Quintiq, a leading provider of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solutions, today announced that international freight logistics services provider Roberts Europe has chosen Quintiq to provide a comprehensive logistics planning solution for its pan-European operations.

The Quintiq Logistics Planner solution will be implemented in a phased approach to address the full range of needs across Roberts Europe's array of solutions, including road -, air – and special services. Development began in early January and implementation of the first module is expected around the end of Q1, 2008 – a relatively rapid timeline enabled by the unique Quintiq architecture that uses a standard software core as the basis for custom-developed solutions. .

Roberts Europe is a leader in the premium freight market. This market segment handles items that cannot be transported by standard logistics service providers because of stringent time limitations or service requirements. Roberts Europe will distinguish itself with the Quintiq solution selling concept in which customers are offered multiple tailor-made shipping options with varied service levels, lead times and tariffs. Because each offer is generated on-the-fly in the time of a phone call, all sales and service representatives must have instant access to real-time planning information that covers all transportation modes indicating available capacity able to execute within the required service levels.

The Quintiq solution will be integrated with the company’s transport management system.

The Premium Freight service provider chose Quintiq because of the unmatched ability to support solution selling through real-time planning and because it offered a centralized solution for use by multiple users in multiple divisions and locations, while still being flexible enough to handle division-specific rules and constraints. Other benefits of the Quintiq solution that were attractive to Roberts Europe include the solution’s optimization strengths and its ability to provide real-time information on the impact of disturbances and planning decisions on future activities.

“By providing the core for our most critical business processes, the Quintiq solution will be a key growth enabler, supporting our goals to become the leader in our market,” said Fred Snippe, CEO of Roberts Europe. “The freight market requires fast and dynamic transportation solutions, supported by a real-time intelligent planning system. With the implementation of the Logistics Planner and our solution selling principle, we will be able to make informed decisions, improve customer satisfaction and gain significant savings.”

By implementing Microsoft Dynamics and the Quintiq Logistics Planner, Roberts Europe aims at reducing its CO2 footprint and improving the efficiency of its operational processes. The progress can be exactly monitored on the solution’s powerful Logistics Dashboard. With a view of complying with strict Dutch sustainability laws, Roberts Europe is making a pioneering contribution to eco-friendly logistics.

Arjen Heeres, COO at Quintiq added: “We are very pleased that Roberts Europe, one of the most prominent logistics service providers in the region, has decided that Quintiq is the best solution for optimizing their planning process. Roberts Europe is the third express delivery company to choose Quintiq, making us virtually the de facto standard for planning in the express segment.”