CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT SHINING A LIGHT ON OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

At last year’s Motor Transport Awards, JPE Holdings won the coveted Operational Excellence Award, and this year it’s been announced that the family-based company that specialises in the delivery of virgin, recycled and blended aggregates has been shortlisted as a finalist again in the same 2023 award category.

To celebrate, Subir Gupta, account manager for JPE, caught up with Lindsay Smith, the company’s Compliance Manager, to get a deeper insight into their excellent operational achievements, including Earned Recognition in line with the theme of this issue.

First, Subir asks for a little bit of background information on JPE’s operation.

We are based in the West Midlands, and since 1994 we have specialised in the delivery of virgin, recycled and blended aggregates. Our fleet consists of 35 rugged Volvo 8-wheelers, 2 Volvo Grab Wagons, 7 Volvo FH Arctics and Trailers. The company also owns three quarries, excavates, delivers and collects upwards of 1,250,000 tonnes of aggregates every year for a cross-section of customers that serve or operate in the construction and highways industries.

Congratulations for the win last year and reaching the finals again this year! Aside from winning the MT Awards Operational Excellence Award, what are you most proud of achieving in your role as Compliance Manager?

I think it’s the fact that we continue to operate to the utmost standards in safety, efficiency and profitably. As such, year on year we always strive to achieve operational excellence - an example of this is attaining an overall weighted ER compliance score of 99.52% this year, for both drivers and vehicles, which is a further improvement on last year’s score of 99.12%.

With these impressive compliance scores, I guess it made sense for you to consider Earned Recognition – what motivated you to go for it?

We were invited by the DVSA to become a member of their ER scheme in 2022. The business was already FORS Gold accredited and the immediate advantage that ER offered was the ability for a government accredited body to independently audit all aspects of transportation compliance and safety every 4 weeks at no cost to the business. Plus, all the expert and communication support that comes from the DVLA scheme – and the fact that our vehicles are exempt from roadside spot checks ensures no customer delays, which is critical in the construction industry.

On a non-practical level, our ultimate aim in gaining ER accreditation was so that we could be recognised for the high standards we maintain as an organisation, and to show how conscientious and committed we are.

At that time too, being accredited as an exemplary operator, meant we met the pre-requisites required by transport operators wanting to tender for work on the HS2 project.

Talk us through your journey to becoming ER accredited and how we might have helped?

Until 2020, JPE’s transport operation was ‘old-school’ and reliant on pencil and paper and excel spreadsheets – it was burdensome and labour-intensive to manage.

To achieve ER, it was a case of formalising our company’s procedures and policies in relation to driver and vehicle compliance, and as you know Subir, having an approved software system in place which is when we first met.

You and the Aquarius team helped us embed and integrate all the new IT systems we needed to manage and report on all the driver and vehicle performance measures specified by ER - including tachograph analysis, asset maintenance and driver defect software. With your support, you also worked with our maintenance provider to ensure that digitised maintenance inspections go straight into the Asset Maintenance portal – as an aside from ER, this transformed the way we work because it provides a full audit trail and complete paperless storage solution for all our vehicles requiring periodic maintenance or inspection.

How has going digital helped you on a day-to-day basis?

With all these systems in place, monitoring and maintaining our compliance has also become an easier task, and why we subsequently invested in Remote Downloading, Time & Attendance, PODs and Licence Checking. In fact, apart from the drivers, I’m not sure what else we can digitalise and analyse with such fine detail.

As part of this investment in new technology, we also upgraded and invested in the best vehicle telematics, live tracking and camera systems, which together with Aquarius software solutions has created companywide efficiencies, directly increased profitability, and exceeded both driver and customer expectations.

I know you value the data and statistics that you can report on from the software; would you be happy to share any of your recent KPIs to illustrate your operational excellence?

We are really proud of our high levels of tachograph compliance in line with Drivers’ Hour’s Law and over the last 12 months, our overall driver’s tachograph infringement count is 99.64% compliant. Our vehicle maintenance stands at 99.4% and most serious incidents is 100%.

Has anything else come from being ER accredited?

In October 2022 we were given the opportunity to become the first ER Operator to achieve certification in the Transport for London (TFL) Module by working closely with DVSA to demonstrate the standards the business maintains.

Finally, can we touch on that in addition to your industry leading credentials in both compliance and safety, you are now looking to lead the tipping industry in your mission to reduce CO2 emissions?

Yes, we want to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% and last year we became the first UK operator to order the new heavyweight FMX Electric 8x4 tipper from Volvo. This forms part of our 10-year strategy for reducing our carbon footprint, as part of our commitment to operational excellence across all areas of the business.

Thanks Lindsay, and good luck at this year’s awards – we will see you there.