Why implement fleet management on lifting platforms

There are many reasons why it is necessary to implement a fleet management system in a fleet of lifting platforms. The reasons that justify this implementation have to do with the increase in the return on investment of the company, being clear that this should be the highest possible, some of the variables that determine this return on investment are:

 

1. Productivity
2. The company’s turnover
3. The costs associated with the activity carried out by the company
4. The quality of service offered to the customer
5. The risks associated with this activity

 

All these factors directly influence the return on investment that will be obtained, so we will see some examples of how, through fleet management, these can be improved. For more information, take a look at this case study.

In a context in which technical professionals such as mechanics and electricians of machinery are scarce and competition increases, it is essential to automate tasks as much as possible to optimize the use of available resources. Some examples of how to improve productivity and reduce costs and that it is perfectly possible to carry them out through intelligent fleet management would be:

Increased productivity through fleet management on lifting platforms

1. Automatic collection of machine hours, thus avoiding manual collection, paper, and even data entry manual in management systems, since this data can be collected directly from the machine automatically and sent to said management system; Karve, ProLogic, SAP, and any Software on the market can receive such data, since it can be done through the API.

 

2. Remote diagnostics: Intelligent fleet management allows to capture information from the machine that will provide capital information about the problem and, therefore, will avoid sending a technician or will allow the preparation of this with the relevant spare parts and even know how long it will take to carry out said repair before making the technical visit, consequently reducing these times, the organization and increasing productivity and cost reduction as a result.

Increase in the company’s turnover through fleet management for lifting platforms

 

The invoicing of a company is the most important part of it, without invoicing there is no company. In this sense, it is essential that this is the largest possible. I give, therefore, an example of how intelligent fleet management can help increase turnover:

Many customers who implement intelligent fleet management with B’Smart tell us that before having it they could not control if a machine works 8 or more hours, or if it has worked during the weekend. Given that due to the operation of the business the machine remains at the customer’s home during these periods, without having a fleet management system it is impossible to know if the machine has been used or not, or in what periods, and, therefore, that time cannot be invoiced either. In this sense we find customers who when installing intelligent fleet management arrive have increased their turnover by up to 1000 Euros more per week.

 

Fleet management on lifting platforms as a driver of the quality of service offered to the customer

 

Currently, competitiveness is high due to the large number of existing suppliers in the machinery rental market. Therefore, the quality of the service offered to the client is of utmost importance for the loyalty of the same, especially considering that it costs 10 times more to attract a new client than to get a new one. As an example of “de-loyalty” the following real example:

 

Company “A” has rented an electric lifting platform to use in a certain work. This machine, by its nature, must be connected for battery charging at the end of the day. A recurring case with this type of machine is that the user of the same connects it for the charging of batteries at the end of the day, and a little later another operator working in said work disconnects it to connect any other machine that requires electrical energy. The consequence will be that the next day when the user of the electric lifting platform is going to use it, it will not work because it will not be charged, since it was unplugged by the second operator. The user of said machine, therefore (without knowing that someone disconnected the machine the day before), will exercise the corresponding complaint to the rental company, for the fact that all he knows is that the lifting platform does not work. The person receiving such a complaint can imagine what has happened, but cannot prove it with objective data, because said machine does not have the intelligent fleet management system that allows to determine how long and in what periods said machine has been in charge. The consequence of this type of problem is that there is a “lack of loyalty” that will undermine the confidence of the rental client and will occupy the operators of the rental company that receive these complaints in repetitive tasks of explanation and justification of what may have happened, which do not add any value and that result in the “de-loyalty” of the client. In conclusion; the lack of a fleet management system in a fleet of lifting platforms produces a customer problem that can end with the loss of the same.