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The most successful logistics managers (and sleigh based delivery drivers) were likely those who could turn to technology to cope with the busiest (and most wonderful) time of the year writes Sergio Barata, General Manager EMEA, Telogis

During the recent holiday season whilst people up and down the country were purchasing piles of food, beverages and presents for their friends and families, spare a thought for those who were able to help make this period as the song goes the most wonderful time of the year.

For fleet managers, this represents one of the most challenging periods on the calendar.

Each year, we hear horror stories of traffic jams and huge queues of HGVs and LCVs snaking for miles outside of distribution centres. We hear about angry customers waiting for their parcels and how it has ruined the holiday. With so many elements to juggle, how can fleet operators keep on top of everything?

Most importantly, how can they ensure their customers get all their present in time?

With research showing that more than half of fleet executives still use manual systems for everyday fleet management tasks, it’s no surprise that many fleets are struggling to cope with the increased holiday workload.

Technology is like Santa’s little helper for fleet and logistics managers, as it plays a vital role in helping to balance distribution centre schedules, driver timings and route traffic and ultimately keep everyone happy. For fleet operators who want to stay ahead of the competition, there’s no time to lose to adopt the latest tech.

Avoiding queues at customers or distribution centres

Long lines of vans and lorries parked outside depots and distribution centres can lead to angry locals – or even a visit from the police – and cause delays for anxious customers waiting for their packages. For fleet managers, it is vital to first look at their Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to establish what is expected of them, and then plan accordingly with the distribution centres in advance to map out the best timings for goods collection.

With this information, fleets can use a tech platform such as Mobile Resource Management (MRM) to plot out the details to spend less time idling in an endless queue. This allows for smoother and less stressful journeys, as well as happier customers.

 

Avoiding traffic jams with smarter route planning Even without the additional holiday traffic clogging up the roads, a study
earlier this year found that congestion in the UK’s major cities has created a 20 per cent decline in average vehicle speeds, resulting in a whopping 324.3 billion miles of delays altogether – and this is costing our economy around £9bn.

As a result, optimising routes to avoid traffic and achieve marginal gains is more important than ever. MRM provides managers with live analytics that allows them to plan out the best routes beforehand and establish which
driver is best placed to arrive at the desired destination the soonest, as well as being able to manage time slot deliveries. The technology can then track the vehicle’s location once it’s out on the road, and even re-route the driver at a moment’s notice if road conditions suddenly change.

With in the moment visibility over the status and location of each customer’s delivery, this not only means that drivers can take the most efficient routes, potentially reducing idling and fuel consumption, but also that managers are able to respond quickly and knowledgeably to customer questions if unexpected eventualities arise. This can ensure that customer satisfaction will
remain high even if unavoidable delays do occur.

Assisting in planning more effective schedules

Driver schedules can also be a real headache during the holiday season. Fleet and logistics managers constantly battle to make sure hours are allocated as efficiently as possible, and at the same time send the best-placed drivers to various different locations.

If not done properly, managers risk over-burdening some drivers, resulting in them clocking up hour after hour of overtime, while other drivers may remain under-utilised. Not only does unplanned overtime eat into margins, but drivers will become tired and overworked on top of all the stress of the busy holiday period.

With the DVSA suggesting it will clamp down on driver fatigue by issuing fines or infringement notices retrospectively, it has never been more important to get scheduling right. Tech platforms can monitor and analyse driver performance, analysing when drivers start their shifts, how many stops they have made, and what time they have completed their deliveries, helping to know drivers are where they should be at all times.

With this information at their fingertips, companies can easily make sure both their customers and their employees are kept happy. This saves a lot of stress for fleet managers who can be assured that everything is all under control.

 

As everyone was enjoying the holidays, the last thing anyone wanted was to be spending the next couple of weeks anxiously wondering where their deliveries are, and certainly no company wants to be responsible for dampening the festive cheer.

Fleet managers therefore must ensure that they are on top of their logistics as simply relying on outdated technology will no longer suffice.

They need something that is mobile and is able to scale as the business requires. Those with the right technology supporting them can not only increase their chances of getting meeting customers’ heightened expectations, they can manage costs, increase revenue and have a happy and prosperous holiday period.

 

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Earlier this year Telogis launched a new mobile application 'Spotlight' at the CV Show. Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News, caught up with Sergio Barata, Telogis, General Manager, EMEA to see find out more about the application and to see how it has been received in the initial months after launch.

Telogis can often be a somewhat confusing organisation to pin down in terms of where their offering sits exactly. The easiest place to pigeon-hole them for many is simply alongside other telematics software solutions such as Microlise or their new(ish) stable mates Fleetmatics. But when you scratch the surface there is a lot, lot more to the Telogis platform that resembles much of the capabilities of field service centric solutions. Then there is the big, and growing focus on mobile.

This is something that Barata confirms when we speak commenting that the general trend for Telogis in terms of innovation in their solution across the last few years has seen "a big, big drive towards mobility enablement."

And this is really where Spotlight, the latest app from Telogis sits. As Barata explains:

"We started with some simple things [in terms of mobile applications] like vehicle inspection apps and driver behaviour coaching apps etc but what we have seen is that companies want to drive mobile adoption not just on those tactical business initiatives, we are actually seeing our customers wanting to engage less and less with most applications on a computer and they actually prefer to engage with a mobile app."

"I've certainly had this experience myself, I used to log onto my online banking on my computer all the time and now I rarely do it - maybe occasionally, for something very specific, but a mobile app will get me through about 80% of my requirement and it is just so much more convenient - and in my opinion secure because of technologies like fingerprint identifications etc."

"Our customers are going through those same experiences and creating their own similar expectations of our technologies. Spotlight really brings us a big step closer to delivering that experience."

So what exactly is Spotlight?

Barata describes it as "a mobile app that essentially brings all of the key metrics and key data for any fleet manager or operations manager into a single mobile experience." The application experience itself can split up the information it presents into all of the key areas of interest whether it be safety, efficiency, job execution, productivity, fleet utilisation etc. Which could certainly give handy at a glance insight to field service managers, especially those that are often on the road themselves. As Barata comments 'it is almost replacing the need to create automated reports and alerts and having to log into to web browsers each time you want to review some aspect of your operations."

Whilst having this information easily to hand could be of use, there is a danger that it could be useless unless configurable not only to specific organisations needs but also to specific needs based on the job function of who is using it. So how configurable is Spotlight and does it have the   same full functionality as a browser based dashboard type of tool we have become accustomed to? Is it configurable from the app or does it need to be set up online?

"Data metrics that come out of these systems can be overwhelming, there is a lot of data these days" Barata comments "therefore the key to the app being impactful and simple is that you go into the web portal and set up the configuration and essentially define the experience you are looking for on the mobile in the back end."

"A lot of the key users of our systems are typically quite operational themselves. There may be a field line manager who himself is managing 20 service techs, but has to physically be in the field himself, so is in that mobile state all the time."

 

"Having the ability for him to identify that job execution i.e knowing his engineers have hit there jobs and there planned schedules for the day, is a top priority whilst having things like driver safety, speeding or vehicle efficiency etc as a secondary priority and then having the app set up so they can the metrics that are important to them immediately as they log into the app - that is what makes it the data valuable for them. With that in mind the web portals and the solutions that we have for all our dashboards are very configurable, we have very comprehensive hierarchies and all the typical options you would expect allowing you to carve out the data for the right person. Spotlight is then a natural extension of that, that takes the concept of putting the right data directly onto the right persons mobile device."

Of course it could be argued that this is nothing particularly new and that many companies have offered such reporting in a mobile experience for a while now, Telogis are just playing catch up here rather than innovating.

 

"A lot of other companies are able to providing similar applications that are providing that sort of information, I think that is certainly true," replies Barata when our conversation turns to this point, "there are some solutions out there that offer similar capabilities, but the way we have always geared our proposition, as a full platform, means we are not just offering a vehicle centric view of the business. We have got scheduling, planning, planned-versus-actual capabilities and that similar operationally focussed metrics as well. So yes, whilst on the one hand we are providing our clients with the core vehicle metrics if that's what they are looking for, which some other companies may also do, I think the real value for someone in the operational world is more around questions like 'are we hitting our plan, are we hitting our jobs, our customer service metrics' and only with a full platform you gain that sort of insight and get that sort of view."

"The goal is to give the field management a holistic perspective of what is going on in their businesses. I doubt many are looking at safety and and speeding metrics all day, every day, I think they would take a weekly view on that, look back across the week and see who may need some additional coaching based on that insight. But the real time, angry customer, or strong customer expectation stuff where a company is deploying all of their resources, they're going to be looking at that 24/7 because that is their primary objective for everyday success."

 

The question I mentioned in the opening of this article was just how do we view Telogis? Should we see them as a provider of a fleet management tool with some field service management capabilities or a field service management tool with advanced fleet management capabilities?

Perhaps with Spotlight Telogis have answered in some way that question - as the tool allows the Telogis platform to be a useful vehicle maintenance tool (especially when aligned to vehicles provided by OEMs Telogis have partnered with) for the fleet manager, whilst simultaneously surfacing the right operational data that is important for the field service manager. Could the answer be simply that the Telogis platform is capable of being both fleet management and field service management and doing both well?

 

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The rise of the connected fleet has been discussed as an emerging technology with huge potential to change field service operations for some time now. However, we are now reaching the point where the discussion must move from theoretical to practical - so just what will the impact of the connected fleet be for field service organisations?

As more and more fleets become connected with on-board equipment straight from the OEM, is there still a need for companies operating a mobile workforce to work with traditional telematics providers?

Field Service News spoke to sector experts to understand how the fleet management industry is evolving and what the impact this rapid period of technological change will mean for field service organisations.

So just what exactly does the rise of connected vehicles mean for the fleet management sector?

“Ultimately, the rise of connected vehicles means both telematics suppliers and customers will benefit from a higher quality of vehicle information and reduced operational overheads,” explains Sergio Barata, General Manager, Telogis EMEA.

“It should be viewed as an opportunity for telematics providers to refocus their solutions so they leverage the new possibilities these technologies will bring. For different providers this may mean different things, but at Telogis our focus has been to develop a single connected platform that expands the value of our proposition beyond the vehicle and focuses on improving the operational processes within the enterprise, such as integrated route planning and mobility tools,” he adds.

However, John Gorbutt, Regional Sales Leader, Greenroad highlights that alongside the new opportunities that these latest technologies present, new challenges are also emerging.

“The incredibly accelerated growth of the connected fleet vehicle presents challenges, as well as opportunities,” he begins.

 

“First, for all fleet operators, both dispatched and un-dispatched, the driver’s function will be drastically different sooner than anyone imagines.

The driver will be at the focus and responsible for their own productivity and safety while behind the wheel. Essentially, as new, non-telematics based solutions enter the market the driver is now more connected than ever.”

“They will not only use their mobile device as the centre of their work day, they will have access to their own driver behaviour data along with various contextual information to make them as productive and safe behind the wheel as possible. These new systems are now coming onto the market at a fraction of the cost of traditional telematics systems but still provide all the same and better functionality.”

Meanwhile Stephen Watson, Microlise Director of Product believes that there is now an onus on fleet management solution providers to harness the technologies and drive the solutions forward for the industry as a whole.

“Any significant change in an industry is always a threat to the existing suppliers in that market, however where there are threats there are of course opportunities!” He comments.

“Provided organisations acknowledge the changes that are starting to happen, the changing requirements of the operators and use the expertise gained within the industry to their advantage, there is no reason to fear the rise of connected vehicles.

More it is an opportunity to embrace the evolution and provide greater value in an exciting area that touches us all.”

So what enhancements can field service organisations expect to see in the not too distant future in terms of their fleet management tools?

Barata believes that fully connected fleets will bring “new levels of data quality and accuracy not seen today, as the connectivity revolution continues apace.”

“We’ve already seen with partnerships, such as ours with Ford, that increased connectivity helps drive new business outcomes, based on data delivered through a holistic, connected vehicle approach,” he asserts.

“Through the integration of more data points –  such as seat belt usage data for example – we can help improve the safety of fleets, and we’re already seeing an increase in the use of preventive maintenance on engines to reduce downtime, thanks to Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) diagnostics data.”

However, when questioned on what fleet management will look like as fleets become fully connected across the next five years Watson thinks that we may be getting slightly ahead of ourselves “5 years seems ambitious!” He begins.

“I think we are still a way off fully connected fleet operations. There are a number of EU and UK government innovation schemes designed to support organisations in the enormous R&D costs that come with the technology, however there are still significant legal and regulatory hurdles to be overcome before fully connected vehicles becomes mainstream.”

Yet, Gorbutt insists that the telematics sector as a whole is well overdue when it comes to ultimately delivering the return on investment it has always promised.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that the promise of track and trace telematics didn’t provide the long term value most fleet operators expected,” he asserts.

“When weighed against the cost of the system, the ROI is minimal at best. So over the year’s telematics providers have raced to provide more and more features to supplement the high cost of live tracking. This has resulted is millions of customers paying outrageous sums for a system grounded in technology from 2001 or earlier.

“With new systems coming on board every day that are based on cheaper, high quality networks and mobile devices, any fleet operator can get an entire fleet up and running on a mobile based system that includes everything from live tracking to driver behaviour at a fraction of the cost.”

However, whilst the promise of improved fleet management tools at a reduced cost is one that will appeal to all field service organisations, it is also worth considering how this will change the role of the fleet manager.

“With this new mobile technology, security will be key,” Gorbutt explains.

 

“Hence there will be an evolution in the role of the new fleet manager, who will become more of a chief mobile officer in charge of everything from mobile deployment of solutions or cyber/mobile security and will encompass the productivity and usage of everything included in the new smart mobility ecosystem.”

Indeed, as we begin to discuss fleet management solutions that are mobile centric the lines between field service systems and fleet management systems are becoming increasingly blurred. Is there still a need for field service organisations to invest in both sets of tools?

“I guess this depends on the definition of field service management software,” Watson comments.

“It’s fair to say that concepts of engineer location, performance, planning and resource management are all now widely available, however there are a number of functions of field service management that would not currently feature in a standard fleet management software solution.”

“From an investment perspective then maybe M&A activity will see customers able to purchase a suite of products from a single supplier and these products will be more broadly integrated. But with the high levels of API integration available from suppliers like ourselves, companies have the opportunity to get best of breed solutions and services from the organisations most able to support their current and ongoing needs.”

Gorbutt echoes this sentiment commenting that he doesn’t “think there will be a decisive divide between the two technologies.”

“There are a few companies that will continue to try and cater to both fleet based companies and field service companies but field service based organisations are so specialised and their needs are so diverse that I don’t think they can get everything they need from one provider.”

 

He is also in agreement with Watson’s thinking when it comes to the belief that continued integration will be a highly important part of the wider ecosystem of field service technologies as technologies continue to evolve.

“What will be most important is the ability for these different systems to “talk” to each other.” He comments.

“For instance, the fleet management system must be able to send live tracking data to the field service customer location and routing system and all must work seamlessly with the driver safety application that ensure the driver is arriving safely. Connectivity is the new world and any service provider that doesn’t have all their systems sending and receiving data from one another will be obsolete in a matter of 5 years.”

However, Barata holds a different view, believing that as these lines blur it is those organisations that utilise a platform-based approach that will see the greatest benefits.

“The need for enterprises to adopt these solutions will continue to increase rapidly in the coming years, and soon they will become ubiquitous, leaving those who choose not to adopt them behind,” he explains.

“The good news for them is there are already suppliers like ourselves out there who can provide a platform which meets the needs of both their fleet and service operations. The previous challenges they faced in integrating data produced by separate technical, operational and strategic systems – often provided by different suppliers - can be avoided by partnering with suppliers that can deliver a single solution.”

The exact role of fleet management for field service organisations in the near future maybe uncertain, but we can be certain that is set to change.

 

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Sergio Barata, General Manager EMEA, Telogis looks at the ever evolving nature of the professional driver

The life of a professional driver has changed dramatically over the last few years.

Gone are the days of being cast off in virtual isolation on the road. Instead, drivers are now part of a hyper-connected organisation joined up by tech, and this is allowing managers and a network of drivers to be linked in totally new ways.

One man and his truck has turned into one man, his truck and his digital network. Almost every piece of driver activity can now be turned into data in real time and then optimised for the operation’s benefit.

It’s saving vehicle-based businesses millions of pounds and completely changing how a driver operates in the cab.

But this hasn’t happened overnight. What are the steps that have got us here? And how does it affect the job role today? Here we look at the milestones that have changed the concept of a lone driver and how the driving experience has been turned on its head.

Telematics rolls into town

The first major development that connected drivers was the advent of basic telematics. It allowed managers to see where their drivers went, the miles they covered, and the fuel they spent. For the first time, drivers were now sent on jobs knowing that bits of information about their driving would be fed back to their managers.

Drivers responded by paying greater attention to the management of their vehicles, communicating with head office via traditional telephone systems to find the quickest route to get the job done.

Software hits the cab

The next step came when operators began demanding intelligent software which could provide greater insights through data aggregation and analytics.

With software-based services, managers were able to measure variables such as harsh braking, speeding and fuel consumption, with information collated and stored in the cloud for remote management. Relative to the size of each taskforce, the output was business critical data.

Enter MEM

‘Mobile Enterprise Management’ software, or MEM, connects each member of the workforce more closely than was previously thought possible. In a fleet context, it allows vehicles and drivers to communicate and interact with data in real time, gaining insights from other parts of the network which can be applied to their own vehicle.

This information, sourced from thousands of lone drivers across the network, can also be fed into other separate parts of an organisation’s network.

Whether it’s a small commercial operation or a sprawling international supply chain, mobile and the cloud can connect an entire organisation from the front line to the back end, helping businesses optimise their operations and drive ROI.

The Lone Driver 2.0

It is in this context therefore, that we are able to establish a new profile for the lone driver, combining traditional expertise with the new role as an enabler within the wider data ecosystem of an organisation

Drivers are a no longer a remote asset once they leave the conventional four walls of the enterprise.

They are now an extension of that enterprise, creating a constant stream of data and interactions which are fed back to their organisation’s operations team via a cloud-based platform, ensuring all aspects of the network are optimised.

The data driver

This means that in the modern era, lone drivers are more important than ever before.

They are responsible for creating a vast amount of this data, whether that be through logging their commercial hours, carrying out their Driver-Vehicle Inspection Report or simply driving their vehicle, generating performance data.

The future?

As technological innovation continues apace, the adoption of autonomous vehicles looks likely to represent the next major change in field operations, with some critics citing this development as the beginning of the end for drivers.

On the contrary, drivers have demonstrated their ability to adapt to technological change on many occasions already, and their longevity won’t end here. With their increased importance in the data ecosystem, the profile of the lone driver may yet change. But they will still be important as ever.

 

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In the third and final part of our exclusive interview with Telogis UK General Manager Sergio Barata, we find out what Sergio's thoughts are on the impact of smart phones on field service software and what he thinks is the next stage for the field service industry...

FSN: Given your such a fan of the iPhone, do you think that the consumerisation of mobile devices has led to a major shift in the design of the interfaces you and your competitors are designing?

SB: Telogis never really developed heavily in a Windows Mobile development - we just never felt it was right for us. Our belief was that these things would take care of themselves.

There were companies that would have 20 engineers just developing an environment [for Windows mobile]. We just felt that this was never a model we could get behind, however, we were always happy to partner and integrate and take a more open approach.

Now with the newer iOS and Android systems we can take advantage of the situation and have some pretty compelling technologies. Just downloading an application and updating it now is completely seamless whereas previously companies had to throw thousands of pounds at project management to get an update out to the field. So we are big believers in what’s happening with the mobile handsets and tablets. 

FSN: What is the biggest trend in solutions that you are seeing come to the market? What are your clients most commonly looking for today that they weren’t asking for two years ago?

SB: Today the market is asking for our platform. Two years ago we were pushing a platform and the benefits because we believed it was the right way forward, even though the market wasn’t necessarily asking for it. There were some organisations that were interested in that conversation - today we are finding that most of the market is asking for it.

One objection I have heard on a number of occasions is why would I deny the company the opportunity to have best of breed in all particular elements?

That’s an interesting discussion in that a large part of our platform, if you took it individually, is best of breed anyway. ABI Research last summer rated us as the most innovative telematics solution you can buy anywhere today. Even if we ranked third or fourth in each of those disciplines, it’s all about leveraging the data that each investment creates, rather than the sum of each of those pieces.

Now customers know what they are trying to achieve and ask us to present our platform. Often they may have a requirement for one of the elements, but it is now a very easy conversation to show the benefits of the whole holistic approach.

FSN: What do you think the next biggest technological advancement in field service will be?

SB: I think that bringing more Big Data to the field service individual, to the actual agent, is something we will see. I have seen it with driver behaviour for example. The traditional driver behaviour solution is that you put a unit in my vehicle, I drive and if I violate the rules then my line manager prints it out, confronts me and then hopefully I improve.

We have a solution called Telogis Coach, which has all of those same elements but does it in a very non-confrontational way.  It gets the driver to buy into the process through a portal on his phone, which just creates a different dynamic and environment for him to digest the information. I personally think treating agents in this way will engage them more positively.

People are ready for more information as long as it is done in a way that the employee can say, “okay this is positive, it’s not big-brother, they’re not policing me”. The trends towards more efficiency will probably add more benefits for the agents as well, whether profit sharing or incentives.

FSN: What is the biggest difference between when you started in the industry and today?

SB: I think the biggest difference between when I started and today is now we have new devices and tools to deliver the level of information required, which along with more platforms mean you can bring more and increasingly diverse data together and interpret it better. As a result we are seeing greater understanding both from agents working in the field and in the central offices alike, helping organisations work smarter and better.

Missed the first parts of this interview? Find part one here and part two here

Want to learn more about Telogis? Find more news, features, videos and resources in the Field Service News directory 

 

In part one of this exclusive interview with Telogis' Sergio Barata we learnt both about his personal background and the background of the company. In this second part of this three part series we discuss the growth of Telogis and the technology that makes Sergio tick.

FSN: With the launch of progression a few years ago Telogis stepped much more firmly into the field service software arena rather than solely fleet management. We have seen similar moves from other companies with a fleet technology background such as Trimble and TomTom, are the lines blurring between mobile workforce management and fleet management technologies?

SB:There is no doubt that telematics on its own is a pretty competitive space with a low barrier to entry. I think Trimble, TomTom, Telogis, companies like this, have taken that next step of investment in terms of R&D in trying to develop a more holistic approach. I do think that the companies that win will be those that offer true value to any organisation.

FSN: Since 2009 Telogis has been on the acquisitions trail with the purchase of Darby, Remote Dynamics, Integris, Onboard Advisor, Maptuit and Navtrak across just three years. How have the acquisitions of these companies shaped Telogis’ own development both as a company and also in terms of your product lines?

SB: We have been fairly aggressive in our acquisitions, having secured companies for either market share or for more depth in a particular segment of the market place. For instance we acquired Maptuit as a very dynamic navigation technology that we have integrated into the rest of our offering. We are always monitoring the UK market to see what makes sense.

FSN: One of these acquisitions, Onboard Advisor was a risk reduction product and you subsequently partnered with Travelers Insurance on their IntelliDrive fleet safety program. How important is technology in improving driver safety?

SB: The telematics driver-profiling element is essentially a tool for our largest customers, the enterprise fleets, to help bring in behavioural change that will increase opportunities to save on fuel and insurance costs.

We look for technology that allows us to engage the drivers directly in an innovative way to help manage and improve their driving behaviour; the idling, how they drive - sudden braking, acceleration, their speed. We then needed tools and dashboards to take that underlying data and the driver profiles to help large organisations change business practices to make improvements.

Certainly Onboard Advisor and the tie up with insurance telematics has been very important for us and our largest accounts, which have global fleets that deal with these issues and can now take advantage of this approach.

FSN: What was the first piece of technology that made a huge impression on you both personally and in a work environment?

SB: I think the biggest impression on me personally as well as the workplace, has been my iPhone.

Working in a technology led industry I got into smart phones and the Internet early. I’ve always been an early adopter but I don’t think anything has changed the way I think as when first picked up my iPhone. I had Nokia N70s, Blackberrys and so on, but nothing has been as complete, as easy to use and as seamless as the iPhone. 

 

Read part one of this interview here

Find out more about Telogis in our online directory here

The explosion of mobility and connected services means that fully integrated fleet management, route and job allocation is now a compelling option. Sergio Barata, General Manager of EMEA at Telogis explains.

Traditionally fleet management systems, navigation, route optimisation, workforce management and job allocation are different disciplines, provided by a different set of vendors, and used by different functions within the enterprise. Typically these systems didn’t talk to each other, creating silos of data. However, with the current proliferation of remote working, reliable connected services and affordable mobile devices, enterprises are now starting to recognise that the systems should be integrated and, indeed, there is no reason for them not to be integrated.

Maintaining a piecemeal approach to mobile resource management is a huge overhead in terms of both resources and cost, individual solutions lack scalability and at best provide a patchy service in terms of meeting the objectives of the organisation. A lesson that many enterprises are now learning and a situation that many are looking to rectify with a fully integrated location platform approach.

One-stop-shop, global visibility

Recently developed, a platform approach to location intelligence means that one company provides everything to do with managing mobile resources, whether vehicles, equipment or personnel. This supports enterprise-wide strategies for handling mobile IT.  A single platform reduces costs, risk and overhead.  A platform approach can be rolled out across disparate regions, giving international visibility across the entire organisation.

A single platform giving scheduling, route optimisation and fleet management in one place is able to provide a dashboard to cover all, customisable to the individual user so that they see exactly what they need to see in order to do their job most effectively.  With one system, users log in just once to see everything on one screen.

Cloud delivery, faster ROI

Delivery via the Cloud brings a whole host of additional benefits.  Faster return on investment (ROI) is often the initial attraction, but longer term reduction in maintenance overheads, and a total lower cost of ownership, are also significant cost factors.  With no upfront capital costs, cloud solutions eliminate the need to purchase or upgrade servers, operating systems or database versions.  Cloud services minimise costs by leveraging existing IT investments, so expenditure on infrastructure and the staff to maintain it is minimised. Business benefits include access to a global solution, full integration between disciplines enabling better operational planning and execution, and business decisions taken based on fact.

In addition, cloud solutions are continuously updated, so you get the best.  Cloud solutions provide new and valuable capabilities through the lifetime of the service, ensuring that your solution keeps pace with business requirements and changing technology.

Harness technology, empower staff

A cloud delivery model coupled with hardware agnostic solutions, enables organisations to use existing kit, with no need to upgrade or replace devices already installed in vehicles or issued to staff.  When all you require is a web browser, there is no need to standardise on hardware and in many cases enterprises are able to take advantage of the consumerisation of IT and ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) trends.  Subject to some restrictions due to security considerations, staff can use devices of their choice.  This keeps staff happy and can reduce hardware spend.

Improved access and mobility means staff are freed up to concentrate on the next job, rather than spending time going back to base. Workers have constant access to real-time data which support decision making. Supervisors and managers can ensure that the best person in the right location with appropriate skills and equipment, is allocated the job.

One version of the truth

One system, one version of the truth, updated in real time enables enterprises to streamline business operations and drive efficiency.  The ability for multiple people to work on one cloud-based solution helps to drive efficiency with one-time data entry. Managers/supervisors/workers can capture job/work allocation information, using smartphones. Field updates are reflected instantly for all to see allowing users in multiple locations to collaborate.

The real time nature of cloud solutions means that (restricted) access can be given to subcontractors or even third parties, when working in collaboration.

Operational benefits

The case for a platform approach delivered via the Cloud is compelling in terms of ROI on the systems in a replacement/technology refresh situation, however, the operational benefits from such systems are also highly attractive:

Workforce Efficiency – routes are optimised, staff are allocated jobs based on equipment, skills, location, and any other criteria required

Fleet management – vehicles are maintained, service requirements monitor, mileage accounted for, including out of hours usage

Fuel savings - Analysis of information from accounts/fuel receipts, mileage, routes taken, ensures best value

Driver behaviour – in-vehicle telemetry alerts to poor driving behaviour such as harsh breaking/acceleration, sharp cornering, driving without seatbelt etc, enabling training to be given to ensure safety is maintained

Better customer service – knowing the location of staff and resources means information can be given to customers on estimated time of delivery/arrival, helping to improve customer relations

For more information about how your organisation could benefit from a Location Platform approach please visit: www.telogis.co.uk