Farm to People, a leading provider of fresh produce and artisanal goods, sought to streamline their delivery operations by integrating Custom Fields into their workflow with Onfleet. This case study highlights Farm to People's experience with the setup process and the subsequent benefits gained from leveraging Onfleet’s Custom Fields feature.
Challenges Faced by Farm to People:
Prior to integrating Onfleet's Custom Fields into their workflow, Farm to People encountered several challenges in their delivery operations. These challenges included difficulty in synchronizing orders between their ERP system and Onfleet, maintaining consistency and accuracy in tracking deliveries, and mitigating discrepancies in customer information across platforms. Additionally, Farm to People sought to optimize their delivery operations further to meet the growing demands of their customer base while ensuring data integrity and operational efficiency.
Setup Process and Integration:
Brian, representing Farm to People, expressed the ease of setting up Custom Fields within the Onfleet dashboard:
"Creating custom fields is incredibly simple; you just navigate to the dashboard and generate them with ease. Setting up and adding the custom fields is very straightforward. Currently, we are utilizing two of them, and to illustrate their significance, in our ERP system, we assign order numbers to every customer's order for the day."
He emphasized the importance of integrating unique identifiers, such as order numbers and customer account keys, to establish a bidirectional communication link between Farm to People's ERP system and Onfleet. Brian commended the simplicity of generating and updating Custom Fields, making it seamless to connect orders with corresponding delivery tasks.
Understanding Onfleet's Custom Fields:
This innovative feature within the Onfleet platform extends the capabilities of the task object, offering users flexibility in managing data. With Custom Fields, users can effortlessly customize their task data without coding, configuring various settings such as data type, view/edit options, and task type inclusion directly from the Onfleet Dashboard. Whether creating tasks individually or in bulk, users can seamlessly add custom data values, with the Dashboard interface and task import function supporting integration. Custom Fields provide a comprehensive view of data within the Table View, enabling efficient filtering and sorting. Additionally, Custom Field data is seamlessly included in task exports, facilitating integration with other parts of the business workflow. Moreover, users have the flexibility to choose which Custom Fields appear on the driver app, ensuring drivers receive relevant task information for improved efficiency.
Utilization of Custom Fields:
Farm to People implemented two primary use cases for Custom Fields. Firstly, they integrated order numbers as unique identifiers to synchronize orders between their ERP system and Onfleet. This ensured consistency and accuracy in tracking deliveries. Secondly, they included customer account keys as a safety net to mitigate discrepancies in email addresses and maintain alignment between customer profiles across platforms.
Future Enhancements and Expansion:
While Farm to People currently focuses on order synchronization and data validation, they anticipate future use cases for Custom Fields as their integration with Onfleet evolves. With the prospect of expanding custom field functionalities, Farm to People envisions leveraging additional data points such as driver information and route details to further optimize their delivery operations.
The integration of Custom Fields into Farm to People's operations has proven instrumental in enhancing efficiency and data accuracy within the Onfleet platform. By seamlessly synchronizing order data and implementing safeguards against data entry errors, Farm to People has successfully streamlined their delivery operations and positioned themselves for future growth and optimization.
In summary, the collaboration between Farm to People and Onfleet exemplifies the transformative impact of Custom Fields in optimizing delivery logistics and driving operational excellence. As Farm to People continues to leverage Custom Fields and explore new possibilities for integration, they remain poised to further enhance their competitive edge in the rapidly evolving landscape of last-mile delivery services.