How Allelys Powers Complex Heavy Transport with Mandata TMS

For more than 60 years, Allelys has been moving some of the largest and most complex loads on the UK’s roads. Today, the family-run business is a leading specialist in heavy lift, specialist transport and project logistics – supporting industries ranging from rail and heritage engineering to the UK’s growing energy sector.

To support increasingly complex operations and improve visibility across the business, Allelys implemented Mandata’s GoPlus TMS, bringing together planning, driver communication and operational data in one system.

Now, with Mandata embedded in the general haulage side of the business and expanding into heavy haulage operations, Allelys is building a single source of truth for transport operations – improving communication, efficiency and decision-making across teams.

Who are Allelys?

Founded by Morris Allely in the late 1950s, Allelys began as an agricultural transport business moving machinery, livestock and farm materials. Over the decades, the company has evolved into one of the UK’s leading heavy lift, specialist transport and installation project providers.

Today, the Warwickshire-based business specialises in heavy haulage, heavy lift cranes, engineering and project logistics. Its work often involves transporting and installing extremely large assets such as electrical transformers, rail equipment and industrial components.

The company operates a diverse fleet, including:

• A mixed fleet of general haulage vehicles also capable of moving abnormal loads
• Heavy haulage prime movers
• Specialist equipment such as girder frame trailers capable of carrying several hundred tonnes
• A large modular trailer fleet for complex and abnormal loads
• Escort vehicles and installation teams supporting major project deliveries

Allelys’ work frequently supports large infrastructure projects, particularly in the energy sector as the UK transitions towards Net Zero.

Moving Beyond Spreadsheets and Disconnected Systems

Before adopting Mandata, Allelys had used a variety of systems over time – including spreadsheets and legacy transport software.

As the business continued to grow and operations became more complex, it became clear that a more integrated approach was needed.

“We went through various systems – Stirling was one, and of course the classic spreadsheets trying to run a transport fleet,” explains Robert Brookes, Head of Transport and Warehousing at Allelys. “It was the natural evolution of moving through transport systems.”

When Mandata acquired Stirling Solutions in 2021 and introduced customers to the cloud-based TMS platform, the move to Mandata became a natural next step.

For Robert, who had previously led a Mandata implementation at another transport business, the decision was straightforward.

“I’d already implemented Mandata at a previous company, so I’d been through that process before. When I came to Allelys and saw the relationship with Stirling, it became a natural choice.”

A Platform for Communication, Visibility and Control

One of the biggest drivers behind implementing Mandata was the need to improve communication across the transport operation.

Previously, sharing accurate job information with drivers and retrieving proof of delivery could be slow and inconsistent. Mandata’s integrated ecosystem – including GoPlus TMS, the Manifest app, vehicle tracking, and the Customer Portal – helped solve these issues.

“Communication of job information to drivers was a key challenge, as well as quick recovery of PODs,” Robert explains. “Mandata has streamlined what we do within the business.”

The system has also simplified back-office processes.

“It simplifies our wage process and it simplifies our invoicing of work as well. It’s really streamlined our workflows.”

Just as importantly, Mandata provides the data visibility needed for complex logistics operations.

“What we do is very complex – there are a lot of moving parts, and it’s a very broad spectrum of work that we cater for,” explains Robert. “It’s about being able to access the right data at the right time, and get the right information to the right person, and that is what Mandata allows us to do.”

Improving Collaboration Between Teams

One of the biggest operational benefits has come from how Mandata connects teams across the business.

The Manifest app and Customer Portal enables planners and project teams to monitor job progress, access documents and quickly resolve issues when they arise.

Robert explains how this supports internal collaboration, “It enables the project managers and transport operations team to book transport directly through the web portal.”

“Because we’re using the Manifest app, they can see live updates of job progress and quickly access POD or POC images.”

This level of visibility is especially valuable for project-based transport operations where timing, accuracy and coordination are critical.

“It’s nice to have that kind of live, real-time option within the system.”

Better Data Through the Customer Portal

Mandata’s Customer Portal has also helped improve the quality of job information entering the system.

By allowing internal teams and customers to input job data directly, Allelys has seen improvements in data accuracy and efficiency.

“By placing the onus on the person inputting the data it ensures transport teams receive job information right in the first place.” Robert explains. “We’ve seen a real increase in the quality of information that we’re receiving.”

This improved data flow and supports better decision-making across the business.

Solving a Heavy Haulage Challenge

Heavy haulage operations present a unique challenge for transport management systems.

Unlike standard haulage operations, where a single job may involve one vehicle, heavy haulage moves often require multiple trucks, escort vehicles, technicians and specialist equipment working together.

Explaining the complexity of Heavy Hauliers, Robert says, “A traditional transport management system is designed around one job, one vehicle, one driver and one trailer. The problem is that doesn’t work for heavy haulage.”

For example, transporting a large girder frame load may require:

• Multiple prime movers
• Escort vehicles
• Specialist technicians
• Supervisors and steersmen

Historically, this meant creating multiple jobs in the system just to allocate all the resources required. This meant more time and effort, was put into their planning for much of their heavy haulage work.

To address this, Allelys worked with Mandata to develop a new Multi-Resource Planning feature, enabling multiple support vehicles, assets and personnel to be assigned to a single job.

With this feature, Alleys can allocate multiple personnel, vehicles, escorts and more to specific jobs, not only cutting down their admin burdens when managing resources, but also providing them with a more accurate, real-time view of all their assets, and where they are.

Describing the impact of this new feature, Robert says, “What we’ve really managed to do with Mandata is flip that concept on its head. We can now allocate additional resources – trucks, trailers, people or escort vehicles – to a single load.”

“It’s certainly a big step forward for us.”

This gives planners the flexibility needed for complex transport projects.

“You can push a plan forward or backward, and retain all that support resource against the job.”

This means that all the resources needed for one job are grouped together and unable to be used by other planners simplifying the planning process.

Also, communication is improved amongst the team on the day of the move as everyone has a view of the job details and documents using the Manifest app.

A Collaborative Approach to Developing New Multi-Resource Planning Feature

For Allelys, one of the biggest advantages of working with Mandata has been the collaborative relationship behind the technology.

The development of the Multi-Manning feature involved close collaboration between the Allelys team and Mandata’s product development and customer success teams.

Highlighting the importance of that partnership, Robert says, “It’s been really good. Sam Helme [Allelys’ Customer Success Manager] has been a key point of contact for us, and there’s a lot of knowledge within the Mandata team that clearly comes from practical industry experience.”

The process took time, but the result is a system that better supports the unique demands of heavy transport.

“It didn’t happen overnight. It took time to explain what we needed because what we do is very niche.”

Other features supporting Heavy Haulage 

Planning ahead often means waiting for approval from various organisations our Heavy Haulage customers work with, such as ESDAL, weeks or months before a move takes place. We’ve also created a TBC feature in GoTMS allowing jobs to be planned with resources and paperwork held against the job in the TMS. It means everything relating to the job is held in one central place, and everyone has visibility of upcoming jobs with dates yet to be confirmed.