The Road to Successful Fleet Maintenance Software Integration

In any industry, introducing new software can be a great way to simplify the way that your business accesses and uses data. In a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, more than 90% of workers recently surveyed said automation solutions increased their productivity, and 85% said these software tools boosted collaboration across all teams. But while software can be a powerful tool to assist your employees, it isn’t as simple as just giving your team login credentials and expecting to see a return on investment (ROI) from there. For your fleet maintenance team specifically, the same story is true. When evaluating a new fleet maintenance software to improve team efficiency, there are many important factors of implementation to consider. This blog will explore the considerations and best practices to properly onboard your team to any software related to fleet management, empowering your whole maintenance team.

Outlining the Purpose of Exploring a New Solution

When you’re getting your maintenance team up to speed, make sure you start with a clear rundown of what the fleet maintenance software can do and why it’s important. It’s key to set this foundation right off the bat. Does the vehicle maintenance software focus on automation and organization, or does it act more as a tool to improve work quality? As a fleet manager, you have a long list of tasks but the first step is to evaluate what the biggest needs are to prioritize.

If your team wishes they had more free time away from tedious tasks, or to slow down unexpected maintenance work, then you would be finding a tool for accurate automation. Allow team members to be a part of identifying the opportunities within your organization that technology can be helpful.

What Implementation Should Look Like

Implementing fleet maintenance software has many different aspects to consider for a successful transition. Pricing is only one portion to evaluate as it impacts your overall budget but it’s crucial to understand what a return on investment could be. As a fleet manager, set a goal to understand the necessary steps to achieving that return on investment from the implementation of a new fleet maintenance software. 

ROI to a fleet can be broken down into tangible and intangible metrics. An intangible metric looks to more qualitative benefits such as peace of mind and higher motivation among team members. Whereas tangible metrics are quantifiable and typically related to financial or even time-related savings.

Here’s an example of real ROI experienced by a municipal fleet of 600 mixed assets that started a 3-month pilot with Pitstop. During the pilot, Pitstop identified 36 vehicles that broke down close to the scheduled preventive maintenance (PM) date. Pitstop worked closely with the team at the City of Long Beach to implement predictive alerts to avoid unnecessary downtime. As a result, the city gained $475,800 in cost savings, translating into a 7.8x ROI within that short timeframe. 

Developing a return on investment comes from the maintenance team’s commitment to utilizing an asset to its fullest potential. It can be tricky to determine what that ROI might look like with so many variables to consider within fleet performance. You may need to consider your fleet’s metrics on downtime frequency, labour cost averages, and revenue loss. Look for software like Pitstop, offering an ROI calculator that computes potential fleet cost and time savings using either industry averages or custom information. The ideal fleet maintenance software provider should also oversee the ROI during the onboarding phase and quickly address any emerging issues to keep your team on track for achieving its goals.

Getting Your Team On Board

It’s not just about choosing a fleet maintenance system that automates processes like vehicle maintenance tracking, but selecting a tool that complements the expertise of your team, addresses specific operational challenges, and leverages data for smarter decision-making. The goal is to enhance the capabilities of your fleet without overshadowing the human element that drives it. The true power lies in how well it integrates with your team’s workflow and knowledge.

At the early stages, including members in product introduction calls, or using self-guided product tours allows team members to get comfortable with the tools before thrusting it upon them. This step may be the most important in the whole process as realistically, it’s where they start to see the technology not just as another task or requirement, but as a valuable sidekick in their day-to-day work.

For instance, Pitstop’s AI solution doesn’t look to replace but rather supercharges your entire fleet. It turns data into actionable insights, giving your team the upper hand in managing operations more efficiently. This provision of enhanced decision-making tools bridges the gap between traditional fleet management and advanced technological capabilities. Doing so will help empower your team with a sense of control and understanding of how software like Pitstop can unlock more meaningful work in their day-to-day.

Integration with Existing Processes

A real concern you may have with introducing a new fleet maintenance software to your work ecosystem is how it might affect your current workflow. A fleet maintenance system might be used differently for a food and beverage company with 300 reefer trailers versus telecommunications with 1,000 sprinter vans. Pitstop integrates seamlessly into the current environment by interviewing all team members to identify processes for various maintenance tasks. Then, Pitstop can suggest the most effective ways for the team to utilize these tools, based on the insights gathered.

Take, for example, a 500-vehicle building material fleet. Their maintenance process was to only hook up a scan tool when the driver reported the engine light on. The shop manager would check multiple online remote diagnostic tools to fill in the gaps for fault code descriptions and troubleshooting guides to send to the mechanic. Pitstop helped the team integrate vehicle health reports, as a supplementary guide in their current diagnosis process. The mechanic would print the report that includes prioritized fault code information, electronic driver vehicle inspection report (DVIR) information, troubleshooting guides, and upcoming predictive alerts. Not only did this report fit into their current workflow but it saved significant time diagnosing issues for repair, but also created a thorough checklist of maintenance tasks, empowering the mechanic to prevent future unexpected downtime.

Finding the Right Software Partner for you

Finding the right software is looking for the right partner too. A true partner, such as Pitstop, is one that listens to challenges and tension points throughout the organization. A solution should be able to provide recommendations of how the product will fit within your current processes while providing significant value.

For Pitstop, this looks like:

• Frequent team status updates;
• Measuring and presenting fleet performance data;
• Being available to quickly answer questions or address problems;
• Continuously doing the most so you’re getting the highest ROI.

Whether it be technical support or even setting up custom feature adjustments, we will be there every step of the way helping you and your team succeed, rather than just giving you the login information and leaving you on your own. 

To start, get your team comfortable with embracing change, which will allow the people and technology behind your maintenance operations to thrive. Don’t let the prospect of change intimidate you; rather, see it as an exciting opportunity to supercharge your entire fleet.

To learn more about our custom onboarding process, reach out to us at sales@pitstopconnect.com

About the Author

Theodor Zogogiannis is the Business Development Coordinator for Pitstop, a powerful predictive maintenance software for the transportation and automotive industry.

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