Astrata is a leader in advanced location-based connected vehicle and operating software solutions. It serves more than 1,200 customers worldwide in a variety of fields: logistics, multinationals, governments, homeland security and utilities.
Grupo Mazo was founded in 1972 as Transportes Hermanos Mazo, a family business in Alzira (Valencia). After 50 years and three generations, it is still committed to innovation and quality in order to offer the best refrigerated transport, a segment in which it is one of the top ten companies in Spain. Its own fleet exceeds 900 semi-trailers and 350 trucks, with a team of up to 600 staff in the busiest months.
Astrata’s joint journey as a technology partner of Grupo Mazo began in mid-2010. The company’s high standards were a great challenge for Astrata – after all, Grupo Mazo was one of the first companies in Europe to develop remote tachograph downloading and had established itself as a leader by using the most advanced technology in its vehicle fleet. The company’s trucks are replaced every three years and its semi-trailers every five to six years. Grupo Mazo carries out more than 170 full loads a day throughout Spain, Europe, and North Africa. Despite the difficulties involved in the refrigerated transport sector, the company manages to make this operation easy for its customers, thanks to the support from technology partners such as Astrata, who enable the Grupo Mazo team to have the information required for making deliveries as planned.
Optimised workflow
In addition, Grupo Mazo’s commitment to offering a quality service means that it has the most sophisticated fleet management systems available. Significant advances have been made in recent years that allow perfectly synchronised communication between dispatchers and drivers, thanks to the use of Mission Planner, a workflow management application created and developed by Astrata. This application helps to develop optimised workflow operations that also adapt to unforeseen contingencies. It allows bidirectional interaction and integration with different back-office software platforms. Mission Planner enables clear visualisation of processes for all users.
Julio López, Head of IT at Grupo Mazo, explains: “Before starting their journey, the driver receives the exact position of the vehicles to be used. This is particularly useful at large bases or ports where it would take a long time to find them. But this was not the only innovation – we have now have new systems that issue real-time alerts when any of the data recorded by the trailer’s sensors do not match the ERP. In addition, the system automatically generates the reports and temperature records that our customers need, based on the thermograph sensors that are collecting information at any given moment. All this cross-referencing of data allows us to make the best use of resources and improve our productivity.”
Regarding trucks telematics, Grupo Mazo is about to implement a solution already present in semi-trailers, which will help to save costs and improve flexibility. Astrata’s DataLinc is an open telematics solution that connects third-party data on a single platform, FleetVisor. This data includes trailer location, temperature, trailer door opening status, driver's hours, tyre pressure, trailer door opening status, driver hours, and much more. More than 100 integrations already exist, including the two brands used by Grupo Mazo on its refrigerated trucks, as well as a long list of OEMs in the industry.
Grupo Mazo firmly believes in the digitalisation of all its processes. In the medium to long term, the challenge is to use analytics and big data tools to improve decision-making in real time. "In the long term, the goal is to turn Grupo Mazo into a data-driven company to make the most of the information contained in our data", says Julio López.
