck is supposed to arrive, and communicate that information immediately.
• Customers are more satisfied because as drivers perform better, nearly 100% of deliveries are made on-time.

• 78 tractors and 105 trailers are used for deliveries.
• 1,200+ monthly route runs are completed.
• 4 million pounds of freshly baked goods are delivered each week.