Logistics analytics that keeps operations honest.

Logistics is a margin business. A few pence per mile in either direction is the difference between a profitable route and one that quietly loses money for a year before anyone notices. Good analytics is what turns that from a hunch into a decision, and it is one of the most consistently underinvested areas we see in the UK market.

The metrics that matter

On time in full is the headline for anyone selling a delivery service. Underneath it, cost per mile and cost per drop tell you whether the network is profitable at the level you actually price at. Capacity utilisation — vehicle fill and warehouse throughput — tells you whether the fixed cost base is earning its keep. Fuel, tyres and maintenance are the biggest variable costs, and they reward analytics disproportionately.

For 3PLs, layering client level profitability on top of that picture is where the value really sits. Most 3PLs know their overall margin; far fewer can tell you which contracts are actually paying and which are subsidised.

Where the data usually sits

TMS and WMS are the primary sources for most operators. Telematics — Microlise, Samsara, Verizon Connect — provides the vehicle level detail. Finance sits in Sage, NetSuite or Business Central. Bringing these together in a warehouse gives you a single view of a route, a driver or a client that no single source can produce on its own.

How we work with logistics operators

We start with the operations dashboard: on time delivery, cost per mile, capacity utilisation, refreshed daily. Once the operations team is using it, we layer on client profitability, fleet cost analytics and driver performance. The finance team usually joins in around this point, because the platform starts to answer questions their existing reports never could.

We are comfortable working across owner drivers, palletised networks, ecommerce fulfilment and specialist 3PLs. The tools are the same; the shape of a route or a shift changes, and we adjust to that.

Related reading

Our distributor operations case study walks through a real ERP, WMS and courier integration for a UK distributor, and the supply chain analytics guide covers the wider platform pattern.