ILP-Group started its operations in the mid-90s and has since provided its customers with comprehensive logistics solutions, ranging from transportation to storage and collection. “ILP-Group is a logistics company, whose existence is based on excellent customer service and flexibility,” says the Director Jaakko Pohjanvaara. For this reason, it was also necessary to reorganize the receipt of goods arriving in the warehouse area located in the Port of Kotka, thereby streamlining the customer experience.
Challenges in organizing customer service and communicating with customers
The challenge at the Port of Kotka was that, in practice, it was time-consuming for both customers and ILP-Group personnel to book unloading times. Dozens of transports are arriving at the port area every day to be unloaded from various carriers.
And because the operation continues round the clock, more people were previously required to monitor calls from drivers alongside their own work. This caused disruptions and took up a lot of working time, as employees had to answer calls, arrange transport access to the port, book a suitable unloading time on the calendar and instruct drivers.
In addition, managing the work was difficult because there was no clear view of how many trucks were going to be unloaded at any given time. Sometimes there was a long queue and sometimes no queue at all. There was also often confusion about the order of unloading.
WhatsApp Assistant customer service provided help in just a few weeks
ILP-Group went to solve the problem together with us. First, a workshop was organized, where the process and its key nodes were discussed in cooperation.
“In the past, we did not really have any factual information about when transport will come and, therefore, we were unable to anticipate the operations very well either. We started to solve the problem of time use, and, at the same time, we noticed that WhatsApp Assistant helps us significantly in planning our work and directing our operations,” says Pohjanvaara.
Based on the workshop, AI Works made a cost-effective proposal to use WhatsApp Assistant as a solution for booking unloading times and organizing unloading work. The implementation of the project began agilely during the summer holidays and was completed within a few weeks. In addition to the weekly meetings, the project-related communication was handled through a shared portal, which gave everyone a common view of the project and enabled smooth communication in one place.
“The project was completed ahead of schedule and the agreed on costs were met. We were almost in shock at how smoothly everything went. In addition, we were able to quickly deploy the service to our customers and it has been well received by the users,” says Pohjanvaara.
Easy booking with WhatsApp Assistant
Since the introduction of WhatsApp Assistant in the booking of unloading times, the service has produced benefits from the very beginning. It has made it extremely easy for the driver to book an unloading time and get precise instructions on how to arrive at the unloading location.
Unnecessary communication has been omitted: drivers now have an easy and straightforward dialogue on WhatsApp, where they are asked to provide their shipment’s origin and their vehicle’s registration number, as well as the desired unloading time. The WhatsApp Assistant will provide a unique link with a direct navigation guide to the correct location in the port.
When the service was introduced, automation was built into the booking calendar, whereby both the driver and the unloader meet in the right place at the right time. The formation of queues, which had been a problem in the past, has also been eliminated and unloading times are now more evenly distributed. Unnecessary waiting has, thus, been omitted in many stages
WhatsApp Assistant saves time and human resources and improves customer service
All in all, scheduling and cancelling unloading times is now much more convenient for drivers. On the ILP-Group side, the organization and predictability of unloading work has been made significantly easier and the WhatsApp Assistant has freed up time and human resources for the main work. The manageability of the schedule has also improved – now it's automatically up to date.
“Today, we are able to directly see the areas where and when resources are needed and what customer is involved. In addition, we accumulate data and, thus, get tools for developing our operations,” says Pohjanvaara.
Since the launch of WhatsApp Assistant, user satisfaction has reached a whole new level. The service is now being expanded to other company processes. ILP-Group found that although WhatsApp is often combined with customer service, it is also excellent for internal communication and for making processes more streamlined.
“We had no previous experience with WhatsApp as a work tool, but, very quickly, it turned out to be absolutely superior to our needs,” says Pohjanvaara.
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