Ants Viljandi digitised its transport management with Planlogi and saves 10+ hours a week
Ants Viljandi OÜ
Company profile
Ants Viljandi is a logistics company founded in Estonia in 1991. Its core business is domestic and international road transport. The company also rents out trailers and repairs vehicles. This story focuses on how it digitised its freight operations.
Company size
20 employees
Service areas
Domestic transport within Estonia, and international transport to neighbouring countries (mainly the Estonia-Finland route)
Transport volume
300-400 shipments per month
Before Planlogi: Excel, paperwork and scattered information
Ants Viljandi used to run its transport operations mainly through Excel spreadsheets, email and phone calls.
At any given moment, the dispatcher had several programs open at once: Excel as the register of transport orders, Google Maps for checking routes, and email for customer communication.
Adding every new transport order meant keying the data into the spreadsheet by hand and drawing up a job for the driver. Those jobs went out by phone, email or text message, and were sometimes printed on paper to hand to the driver.
Consignment notes (CMRs) were often filled in by hand or in Microsoft Word and printed out. All of this meant a lot of double entry and wasted time, because the same information had to be entered in several places, and the paperwork had to be sorted and filed.
The pain points before going digital with Planlogi
Information was scattered and there was no single overview. Some of it lived in Excel, some in email, routes sat separately in Google Maps, and drivers had to phone the dispatcher to confirm every detail.
Inevitably, this led to:
Double data entry
Delays and mistakes
Consignment notes that were lost or arrived late
Invoices going out only days later
An estimated 10-20 hours a week spent on administration
For example, a misunderstood address or a forgotten phone call could send a driver on unnecessary detours.
Paper consignment notes brought a risk that a document could go missing, or sit somewhere waiting for the customer's signature. Sometimes a note was left in the truck's glovebox and accounting never sent the invoice at all.
Paper notes also dragged out invoicing, because an invoice could only be raised once the signed paper note reached the office. On fast Finland runs, that often meant the paperwork didn't come back until the next day, or even the end of the week, which delayed payment from the customer too.
Efficiency and time were another concern. By the dispatcher's own estimate, before Planlogi the team lost dozens of hours every week just to data entry in Excel, printing paperwork and coordinating over the phone.
That is why the company started looking for a solution with an officially recognised eCMR (electronic consignment note) that could bring its transport operations into one system.
Why did Ants Viljandi choose Planlogi?
Finding a transport management system (TMS) with a suitable eCMR was not easy. There are several providers on the market, but many are either too complex or too expensive for small and mid-sized transport companies.
Ants Viljandi wanted something quick to roll out, easy to use, and covering order management, driver dispatching and digital consignment notes in one place.
"What we liked about Planlogi is that a single environment gives you transport order creation, the eCMR system, the driver app, digital signing and accounting integrations. It covered all our needs right from the start."
Planlogi met their requirements:
One environment for transport orders, dispatching, the eCMR system, signing and invoicing
A driver mobile app in a language the drivers speak
Full visibility of shipments in transit
Real-time document sharing with the customer and with accounting
Rolling Planlogi out across the team
Planlogi’s specialists helped import the existing customer data and set up the trucks and drivers in the system. The first trips on the new TMS started that same week.
"A big advantage for us was how helpful, available and flexible Planlogi's support team was. They had an answer to every one of our questions and were always on hand."
How Planlogi's eCMR sped up invoicing and cut manual errors
The biggest single change for Ants Viljandi came from adopting the digital consignment note, the eCMR.
What stood out was how quickly the whole team adapted to it. Gert admits they were a little worried about how the more experienced drivers would get on with a digital consignment note and an app, but it went better than expected.
Planlogi’s driver app is available in the languages their drivers speak and kept as simple as possible: the driver sees the shipment details, the destination address (with turn-by-turn map guidance) and can capture a signature on the consignment note on the spot.
The dispatcher creates an eCMR in Planlogi from the transport order, and it shows up for the driver in the mobile app
On handover, the driver captures the recipient’s signature on a phone or tablet
The signed eCMR moves straight into Planlogi, where everyone involved (carriers, senders and recipients) can see the delivery has been made and download the consignment note as a PDF
A win in time and money — Raising an invoice used to take days. Now it can go out the same day, because a digital consignment note means there’s no waiting for a piece of paper once the customer has signed.
Fewer manual errors and steadier processes — The digital consignment note also cut human error. A driver filling in a paper note might write something illegibly or miss a field; in the Planlogi app the core fields (quantity, weight, addresses and so on) are already filled in by the dispatcher. The driver just adds notes if needed, takes photos (say, of any damage) and collects signatures. Everyone gets the same correct information at once, which cuts down on misunderstandings.
On top of that, the eCMR doesn’t go missing. It’s stored securely in the cloud and available within seconds.
Where the company sometimes had to send a scanned paper note after the fact, Planlogi now shares the digital CMR straight to the customer’s email on request, or lets the customer download it from the Planlogi customer portal.
"Our clients and partners really like that they get their consignment note (eCMR) straight to their inbox. No waiting."
How Planlogi's transport management software (TMS) simplified the whole operation
Beyond the eCMR, Planlogi's TMS has helped Ants Viljandi across the wider transport process.
Here are some of the features that have proven their worth day to day:
Digital job dispatching — Driving instructions used to go to the driver by phone or on paper. Now the whole operation runs through Planlogi. The dispatcher enters the transport order and assigns it to a specific driver and truck, and the driver gets an instant notification in the Planlogi app with all the details. The driver knows exactly where and when to go and what they’re carrying. The dispatcher can also see in real time whether the driver has accepted the job and whether they’re en route or already there. That has made the workflow far more transparent, both in the office and in the cab.
Fast rollout and easy to use — Planlogi’s clean, logical interface has been a big help. Entering new shipments is much quicker than in Excel, and the company reckons taking in and entering orders is now several times faster.
Integration with Rapid accounting software — Planlogi’s integration with Rapid lets Ants Viljandi import sales invoices straight from Planlogi into their accounting software. Once a transport order is finished and the digital consignment note is signed, one click creates a sales invoice in Planlogi that goes automatically into both Rapid and the customer’s inbox. The bookkeeper no longer enters invoices by hand and just reviews and approves the ones that come through from Planlogi.
"The integration between Planlogi and our accounting software, Rapid, was crucial for us in avoiding double data entry and automating our invoicing processes."
Driver app and document tracking — The Planlogi driver app has been key to getting drivers on board. Through it they see their schedule, route guidance and all the documents they need. The dispatcher can see which shipments’ eCMRs are already signed and back, and which are still outstanding.
Faster response and better oversight — With Planlogi’s full TMS in place, the dispatchers at Ants Viljandi have better real-time control over their transport operations. Every order, truck and load is visible in one place. If a customer calls to ask where their shipment is, the dispatcher can check in seconds whether the delivery is in progress or done, or whether a message has come in from the driver. That has helped the company use its resources more efficiently.
The results with Planlogi: 15% more efficient, and happier customers
Planlogi has helped Ants Viljandi run its transport 15% more efficiently and faster. Most of that comes from cutting administrative time: data entry, paper handling and double-checking are down to a minimum.
15% weekly time saving from less manual work
Less data entry, fewer double-checks and fewer phone calls. More efficient transport operations: dispatchers can focus on planning and spend less time on document admin.
Fewer manual errors
Standardised digital processes cut mistakes for dispatchers and drivers alike. Happier drivers: drivers value a paper-free day and the simple Planlogi app, with everything they need in their pocket.
Much faster invoicing and cash flow
The signed eCMR reaches every party in seconds, the invoice goes out the same day, and payment arrives sooner. More transparent information for customers and partners: partners and clients see order status in real time, which means fewer calls and emails, and more trust. A stronger competitive edge: with paper-free consignment notes, Ants Viljandi is a more attractive partner for large companies and freight forwarders too.
To sum it up...
The Ants Viljandi story shows how digitising a traditional transport company can bring real benefits. Planlogi's TMS and eCMR platform have cleared up many of the old bottlenecks, from the confusion of the Excel years to the pile of paperwork.
All of it happened painlessly and fast. In just a few months the company has remade itself into an efficient, modern carrier where information moves in real time and the work runs without a hitch.
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