Photo Courtesy of Verizon Connect
Maintenance management software (MMS) can help fleets find problem-spots in an existing process or draw attention to oversights in maintenance.
Maintenance management software (MMS) can help fleets find problem-spots in an existing process or draw attention to oversights in maintenance.
Maintenance management software (MMS) can help fleets find problem-spots in an existing process or draw attention to oversights in maintenance.
Maintenance management software (MMS) can help fleets find problem-spots in an existing process or draw attention to oversights in maintenance.
Maintenance management software (MMS) can help fleets find problem-spots in an existing process or draw attention to oversights in maintenance.

Find maintenance ‘problem-spots’ in a fleet using management software

Dec. 7, 2018
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, for example, have been helpful to maintenance managers, because drive styles directly impact the life of brakes and tires, says Verizon Connect’s fleet management solutions engineer Chris Ransom.

“There’s been an increased focus as the industry’s begun to realize [fleet management 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.”

Furthermore, software can allow a maintenance managers a real-time look into concerns found on the road. Ozzie Flores, marketing and product manager of Teletrac Navman, a fleet management solutions company, says selecting a management software with the capability to electronically store a driver's vehicle inspection report is "the key" because it allows fleets to receive immediate alerts when defects are found outside the maintenance bay. This can allow maintenance managers to address maintenance problems head-on. 

In addition, Teletrac Navman also allows fleets to track how long drivers are spending on vehicle inspections to ensure proper and thorough inspections are being conducted. 

"From the administrator point of view, having the administrators help train drivers, and vice versa, I think that's a great tool that fleets can use and leverage," Flores says. "And being able to get incite from the maintenance department on what they would like the drivers to look for is another big key."

About the Author

Vesna Brajkovic | Associate Editor - Vehicle Repair Group

Vesna Brajkovic is associate editor for the Vehicle Repair Group.

Brajkovic has covered the transportation industry for a number of trade publications, with a focus on the vehicle maintenance and automotive aftermarket industries since 2016. Prior to that, she covered the global aviation industry as assistant editor for Endeavor Business Media's AviationPros.com, and held a number of editorial positions at an award-winning community newspaper.