The ability to quickly and effectively address problems with vehicles to avoid costly downtime has always been critical to the success of every fleet. The means to do so, however, continues to evolve with time.
The industry is moving beyond simply reducing repair time by advancing ways to identify issues with vehicles before they break down. The technology being developed today serves to allow fleets to manage their decision-making processes and monitor their vehicles in real time, effectively transforming maintenance from a reactive practice to a proactive one.
FULL VISIBILITY
According to Rich Ferguson, senior vice president, aftermarket and soft products for the Volvo Group (www.volvo.com), the integration of everything on a vehicle is coming. Fleets will be afforded visibility of an entire vehicle from a single location, and reliable real-time connectivity to inform their maintenance decisions through remote diagnostics.
The keys to making that happen, he says, are integrated hardware from the factory and cloud-based data integration, defined costs (achieved by rolling service charges into the truck purchase) and display mirroring to personal devices such as smartphones and tablets.
“By bringing technology together with people to provide information, (fleets) can make great decisions as it relates to what to do,” says Ferguson.
THE BLUEPRINT
If increasing uptime is the ultimate goal, and if connecting people and technology is the blueprint for accomplishing that goal, then remote diagnostics could be the tool to get the job done, Ferguson believes. Having access to accurate and informative vehicle data will allow Volvo to better identify trends, reduce diagnostic and repair times, as well as develop more effective products and solutions, he says.
Remote diagnostics, Ferguson predicts, will also make the following possible by 2020:
- Self-evaluating vehicles
- Vehicle repairs done via wireless update
- Diagnoses of older vehicles done with physical tools and updates sent remotely
- Changes of vehicle parameters (i.e., road speed)
- Reduction in average diagnostic time and repair time
- Elimination of the need to stop at dealerships (i.e., software campaigns)
- Improved driver and fleet efficiency
- Predictive vehicle analytics
CONTINUOUS EVOLUTION
Advancements in technology are changing the way fleets are thinking about uptime, the ways they can go about increasing it, and the investments they can make to turn operational goals into real, impactful results. One thing remains the same, however: the importance of being able to prevent costly downtime through best practices and precise solutions.
“Everyone is interested in uptime, because that day of downtime is very expensive,” says Ferguson.
