Soft(ware) Touch

Shredding company owners often first look for custom software for help in putting together effective routing strategies.

Inefficient routing rings up expenditures in two of the highest operating cost line items: labor and fuel. Additionally, trucks that are spending too much time between point A and point B are missing opportunities to collect or shred material (in short, to be productive).

"Many route managers spend a great deal of time deciding which day to perform a particular job, but very little time deciding in which order they should be tackled," says Mike Boehringer, president of EZshred, Twinsburg, Ohio.

Boehringer says EZshred’s software is designed for companies to use to optimize their routing and to manage every detail of every route.

The Veri-Shred package from Andrews Software, Cleveland, is also designed to help managers determine the best pick-up schedules for drivers and customers and otherwise manage routing effectively.

Scott Bidwell, general manager of Andrews Software, points out that drivers equipped with a portable console loaded with Veri-Shred software can track activity at each container within a building or corporate campus, meaning that routing on foot can be tracked just as closely as highway routing. "There are two logistical challenges: The routing between customers and the routing [among] the customers’ locations," Bidwell says. "Drivers often empty more bins and procure more revenue from bin to bin within a building."

Barcoding each container and carrying portable scanning devices (which can also be equipped to print out receipts and certificates of destruction) allows shredding companies to collect tremendous amounts of information on exactly how their drivers are accomplishing their collection and shredding tasks.

After this information is collected, a good software package will allow managers to produce reports presenting the information in understandable and helpful ways. At this stage, the magic of good software may take a back seat to sound management and decision-making.

How information is analyzed and used to make decisions is where software meets its limitations and good management begins to make the difference.

Software vendors note that their products are designed to gather information and reveal patterns, trends and discrepancies. But it takes the time and attention of managers to fully realize the benefits of what can be learned.

This can be difficult for many shredding companies, where the owner might also be the general manager and operations manager, and when finding the time to study statistical data never seems to happen.

"Managers of shredding operations typically wear many hats," says Bidwell. "They don’t necessarily take the time to manage or analyze the data to improve their routing capabilities. They are looking for routing capabilities when they are buying their software, but they are not always necessarily using them," he says.

Boehringer draws an analogy to the athletic realm. "Our most successful clients manage every detail of every route," he comments. "Like preparing for a football game, the strategy and planning takes place on the days leading up to the game."

Good management, like good coaching, can involve communicating plans and instructions to others within the company. "Most route managers give way too much leeway to their drivers," says Boehringer. The entire company can benefit when management attention is given to routing details, which are then followed by drivers.

"On game day, it is all about execution," Boehringer says. "You do not want your drivers making tactical decisions out on the road. They should just be following the game plan."

Thus, formulating that game plan is where shredding company owners and managers must follow through after purchasing the software that gathers the information.

"Each operation has a challenge to figure that out," says Bidwell. "You need to have somebody who takes ownership or responsibility for that task."

For a start-up company, choosing software can be intimidating both because of the cost involved and the fear that a mis-matched software purchase is a mistake that cannot be corrected easily.

But in the competitive arena that secure shredding has become, operating inefficiently may be a losing strategy.

"Most shredding companies run into scheduling, pricing, paperwork and invoicing issues on the first day," Boehringer says. "EZshred manages the entire shredding business, not just the truck routing."

Says Bidwell, "In our opinion, day one is the right day to have [custom] software in place. The software helps you sell your services."

It also helps save money. "Typically these differences are more dramatic than you would even expect," Boehringer says of routing changes that can be uncovered by software tracking. "Throw close to $1 on every driving mile saved, and our software quickly pays for itself."

Software that is effectively used depends on managers and drivers working together to make sure point-of-collection information is collected accurately. Once the information is entered, it is up to managers to analyze the information and make decisions based upon it. Only if all these steps are followed can custom software live up to its potential.

The overwhelming increase in shredding industry competitors has lead to price compression, Boehringer says. "EZshred clients can compensate for this by making up for the lower pricing with operational efficiencies, both on the road and in the office."

And ultimately, the continued use of such software helps business owners and managers make wiser capital investment decisions. "It can answer questions like, ‘Do I have too many trucks or not enough?’" says Bidwell. "Or, ‘Do I have too many people or too few? Can I do more with Truck A because I found a way to utilize the time?’ It gives you the ability to streamline your costs."