Context
What was once waste can suddenly become liquid gold. Just ask Quatra, which collects old French fry fat in fryers. Thanks to Aaltra, the company manages to scale without hiring additional staff.
Belgium's Quatra is the market leader in the delivery and collection of frying fat. It is a niche industry which is changing rapidly. Because the oil is now converted into biofuel, it is no longer waste, but fryers get money to sell their grease. In recent years, the company, which operates in more than ten countries, has grown from 40 to 700 employees in no time. Finding and training those employees is challenging - but fortunately, Aaltra can help.
Approach
Old system
The driver carried a laptop in the car to connect to an Access database, allowing him to print delivery notes at the customer's house. The driver often had to walk back and forth, and there was a high risk of errors.
The new system
Inside the vehicle is a tablet that guides the driver. Once at the destination, it switches to a smartphone app that tracks the pickup and delivery.
Based on Odoo
Quatra ran into several limitations with the original ERP system. It was a custom-built platform running on Access that was not adapted to changing ways of working for drivers. For example, the platform needed to be more flexible to handle pickups that changed last minute, payments required to be trackable, and there was a cumbersome way to print delivery notes. This way of working was acceptable for the number of drivers they supported at the time, but with their ambitious growth plans, they needed a solution that enabled them to scale efficiently.
Quatra switched to Odoo as the underlying system. Together, we started with two workshops where we mapped out the customer journey and figured out how to automate and guide it in the best possible way. This allowed us to work out a sustainable and scalable solution.
From now on, the application can be used in two different settings. There’s the tablet view used in the truck and a smartphone view that the driver uses once he arrives at the destination.
Our growth has been achieved partly thanks to Aaltra.
Smooth communication, thorough expertise and close involvement ensured that deadlines were met.
Crucial things that, as a growing company, we were looking for in a partner.
The tablet app
With a tablet application, Quatra can show more information than a smartphone. The driver's customer journey begins as early as the weighbridge, where the application shows how many barrels of French fry fat they need to take and what the next stops are. The tablet is also used to navigate and has a call function to call the customer directly while driving. Because barrel change varies by location, the driver can check that by phone in advance.
We show only what one needs at that moment so that not all unnecessary information is continuously visible. When the driver is driving, he sees the map; once at a location, he'll see the information required to get in. Once inside, the flow shows what he needs to do. In other words, the software directs the process and guides the driver.
The smartphone app
On-site, the driver switches to the smartphone app, which automatically syncs with the tablet app. That is initially used to scan the barrels with a QR code. In addition, each barrel also has an NFC tag, which Quatra can use, among other things, to track routes and avoid theft.
Once everything is scanned, payment is tracked in the system. This is done at a predetermined price, and the money is automatically deposited. The customer is immediately shown what is taken. We create transparency to gain trust, and through automation, we save a lot of time.
THE RESULT
Servicing more than 140k restaurants in more then 10 countries with over 700 employees is a complex operation that requires a lot of drivers and needs to be very efficient.
By optimizing processes through technology, Quatra is ready to scale further. Where a driver used to be able to make 20 stops a day, they now average 30 to 40.
By making the job easier and reducing the error rate, Quatra can hire and train people more easily.
