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Dashdoc out in the field! We went to meet one of our emblematic clients from the South. Franck Le Moigne, CEO of Azurpal and Azurpal Transports, answered our questions about his use of the Dashdoc TMS. A close-up on a company rooted in its region, leveraging its versatile strengths, which allows it to be both a shipper and a carrier.
Introducing Azurpal, a bit of history
The beginnings
Initially positioned as THE recycler and reseller of wooden pallets, Azurpal is a company that has seen tremendous evolution.
Azurpal was created over 30 years ago, in 1991 to be precise. Franck likes to describe the company as multidisciplinary, more precisely with three lines of business.
The original activity consists of collecting, sorting, recycling, and reselling pallets. The second business is that of a transporter, hence the creation of Azurpal Transports. The third business is logistics, routing and storing containers for clients who own wine estates in the region.
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Azurpal or mastering the pallet product
One of the company's big promises: collection of used pallets within 72 hours, then sorting and recycling in succession.
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The upcycling is at the heart of Azurpal's principles. It’s an anti-waste action which, through the reuse of products or recycling (often from waste), aims to obtain reusable materials or energy. When you consider how important these issues are in transport, with the matter of decarbonization, CO2 calculations per shipment and even biofuels, Azurpal was right on target!
All pallets are processed according to ISPM15 standards, for French products intended for export.
The evolution: from pallets to a true network!
In 2016, Azurpal moved to its new 7,000-square-meter platform at Cannet des Maures, a strategic double geographic positioning : in the heart of the Var vineyards and near the main motorway hub in the south of France. This system has facilitated Azurpal’s transport and logistics operations on a daily basis.
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A very strong bond has developed with the actors of the region, the wine estates, some of which are very luxurious. Regular routes soon appeared. The need to store and redistribute dry goods such as bottles, caps, pallets, gradually established itself and pushed the Azurpal team to go further in its approach.
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Today, in numbers, Azurpal represents:
15 committed employees
10 to 20 transport operations per day
About $2.5M in annual turnover
50,000 pallets collected and resold to customers each month
11 active trucks and 8 semi-trailers
Azurpal’s need
In the summer of 2020, the need to carry out its long-distance transports by its own means, as it was the most profitable solution, led Franck Le Moigne to dive into the transport business. A carrier license and a few months later, diversification appeared in the management of these transports: they can now cover regional as well as long-distance routes, and even France-Spain trips.
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A need soon arose: that of having full control over this transport activity which is closely linked to the collection and recycling of pallets but does not require the same management. Franck Le Moigne wants to be able to plan operations with peace of mind, monitor and react instantly and guarantee the reception of all transport documents through to invoicing. The digitalization of documents also seemed obvious.
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What type of vehicles does Azurpal have?
Since the products transported are mainly non-food industrial goods, wood, packaging, construction materials or foodstuffs at room temperature, the trucks used are semi-trailers or rigid trucks.
How did the Dashdoc TMS support Azurpal’s growth?
The encounter
Franck Le Moigne had been considering developing Transport for Azurpal for some time when he attended Solutrans in 2020. At the time, Dashdoc only offered the eCMR (electronic consignment note) but was constantly evolving! Franck then decided to buy a software solution which did not fully meet his needs: only freight forwarding and status reports on the situation were possible.
“In 2015, it was only natural for us to start with a whiteboard. In 2020, we moved on to another tool, but its capabilities were too limited.”
Staying in touch with Dashdoc, Franck came across our TMS again at Solutrans 2022 and decided to partner with us to boost his transport business.
“Thanks to its efficiency and dynamism, Dashdoc is now at the heart of Azurpal’s operations.”
Dashdoc, the right transport tool
Adopting the TMS allowed Azurpal to boost its business and quickly scale up to 6 trucks quickly, then 11 engines today! Communication has really been enhanced, which was necessary for connecting shipping, transport, and logistics activities.
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A snapshot of the TMS serving Azurpal, with some figures:
In 2020, Azurpal generated about $65,000 in turnover for the transport business and owned 1 truck.
In 2023, Azurpal generates $1,200,000 in turnover for the transport business and owns 11 engines. In just 3 years, logistics have taken on far more importance for the company, representing almost 15% of total revenue.
What are the advantages of the Dashdoc TMS?
The ease of use : the in-house team, including 15 employees (those responsible for administrative operations, accounting, and road drivers) adapted “very naturally” to the tool.
“Within two weeks, the habit was formed, especially for the driver app. I’d say they’d even have trouble doing without it now.”
The Dashdoc support is ever-present : answers to questions are received within minutes via the website or the app;
The communication reinvented for the whole company : information shared with clients, information shared with drivers, information shared internally: access to information is completely different;
“Dashdoc is an amazing client retention tool.”
In terms of features, a transport schedule clear and legible : this really changes the game for starting the day with a precise view of transport organization.
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The gains since using Dashdoc
In terms of productivity: for entering Transport Orders, sending tasks to drivers, handling inbound calls, and pre-invoicing, we estimate that Azurpal Transport saves the equivalent of half a full-time position!
To go further…
The Dashdoc TMS teems with ideas for advancing its product! But our own clients also bring us their initiatives. For example, Franck is won over by the idea of a community aspect between Dashdoc clients: meetings, forming a club to exchange best practices and methods, in his view, could benefit everyone.
“I am convinced that the more companies use Dashdoc, the simpler things will become for us all.”