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18 Fleet Maintenance | November/December 2018
» Maintenance management software (MMS) can help fleets find problem-spots
in an existing process or draw attention to oversights in maintenance.
Photo courtesy of Verizon Connect
Find maintenance ‘problem-spots’
in a fl eet using management software
Use the right data to
help justify new and
improved processes.
Introducing a change to the
maintenance process begins
with identifying a problem.
Maintenance management
software (MMS) can help fleets
find problem-spots in an existing
process or draw attention
to oversights in maintenance.
Ultimately, the software can
be used as a tool to implement
solutions, justify them and
keep track of their success.
“Problems” can pop up in maintenance
processes after any
change or introduction of new
equipment, so it’s important
to routinely review these processes.
Remember to plan for
today’s problems and for the
future of the fleet by using data.
“Make sure that the software
and partner that you choose
helps you to optimize tomorrow,
not just address today’s
problem,” Dossier System’s
Bob Hausler, vice president of
marketing and technology, says.
Dossier Systems provides fleet
maintenance management
software solutions for the surface
transportation industry.
Even without any obvious
changes to maintenance processes,
ReliabilityX CEO George
Williams suggests a review of all
processes at least every three
years. ReliabilityX is an asset
management and operations
consultant company. Echoing
that advice, Hausler says
maintenance management
software needs to adapt to
anything that comes up in
order to avoid downtime.
“Changing software can create
a significant business interruption,”
Hausler says. “You
don’t want to buy something
and then outgrow it in three
years and have to start over.”
JUSTIFY NEW
PROCESSES
Oftentimes, the maintenance
department can be seen as a
cost center. When implementing
a new process, it’s possible
there can be an increased cost
or commitment , which could
be met with resistance from
stakeholders in an operation.
By using data from an MMS,
fleets have a way to translate
“problems” and “cost” into
return on investment.
“Meeting with all internal
parties involved in a true ‘fleet
maintenance’ program for your
company, and understanding
all stakeholders and what
they need from the tool, is a
helpful exercise to come up
with your real requirements
for an MMS,” says Vehicle
Tracking Solutions’ (VTS)
Chief Technology Officer
Ryan Wilkinson. VTS is a fleet
tracking technology company
which offers Silent Passenger,
a cloud-hosted, web-based
fleet management and fleet
maintenance platform.
The data provided by an
MMS can give leadership
(and technicians in the bay) a
reason to get onboard with
an incentive. It converts a
problem into a solution. And
once there’s a solution, fleets
can start implementation.
“Analyzing that data and using
it to take action is the payback
of having a good system,”
Dossier’s Hausler says. “Good
maintenance software should
be able to tell you everything
from preventive maintenance
compliance, to which techs
do best against your standard
repair time, to life-cycle
replacement projections for
your assets. Don’t just look for
the reports that are needed
immediately, look at the library
of available reports to see
what could help your fleet
operation in the future.”
Hausler offers one example
of how using data can benefit
a fleet: having integrated
use of VMRS codes.
“Having parts and labor properly
coded will identify where
the money and time are going
and provides the information
needed to analyze problems
and spot trends,” Hausler says.
Software can also give fleets
support for introducing
preventive maintenance
practices which may be
out of the purview of the
maintenance department.
Features for tracking driver
habits have been helpful
to maintenance managers,
because drive styles directly
impact the life of brakes and
tires, says Verizon Connect’s
fleet managment solutions
engineer Chris Ransom.
“There’s been an increased
focus as the industry’s begun
to realize fleet managment
software is not just about
being able to set reminders
and understanding when
your vehicles have a problem,”
Ransom says. “Those are all
really important, but now
fleets can be proactive about
things beforehand from a
driving styles standpoint.”
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