One driver who knows everything
Tuesday is café delivery day. The driver loads the van and heads off on a route that exists only in their head: the bakery first because it opens at seven, the office café after nine when security is on, the café whose back door key is under a plant pot, the one that must never be delivered to during the lunch rush. They know which cafés return empty tubs and which ones need an invoice left on the counter.
Then the driver is ill, or leaves. Someone else takes the van with a list of addresses and spends the day on the phone asking where to go.
The round lives in one person's head
Delivery for a small roastery grew from the owner dropping off coffee on the way home. It was never designed, so none of the knowledge that makes a round work is written down. The orders for the day are known, but the route, the timing and the drop instructions are not.
- Delivery windows and opening times are remembered.
- Drop instructions such as keys and back doors are not recorded.
- The route order is habit, not planning.
- Proof of delivery is a signature on paper, if anything.
- Empty tubs and returns are not tracked.
What an unplanned round costs
When the regular driver is away, deliveries arrive late or at the wrong time and cafés run short. Even with the regular driver, an inefficient route costs fuel and hours. Disputes about deliveries, such as a café saying coffee never arrived, are hard to settle without proof. And tubs and crates that are never returned are replaced at your expense.
New cafés feel it most. The first few deliveries to a new account are when the relationship is settled, and a driver who cannot find the back entrance or turns up during the breakfast rush makes a poor first impression that the sales conversation then has to repair.
Delivery rounds we build
- Each café account holds its delivery details: address, delivery window, opening days, access instructions, who can accept a delivery and a photo of where to leave it.
- Confirmed wholesale orders for the day are grouped into rounds by area.
- A route is proposed using a routing service, taking each café's delivery window into account, and the person planning can drag stops around.
- The driver uses a phone app with the stops in order, navigation, drop instructions and the items for each café.
- At each drop the driver records delivery with a photo or signature, notes any empties collected, and adds a note if something needs attention back at the roastery.
- Deliveries are marked complete in the order system, and the invoice can be sent automatically once delivery is confirmed.
| Knowledge | Held now | Held afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery window | Driver's memory | Café record, used in routing |
| Access and drop spot | Driver's memory | Instructions with photo |
| Route order | Habit | Planned, editable |
| Proof of delivery | Paper or nothing | Photo or signature in the app |
| Empties returned | Not recorded | Logged per café |
Any driver can do the round
Anyone with a licence and the app can run the round, and cafés get their coffee within their window. The owner can see where the van is and which drops are done. Delivery disputes are settled by a photo, and empty tubs are chased because you know who has them. When a new café signs up, its delivery details are captured once and the round adapts.
Is your delivery round in one head?
- Only one person really knows the delivery round.
- Drop instructions are not written down.
- Cafés have received coffee at a bad time or not at all.
- You cannot prove a delivery was made.
- Empty tubs and crates go missing.