Cymru Quarry Group uses Podfather to Bring Together Delivery Operation
Overview
Originally established as a small haulage and plant hire operator in 1977, Cymru Quarry Group (formerly GD Harries) has evolved into one of Wales' largest independent suppliers of aggregates and a major civil engineering company. Situated in West Wales, the business owns seven granite, limestone, and sandstone quarries, three asphalt plants, eight concrete plants, and its own sea transportation port at Pembroke Dock.
Using its fleet of mixer and tipper trucks, Cymru Quarry Group supplies construction solutions and materials, including aggregate, ready-mix concrete, and asphalt. The company services its own construction and highway maintenance projects, as well as providing materials to third-party clients across the region.
7
quarries
8
concrete plans
3
asphalt plants
Challenge
Before adopting automated workflows for their delivery operations, Cymru Quarry Group was struggling with an outdated, heavily paper-reliant system that slowed down administrative tasks and complicated customer support.
- The business produced a massive volume of physical paper, with delivery documents having to be printed in duplicate or triplicate for drivers at the start of each shift.
- Paperwork required manual intervention at multiple points during a single job, including when trucks were loaded, when deliveries were made, and when drivers returned to base.
- Historical delivery records were difficult to locate and access quickly, making it tricky for back-office staff to efficiently resolve inbound customer queries.
Solution
To digitise its workflows, Cymru Quarry Group selected Podfather due to the platform's ability to integrate smoothly with the company's existing ERP system and the provider's specific expertise in the heavy haulage sector. The implementation deployed logistics planning, route optimisation, and electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) functionality to completely remove paper from the transport operation.
Drivers now access their daily schedules and configurable delivery notes via the Podfather app, navigating between jobs using in-built routing. Real-time tracking gives the back-office total visibility of fleet movements, while the app allows drivers to instantly capture date, time, and location-stamped signatures and photographs. The company also rolled out Podfather’s Vehicle Check features to ensure compulsory, guided walkarounds are completed daily to identify early signs of vehicle defects.
Results
Since implementing Podfather, Cymru Quarry Group has successfully eliminated paper from its transport operations, securing both environmental and cost savings while greatly reducing administrative resource requirements. The digitisation of delivery notes has established a seamless, real-time flow of information between drivers, back-office staff, and customers.
Because all delivery data is now digital and instantly accessible, the company has seen a major improvement in its responsiveness. The team receives fewer customer queries overall and can resolve the ones they do get much quicker, usually at the first point of contact. Additionally, the mandatory app-based vehicle checks and diagnostic breakdown photographs help the maintenance team address issues rapidly, keeping trucks out of the garage and on the road.
Our responsiveness to customer queries has greatly improved since implementing Podfather. Because everything is digital, everything is accessible and sharable. This means fewer queries, and those that we do get, we can answer much quicker – usually at first point of contact. This is good for us and great for our customer experience.
Aled Hughes
IT Systems Manager, Cymru Quarry Group
