VECTOR CONTROL TOWER – GOING BEYOND AGAIN!

In some ways, Vector is like a busy airport – delivering nearly 60 million cases per year to more than 6 700 customer drop points, through a nationwide network that includes 4 plant-based cold stores and 14 distribution sites. Planning and managing all this activity is a complex task – but it’s all in a day’s work for our new Vector Control Tower.

How does it work?

Like an airport control tower, the Vector Control Tower directs all our transport operations from a central control point at our Thekwini hub in Durban. This means that one multidisciplinary team plans and tracks all inbound primary and outbound secondary transport from one location, using digital technology that allows them to see (and control) exactly what’s going on in the network. Gone are the days of endless calls from one link in the chain to the next. With our collaborative team members (customer service agents, transport routing & scheduling controllers and inbound execution agents) innovatively structured now, all it takes is one call for a customer to find out exactly what the status of their order is.

We innovate to keep going beyond

“At Vector, we are driven by curiosity, by the question of how we can take our service and our customer experience to the next level. Our solutions are inspired by two key values: innovation and collaboration. We innovate to keep Going Beyond, and we collaborate amongst ourselves and with our customers to bring about better business results. Our Control Tower is a case in point. So we have co-located key functions to break down silos so the now integrated functions can talk to each other and communicate to customers with one voice.” says Vector MD Chris Creed. 

Turning Data into Intelligence

By lifting information digitally and not manually, the Control Tower team is able to function with more speed, accuracy and insight. For example, they can predict what the consequences will be across the supply chain of a short delivery in one area – and then take steps to mitigate an out-of-stock situation, keeping the customer happy. “In this way we can turn data into intelligence, and intelligence into action which drives better value for us and our customers,” Chris explains. 

Between driving our customer service ambition and optimising our transport asset base, our Vector Control Tower is a major gear-shift in our Going Beyond journey. Here’s to more innovation, more collaboration and more positive results on the road ahead!