Westmill Foods, one of Europe’s largest specialist food companies, has eliminated two long-standing bottlenecks in its logistics workflow: scattered shipment information and time-consuming invoice verification, by adopting Beacon’s AI supply chain workspace.
Previously, Westmill’s logistics team had to piece together shipment data from multiple daily reports sent by freight forwarders, along with information buried in various carrier portals and spreadsheets. This fragmented setup forced the team to spend valuable time each morning hunting for the details they needed.
Invoice verification faced a similar challenge. Matching purchase order numbers to carriers, routes, and dates required cross-checking multiple sources, slowing approvals and diverting time away from more strategic work.
To address this, Westmill implemented Beacon to consolidate shipment information into a single, easy-to-use, customisable workspace. With Beacon, the team can now track shipments instantly – by container number, purchase order number, or any other reference – without needing to open multiple reports or log into different carrier systems.
Westmill has also created a series of Live Boards, giving each business unit a tailored view of the shipments relevant to them. Instead of requesting updates or sending back-and-forth emails, colleagues simply check their Live Board, which includes comments, documents, and real-time ETAs from all carriers and forwarders.
For invoice verification, what once required opening several spreadsheets and carrier websites now takes seconds. Entering a purchase order number in Beacon immediately returns dates, routing, and carrier details, all in one place.
Niki Morley, Logistics Manager at Westmill Foods, commented: “Onboarding and implementing was seamless. Beacon is very easy to use. The support is very good, friendly and approachable. At the touch of a button I can track a shipment. The information is accessible instantly. It has helped me speed up authorising invoices immensely – everything is in one place.”
Westmill is already planning its next step: a customised Live Board for a specific business unit. Once complete, the team will be able to discontinue a paid daily report from their forwarder – turning operational time savings into direct cost savings.
Fraser Robinson, CEO and co-founder of Beacon, said: “Westmill’s approach shows that supply chain transformation doesn’t need to happen all at once. The team focused on two specific challenges and fixed them. As they continue developing custom Live Boards for different business units, we’re seeing how incremental improvements compound over time, and we’re proud to support that journey.”