Case Study: F&B driver training

Earlier this year, vehicle rental, fleet and supply chain company Massar Solutions certified 90 drivers on completion of a driver skills enhancement programme, offered at its training facility in Musaffah, Abu Dhabi. The training was delivered as part of Massar Solutions’ mission to ramp up driver skills to ensure efficient supply chain operations.

Massar has various FMCG clients, including: BRF, Carrefour, Pepsi (Dubai Refreshment), Unikai, Agthia, Mars, Al Rawabi and National Foods (telematics suppliers). And in light of the estimation that nearly 3.27 million tonnes of food (worth more than AED 13bn) produced or imported in the UAE is wasted every year, Massar Solutions general manager — supply chain division Brent Melvin said in a statement: “Around 5% of the food loss can be reduced through intelligent logistics, which includes real-time checks and proper driver training.”

PLANNING

Melvin told Caterer Middle East that, after reviewing European CDC driver programmes, Massar was looking to develop a curriculum suitable for the local market. “We can’t just copy and paste the European model, because it fundamentally wouldn’t work. We’ve adapted material, and re-written it where required for the local market. We’ve also looked at creating multi-lingual programmes so that we can attend to the nationalities that drive for us.”

The aim would be to cover all aspects of the job that are customer-specific, as well as generic transport distribution tasks. “As an example, where I’ve got drivers operating in food environments, we would talk about all of the typical driver safety issues on road, but then we would also go into handling of perishables. What does it mean, why does it matter, why is it important to maintain the cold chain and certain temperatures? How to handle certain kinds of product?”

Melvin says he is a big advocate of training, and the value it adds. That can be observed in a reduction in customer complaints, fewer accidents and reduced maintenance costs.

Massar aligned itself with training company PLH Consultancy, which took Massar’s requirements and developed the material. Melvin adds: “We set it up because of the value it gives back to our business. Our staff are customer-facing and whatever they do is going to have an impact on our business overall. So they play an integral part in the success of our organisation.

“Having said that, we also understand the risk of investment. Because if we spent a lot of time, energy and money on developing people, while it does gives them another skillset, which is fantastic, we also then know full well that these people are likely to be poached. But it is a risk that we’re willing to take, because we need to make sure that ultimately we’re benefitting our customers through this programme.”

Melvin further reveals that Massar has absorbed the AED 1.5m [US $0.41m] cost of the investment.

IN PRACTICE

The training programme began at the start of 2015. Melvin says: “It goes without saying that food safety is tantamount to everybody’s well-being. If we can’t ensure the integrity of the cold chain from the point of my picking up the food to the point of delivering it to the customer, and be able to prove that we have maintained that cold chain, all we’re doing is passing the problem down the line to an end consumer — and that impacts society in general.

“We’re trying to do our part in ensuring that product is on shelf in the quickest possible time in the best possible condition. That obviously allows products to be on shelf for longer, which extends the retail opportunity to display it to the consumer and to reduce waste. And it does so in a way that’s not going to harm anybody, because it’s obviously not been compromised at any point.”

The training was conducted in Hindi, Urdu and English and the topics covered included; driver responsibilities (on and off road); road safety and accident management; defensive driving; driver behaviour and attitude; laws of the road; product awareness and protection; practical checking of vehicles; and two assessments.

An individual personal inspection was conducted on each driver to review HSE measures such as uniform, protective boots and personal hygiene. This was followed by an initial assessment on driver knowledge at the start of the course, with a thorough final assessment paper undertaken at the end with questions based on the subjects covered during the lessons. The outdoor practical exercise took drivers through a detailed vehicle checking procedure prior to commencing deliveries.

Melvin reveals that customers have recognised that the company is taking training seriously. He says: “For Federal Foods, for example, we use technology as part of our delivery process, so there’s a lot of visibility from the point of handover to the driver, to the point of delivery with the consumer.

“And because we employing technological tools, they’re very much as available to Federal as they are to us. It's important that our drivers do what they need to do to make sure that information is flowing. They’ve seen an immediate impact on multiple levels.”

FEEDBACK

Federal Foods and logistics manager Waleed El Haj told Caterer Middle East that the training has improved service levels. He says: “The drivers are more familiar with our business and the service level has been increased from 93% up to 95%. This is in general, and for things like foodservice it has reached 97-98%.”

El Haj adds that before signing with Massar, Federal Foods had its own fleet, but decided in April 2014 to outsource this element. Federal Foods currently has anywhere between 7,000 and 8,000 clients, covering foodservice from hotels and restaurants, to supermarkets and wholesalers.

He says the improvements in the drivers’ skillset has resulted in a positive and measurable return on investment (ROI) for the company. “Yes… more business! Recently we won a big bid because of our service levels. Yes, our price was higher, but because we had a higher service level, we won it.”

He concluded: “It was one of the biggest clients in the region, and our drivers managed to reduce the secondary freight cost by 21% because they knows how to drive the vehicles; they know how to follow the routine.”