Moy Park is a long-standing Merridale user which, like others has made the transition to the hosted service FuelWorks. We visited the company’s poultry processing plant in Ashbourne Derbyshire, to talk to Fleet Manager, Mark Garner.
Facilities at the Ashbourne plant include a poultry feed mill and the distribution of poultry feed to Moy Park hatcheries located in Ashbourne and Newark. Whilst the group’s main transport hub is located at a sister plant in Anwick, vehicles used for the transportation of live birds and poultry feed operate from separate bases at Ashbourne.
“This arrangement is crucial to avoid any possible cross contamination of livestock and poultry feed, explains Mark Garner.
He adds “The group produces over 5 million birds a week for British supermarket outlets and the process covers every stage from incubation to slaughter, processing and final packaging. The collection of live birds from the hatcheries for transfer to the primary facilities is strictly segregated from other transport operations.
To meet this requirement, Moy Park has installed an additional fuelling point at Ashbourne, assigned exclusively to the vehicles used for the collection of live birds. This installation incorporates a weighbridge, enabling the net weight of each consignment to be determined by measuring the difference in weight of the vehicle fully loaded and unladen with a full tank of diesel.
“Whilst we use our tracking service to monitor driver style and fuel economy, the Merridale system enables us to manage our in-house operational costs. This is a data driven process and we are relying on robust information technology systems on a day-to-day basis”.
Before departing for a collection run, the vehicle is weighed with a full tank. On return fully loaded it is refuelled and then weighed again to authorise payment to the farmers.
Merridale pump dispensers and fuel management software are an integral part of the process. The Merridale systems are used mainly for cost accounting between profit centres, fuel stock control and re-ordering. All the fuelling points are equipped with electronic contents monitoring enabling central re-ordering.
Across the group the Moy Park transport fleet comprises 155 vehicles, of which 70 are registered to use depot refuelling. Fuel usage is around 20K litres and week at Ashbourne and 38K litres a week at Anwick, amounting to an annual fuel bill of around £3M.
Mark Garner summarises by saying. “Transport between the different plants and our customers plays an important role and our vehicles are on the road 24 x7. Whilst we use our tracking service to monitor driver style and fuel economy, the Merridale system enables us to manage our inhouse operational costs. This is a data driven process and we are relying on robust information technology systems on a day-to-day basis.”
One of the UK’s top 15 food companies, Moy Park is Northern Ireland’s largest private sector business and one of Europe’s leading poultry producers. The group has two primary poultry facilities in the UK, the other plant is located at Anwick, near Sleaford in Lincolnshire. A third plant in Grantham is dedicated to coated and ready to eat convenience foods.
