Preventive maintenance is key to improving your overall efficiency and uptime. However, if you’re still using pencil and paper to track your equipment’s maintenance needs, you can be missing out on developing a true competitive advantage.
Instead, utilizing fleet management software can help you avoid increased costs and lost revenue.
“If you place equipment service needs in your blind spot, your equipment will break down faster than equipment that is serviced in a timely manner,” says Matt Deloge, vice president of GPS Fleet Consulting. “The cost of replacement parts and service technician labor rates are only expected to rise in the coming years. And the impact of a key piece of equipment going down can have a lasting ripple effect, altering schedules, timelines and your ability to take on more work.”
Deloge notes that small changes like using equipment management software can make a huge difference over the long term.
Benefits of Fleet Management Software
Fleet and equipment management software comes with numerous benefits, including automated reporting and real-time alerts related to maintenance needs.
“The real-time alerts will help prevent vehicles or equipment in need of service from falling through the cracks, per se,” Deloge says. “The automated reporting, if used correctly, will help ensure maintenance needs are scheduled and completed as they are coming due rather than after the service is overdue.”
Deloge says this technology can also remove the need for communication between crews and the shop altogether.
“Someone in the shop will have the ability to remotely monitor engine hours and will know when equipment is getting close to needing service,” Deloge says.
Aside from providing timely reminders on when to service your equipment, this type of software can also provide data to make more informed decisions about equipment needs moving forward.
“Maybe they find a certain make/model of equipment tends to generate more service-related costs than other pieces of equipment,” Deloge says. “That information can help facilitate informed decisions leading to more efficient/reliable equipment. By keeping a running tab of service-related repair costs a company can more easily determine if purchasing new or repairing old equipment is the right decision.”
Depending on the software purchased, there is also the capability to track lost or stolen tools. Deloge says they offer various types of attachments that can monitor engine hours for maintenance as well as location updates for recovering stolen equipment.
Finding a Good Software Solution
When looking for an equipment software solution that’s a good fit for your organization, consider the overall ease of use.
“There is an investment of time involved in the initial setup of any preventative maintenance program and platforms that focus on creating a user-friendly environment will inherently be more efficient to operate,” Deloge says.
You should also look for technology that offers a mobile app option so multiple users can help maintain accurate records of your assets.
Deloge suggests seeking out a platform where the software provider is willing and able to provide training, particularly for the onboarding portion.
He emphasizes the importance of maintaining accurate maintenance records to ensure the data provided by the software is reliable.
“They say it takes 21 days to build a habit, but in the case of preventative maintenance, it takes a bit longer,” Delgoe says. “So approach preventative maintenance with both patience and vigilance to ensure the best practices take root.”
