Descartes Systems Group, a global leader in connecting businesses with intensive logistics operations to commerce, announced that ArrowXL, the UK’s leading and oldest expert in two-person home deliveries and warehousing solutions, is using Descartes’ route planning and execution solution to automate and optimize last-mile delivery planning. This enables ArrowXL’s team to dynamically and efficiently plan and optimize routes, increasing the company’s transport capacity.
“At ArrowXL, our focus is on personalized services with a customer-centric approach,” said Rachel Hopkins, ArrowXL’s Director of Information Technology. “With over 40 years of experience delivering for the UK’s top retailers, e-commerce platforms, and manufacturers, we manage over 2.6 million deliveries annually and continue to expand. We cover 100% of the UK territory—with 98% served six days a week and the remaining 2% on scheduled days—from seven main centers and eight operational bases, with a fleet of 250 vehicles. We offer next-day, chosen-date, and scheduled deliveries, along with services such as appliance installation, furniture assembly, electronic recycling, and packaging removal. Managing and executing these services at scale requires high-precision planning and execution. With Descartes’ solution, our team has automated previously manual processes, optimizing fleet usage and reducing CO₂ emissions. This approach dynamically increases our operational capacity in real-time. Since Descartes’ solution integrates with our system and our clients’ systems, we can provide real-time visibility of available delivery capacity across the entire value chain, enhancing operational efficiency for everyone,” concluded Rachel Hopkins.
Descartes’ cloud-based last-mile solution helps companies with intensive distribution operations improve their efficiency and customer experience. The platform supports dynamic requirements, including same-day deliveries. Using advanced optimization technology, the solution reduces the distance traveled per delivery, increasing capacity, reducing costs, and improving sustainability. In ArrowXL’s case, Descartes enables efficient management even in areas where boundaries between delivery regions and teams are unclear, boosting route productivity.
“We are pleased that our solution plays a key role in optimizing ArrowXL’s route planning while maintaining a high level of customer experience,” said Gary Taylor, Vice President of Sales for EMEA at Descartes. “ArrowXL delivers daily across the UK for some of the most well-known brands in physical and online retail. Automated planning and dynamic route execution will continue to enable the company to expand its capacity, increase revenue, and help its clients offer more delivery options to consumers—all while contributing to a superior experience and better service levels,” noted Gary Taylor.
