Birds Bakery

About Birds Bakery

Founded in 1919 by brothers Frank, Thomas, and Reginald Bird upon their return from World War I, Birds Bakery made it their mission to provide customers with the finest cakes, pies, and breads possible. Their commitment to quality was a huge success and the family-owned bakery thrived. With the advent of World War II and strict rationing, Birds Bakery continued to focus on quality over quantity and the result was long lines of happy customers flocking to the bakery for their favorite baked goods.

In the time since, Birds Bakery has expanded to include over 60 locations throughout the Midlands, all sharing the same commitment to quality that inspired the Bird brothers to open their very first bakery over 100 years ago. With more customers than ever, the collection of bakeries continues to delight customers with its famous caramel doughnuts and other delights.

Route Manager saves us a huge amount of time and enables intelligent route planning with little area knowledge by the users.

The Challenge

Birds Bakery was able to thrive for over a century by welcoming customers into its brick and mortar locations, but the bakery encountered a significant challenge with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. With lockdowns and stay at home orders being implemented and lifted at various stages of the pandemic, Birds Bakery was forced to find a way to overcome a major problem: they had never entered into the home delivery space.

Offering home delivery to customers for the first time comes with its own set of challenges, even in the best of times. With a pandemic significantly reducing foot traffic, making the transition to home delivery instantly became a necessary element to sustaining the business and providing their customers with the products they have enjoyed for many years. As Birds Bakery began contemplating how to get their own deliveries up and running, they quickly discovered that effective and efficient route planning would have to be at the core of any successful approach, and that they would need a reliable partner in their corner to hit the ground running.

Our ability to make home deliveries has been a new sales stream which we had not used before the pandemic. Being able to offer our customers the home delivery option during the initial lockdown -and since- has proved popular.

The Solution

While Birds Bakery had never offered home delivery prior to COVID-19, they did have a firm idea of what they were looking for in a route optimization software solution: efficient routing with customizable options, smooth integration between desktop and mobile applications, and an approachable interface that their team could start using right away. They were delighted to find everything they were after and more in WorkWave Route Manager.

Even without any delivery experience, Birds Bakery was able to start planning the most efficient routes for their deliveries right away. This was instrumental in getting their delivery service up and running. Claire Matthews, Logistics & Environmental Manager, points out that Route Manager is crucial in planning effective routes, particularly in areas where users have little preexisting knowledge. She also points out that route planning is a fast process, saving the business administration time in the office when planning the upcoming routes and enabling them to plan routes days in advance, allowing the drivers to start their days immediately without waiting for instructions.

The team at Birds Bakery quickly learned to make the most out of Route Manager, crediting the smooth integration of software’s desktop and mobile platforms as a key element in minimizing the time needed to train new users. The bakery was also quick to go beyond optimizing routes and take full advantage of the software’s flexibility and comprehensive features.

“The software allows us to manipulate the delivery routes once planned to fit in with our vehicle and driver demands, with the ability to change and then revert back in one click,” Matthews notes. “The status bar at the top of the screen allows us to check that the drivers are on schedule at a glance, and the ability to see proof of delivery photographs as soon as they have been taken is useful.” They also save time thanks to Route Manager’s one-year storage of completed routes, which allows them to keep accurate records without the need to download routes at the end of each day.

Launching a new program can sometimes create snags that leave customers feeling dissatisfied, but Route Manager has enabled Birds Bakery to create the opposite effect. With Route Manager’s customer notifications, customers receive an email with a two-hour delivery window on the morning of the day their delivery is being delivered. As a result, customers have been extremely pleased with the service and the bakery has seen a decline in the number of customers calling in for updates.

In partnering with Route Manager, Birds Bakery has simultaneously found a way to continue bringing in revenue during the pandemic and created a new revenue stream that will bolster their business long after things return to normal. The bakery has already completed thousands of deliveries with their fleet of four drivers since starting the program, and home delivery has remained popular with customers even after lockdowns have been lifted. Birds Bakery is preparing for a busy holiday season with up to 100 deliveries each day, and they’re confident their customers will receive their favorite baked goods right on time thanks to WorkWave Route Manager.

The Results