Manta Electronic Trailer Seal Improves Delivery Process for Evans Cycles

Manta Electronic Trailer Seal Improves Delivery Process For Evans Cycles Evans Cycles is the UK’s largest specialist cycle retailer, currently operating over 43 stores nationwide and the UK’s largest cycling mail order and online bike shop. Evans Cycles’ product range spans every cycling discipline and features mountain bikes, road bikes, cycle clothing and bicycle accessories from the world’s leading brands. The Challenge From its head office and distribution centre located in Crawley, West Sussex, Evans Cycles operates a fleet of fifteen vehicles that deliver new bicycles, accessories, specialist clothing, fitness and training aid and associated spare parts to retail locations throughout the UK. With deliveries being mainly made up of small items that could run into 1,000’s of lines as well as bicycles costing up to £8500 each, the company wanted to ensure the integrity of loads from despatch to point of delivery through the introduction of improved security measures. It also wanted to simplify the load checking procedure used at each store to isolate potential losses from delivery vehicles. The Solution Unisto, one of the world’s leading suppliers of reusable electronic security seals to the transport industry, was asked to recommend a cost effective solution that would be easy to install and operate. After meeting Evans Cycles to gain a full understanding of the company’s requirements, Unisto submitted a proposal for the installation of Manta electronic seals on each of the vehicles. This robust, high security sealing system secures vehicle loading doors and provides accurate data tracking each time they are opened or closed. After a thorough evaluation of the proposal, Evans Cycles took the decision to equip its fleet with this powerful security solution. The installation of the IP69-rated units was a straightforward process requiring the use of gaskets to seal them to the loading doors and fitting mudflaps for additional protection from the elements. In operation, when the vehicle doors are closed, an integral cable is fed through the door handle and locks into position generating a random 4 digit seal number on the integral LED display. This unique number is recorded on the vehicle’s delivery manifest and can be visually checked at any time by pressing a single button to detect any unauthorised opening. The seals provide accurate data tracking showing each time the doors are closed and are playing a major role in ensuring the integrity of loads from the point of loading/sealing until delivery. According to Richard Philpott, Logistics and Distribution Manager at Evans Cycles: “The Unisto Manta seal has helped us to eliminate opportunistic theft through the introduction of simple, standardised checking procedures that provide the highest level of security from loading to point of delivery. It is proving to be a reliable and easy to use solution to help cut crime.” Unisto also supplied Evans Cycles with SealTrak, a small handheld device that enables data on the last 100 events to be downloaded via infrared (IrDA Interface) links at the press of a button. The data is collected weekly and includes seal closure and opening times, the time spent waiting to be unloaded, unloading periods and departure times to optimise delivery performance across the whole distribution network. In addition, detailed audit trails can be generated to aid security investigations. SealTrak has a USB connection that enables data to be exported using XML format for use in commonly used spreadsheet or database programmes.

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