"CSA 2010 has made preventive maintenance more important than ever," says maintenance expert John Davis. "CSA demands a higher level of maintenance than some of us are used to." Davis is a fleet management consultant for Arsenault Associates, providers of Dossier maintenance management software.
“With CSA 2010 there is more to watch for than just out-of-service violations,” Davis continued. “For example if one element of a leaf spring is cracked, that wouldn’t necessarily be an out-of-service violation. But it’s still a violation for roadside inspectors. Your CSA Vehicle Maintenance score would suffer accordingly.”
Preventive maintenance is also part of the CSA 2010 mix. Inspectors can ask to see records that show periodic inspection has been performed and whether or not it was timely. Late PMs may not put a unit out-of-service, but they could count against your score.
According to Davis, Dossier 6.1, the latest edition of Arsenault maintenance software, addresses that concern with a new element called PM Compliance Dashboard & Reports.
“Dossier has always allowed you to manage a preventive maintenance program,” Davis said. “Dossier 6.1 can go a step further and produce a scorecard on how your PM program is performing. The PM Compliance tool is available in an abbreviated view as a dashboard as well as a full suite of reports.”
The dashboard can show at a glance how a PM program is doing, and whether PMs are done on time, late or early (early PMs cost money). Reports can be generated as documents or PDFs and placed on a server where they can be accessed from anywhere – during a roadside inspection, for instance. They can also be generated and sent to responsible executives monthly, weekly or daily.
All about data
According to Monica Truelsch, director of marketing at TMW Systems, “Predictive maintenance is an ongoing process that depends on data, using repair histories to project the likelihood of future repair needs. Some vehicles will experience more problems with certain systems than others, so a rigid preventive maintenance schedule for all fleet vehicles might not be optimal. Only with analysis of past repair data can you make meaningful decisions about extending or shortening PM cycles. A good maintenance software system will not only help you capture repair information in detail without adding extra work for your staff, but it will form the basis for the data analysis that helps you optimize your PMs to keep costs and down-time to a minimum.”
Truelsch goes on to report that TMT Fleet Maintenance software, which is a TMW Systems product, offers management reports titled “Reason for Repair Analysis” that can be run by unit and by shop location. These reports are critical to helping you understand the demand for proactive maintenance work, as opposed to repair work. With the reports, you can look for unexplained or unexpected incidents of demand maintenance between scheduled PM intervals. You can identify trends, or look for a high frequency of certain repairs for certain vehicles that may indicate an adjustment in the PM program is necessary.
The fleet maintenance data provides service life analysis, so you can identify the best time to replace certain components before they are likely to break. If Model X alternators on vehicles of Make Z tend to fail around 85,000 miles on average, than your PM schedules, specifically for trucks of Make Z with those Model X alternators, should include an alternator replacement as part of the first PM after 77,000 miles. Model Y vehicles may safely go longer between alternator replacements, but only detailed repair histories can help you establish safe ranges.
According to Truelsch, when choosing maintenance software, there are several important features to keep in mind. These include: parts/purchasing management; extensive management reporting – including exception alerts, notifications and key performance indicators; bar coding for parts management; fuel management; warranty management; accounting system data export; invoicing/retail management for shops working on other fleet vehicles; and shop planning, including scheduling.
Truelsch says that every maintenance staff is different and the time needed to train technicians on a new maintenance software system will vary based on their level of experience with computers and software in general, as well as any experience with a prior maintenance software program.
Basic repair-order procedures can be taught in less a day. Teaching staffers how to use management reports or to set up an effective parts inventory management schema will take longer, but not every technician needs to learn these skills. Program features like support for touch screens and bar-code readers along with interactive, workflow-based user interface designs can speed the adoption rate for new technology and dramatically improve worker productivity over software that relies on manual data entry after the fact, or that requires duplicate order entry in multiple screens.
After the initial training, maintenance managers must realize that the pace of software change is much faster than for most physical systems in use in the shop. Shops that want to stay current with the latest enhancements to the software, as well as to third-party interfaces that can offer important time and labor savings, must be prepared to keep their software current with the latest manufacturers’ releases and to provide their team leaders with ongoing training at least once each year.
A shop should evaluate the support options from a potential supplier before making a software decision, Truelsch notes. “Make sure you spend some time evaluating the vendor in addition to the software itself," she says. "You’ll want to choose a company that will be around to support the software and continue to upgrade it. It should have big enough customer base to generate a constant flow of ideas for product improvement, as well as customer advisory or user group programs that provide a way to interact with the product development group.
"Always speak with other clients and ask for an on-site visit if possible before choosing a maintenance software supplier," Truelsch continues. "Look for design features that indicate the vendor understands the realities of a technician’s duties and work environment and that offer ways to streamline and improve daily procedures. Access to an on-call software support team with an online support case tracking system, and not just a support e-mail address, are good indicators that the vendor takes customer support seriously."
Ideally, updating your maintenance software should not require a new implementation each time, Truelsch adds, but can be accomplished with rolling releases. These are smaller, but more frequent, product updates that should not cause significant downtime or require technician retraining when installed. Many shops are looking for managed service environments for their software as a way to shift the burden of updates and maintenance from their IT staff to a third–party application hosting provider, often the software vendor itself.
Tracking parts
Steve Heirlegel, Navistar parts project manager, customer contact center, says, “Maintenance software helps fleets track individual parts reliability. For instance, a slightly more expensive alternator may perform better and last longer than an aftermarket replacement. The result would be a reduction in maintenance cost per mile.
He goes on to say when choosing maintenance software, the most important features include: preventive maintenance scheduling; inventory management; work orders; labor management; warranty identification; and tire and fuel management. Additionally, reporting features relevant to vehicle reliability and total cost of ownership are very important.
As for technician training, Heirlegel says, Navistar’s software is relatively simple to use from a technicians perspective and basic training materials are provided. Additional training may be required based on the fleet’s desire to add additional functionality with the optional modules.” He adds that technicians receive regularly scheduled software upgrades, quick response to support issues, and an opportunity to share their ideas for future enhancements.
Using telematics
According to Dyan Finkhousen, mobile resource intelligence strategy leader, GE Capital Fleet Services, “Thought leaders in fleet management using telematics solutions have far better insight today to support their equipment management and purchase decisions. They also have unprecedented access to real-time analytics that can provide fast, accurate solutions for the maintenance of their fleet’s equipment.”
She goes on to say that the data that is captured through telematics is helping to solve many major fleet issues. Using telematics-based solutions, fleet managers can remotely access and monitor diagnostic codes, which are unique to each vehicle’s make, model and year and provide real-time feedback to fleet managers. Hardware providers and OEMs are constantly working to enhance solutions that will further allow fleet managers to proactively address driver and vehicle issues.
“Fuel efficiency and diagnostic information offers valuable perspective for managers considering the replacement of aging equipment,” according to Finkhousen. “Telematics-based solutions are delivering the precision business intelligence managers need to implement highly effective fleet management policies and controls.”
