How York Motor Factors digitised their deliveries with ePOD
For over five decades, York Motor Factors (YMF) Car Parts has been a trusted name in the UK automotive aftermarket, supplying OE-quality car parts, consumables and accessories to trade and retail customers. With seven branches across North Yorkshire, order volumes have continued to grow for the business in the past few years. It was clear to them that previous delivery processes, which were still reliant on paper-based systems and manual data entry, were in need of an upgrade.
Drivers would record deliveries on paper and input the details into a terminal back at base. Not only was this time-consuming, but it often led to errors, unclear records and a lack of visibility. “Each of our drivers would manually add the delivery info into a terminal back on site. Times were recorded to paper and often, the handwriting was difficult to read. Unforced errors were happening and honestly, we couldn’t always fully trust our data,” Chairman Tom O’Brian explained.
Customer queries became unnecessarily complex, often involving multiple team members chasing the same information. What should have been a quick update could take five conversations and delay resolution.
As a result, the business decided to implement ePOD, an app integrated with Autopart, which allowed YMF’s drivers to log deliveries in real time using a mobile device. They can now capture signatures, take supporting photos, timestamp deliveries and record GPS locations on the spot- all without needing to return to base to input data. “For our drivers, ePOD was highly intuitive and easy to use- we were up and running within a day,” Tom shared.
The shift was immediate and operational visibility improved overnight. “What would have taken five different conversations with four different team members, we can now resolve through one real-time call,” Tom states. Teams could now see which deliveries had been completed whilst drivers were still on the road creating faster, more confident responses to customer queries.
Customer service wasn’t the only area to benefit. Internally, the business gained a much clearer audit trail. Paper logs were replaced with accurate digital records, reducing confusion and admin workload. “It’s helped auditing and tracking by continually providing greater clarity. We’ve taken away the guesswork and that’s had a real impact on data quality,” Tom noted.
Having seen strong results at its busiest sites, the business is now rolling ePOD out across all branches. “We’ve made the biggest impact with our largest sites first and seen instant value. We’re now moving forward with the rest of the rollout,” they explained.
The business is now also looking into additional tools within Klipboard’s platform to support its wider digital transformation. “ePOD helps us with our overarching goal of digital change management - not just for operations, but for our teams. It runs like clockwork.”
From real-time visibility to streamlined communication, the product has become a critical part of YMF Car Parts’ move towards smarter, more efficient operations.
