You have an industrial equipment fleet spread out across multiple locations, throughout the country and maybe even the globe. You may know what those assets are and how many of each you have, but do you know how they are performing on a daily basis?

You’ve made a significant investment in your supply chain operations by supporting it with quality equipment to get the job done, but most fleet managers and owners are unaware of critical metrics that could be improving their processes, efficiency and ultimately their bottom line.  

Manual processes are simply ineffective at scale and do not provide the information to make necessary adjustments that could protect your investment against avoidable damages and inefficient use.

Technology has proven to be the key solution for scaling operations throughout most industries, and it is no exception when it comes to managing warehouse, ground support or any mobile fleets. Investing in digital fleet management solutions can positively impact the overall health, productivity, and safety of your industrial fleet for significant savings overall.

Let’s explore 4 ways that fleet management software can impact your bottom line.

1 – Extend Product Lifetimes

A well-maintained vehicle is proven to have a longer life than one that is neglected. Most fleet managers ensure that a maintenance schedule is adhered to, but what if problems could be caught before a scheduled visit?

Technology can pinpoint specific issues and damages as soon as they occur, notifying you so that you can take immediate action. A forklift in your fleet may not be scheduled for maintenance for another two weeks, yet unseen damage might have occurred before that time. Imagine the amount of damage that could accumulate before it is ever tended to.   

You’ve invested thousands, maybe even millions of dollars into your industrial fleet, so if you could get more use out of those assets by simply merely being more proactive to their needs, wouldn’t you?

2 – Pinpoint Operational Inefficiencies

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. If you aren’t receiving data about your fleet’s performance, how would you know to make changes if something isn’t working at its best?

Just how technology can pinpoint physical damages to your equipment, it can do the same when it comes to inefficiencies with fleet operations. Your vehicle density may be too high in one location and too low in another, or you may have vehicles that are left idle for too long or just not being used at all. Knowing this information about your equipment can empower you to make smarter decisions for your fleet that will ultimately impact your productivity. Support your operations by redistributing equipment to areas that need it, save on fuel costs by shutting down vehicles that are left idle for too long or scale back your fleet by eliminating equipment that isn’t necessary.

3 – Scale Visibility

Whether you are part of a large or small team, it can be virtually impossible to know everything that is happening across your entire equipment fleet, especially when they are spread across multiple locations. The cost of hiring the number of employees it would take to track each fleet manually would be astronomical and ultimately impossible for your business.  

Technology can allow one person to do the job of many by making the right information accessible from any location. By having visibility into important information such as vehicle location, equipment use data, and operator safety adherence, a single fleet manager can have the visibility needed to effectively manage all fleets, no matter where they are located. Digital solutions can cut down on employee overhead by exponentially scaling the abilities of one person.

4 – Protect Operators and Equipment

One of the most costly yet avoidable occurrences that happen in warehouse operations is operator incidents and injuries. If a safety protocol is unclear, unregulated or unestablished before someone operates machinery, significant repercussions can occur to both the operator and the equipment.

Digital platforms can verify operators’ identities to ensure only approved individuals have access to certain machinery; they can require a safety checklist to be completed before a piece of equipment can be turned on, and they can even provide a proximity sensing option to avoid collisions. Implementing safety solutions such as these can eliminate many of the dangers that can occur out in the field when it comes to operator and equipment misuse.

If these problems sound like issues you run into on a daily basis when it comes to managing your fleet, we’d love to speak with you about your current fleet operations and possible solutions that could improve your bottom line.

At Access, we pride ourselves in being the leader in digital management solutions through our comprehensive line of equipment and battery management products and cloud-based platforms. Our state-of-the-art software interfaces with our patented products to provide greater insight into the safety and efficiency of your fleet operations. Speak with an Access representative today, to learn more about our products and solutions.