How Technology is Revolutionizing Fleet Management for the Construction Industry
2020 was a year that changed global business practices forever. As a protective measure against the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities introduced a global lockdown. Industries that had to deal with large-scale operations, allocation of different resources, and depended on economic cycles were facing challenges in their business operations. One such industry is the construction industry. Here, maintaining an efficient supply chain is crucial for smooth business operation. This has generated the necessity for adopting technology to make the process productive, increase collaboration opportunities, make the industry practices safer, and solve complex communication problems. Streamlining the supply chain management process through the integration of technology into the existing system can help us achieve these.
The supply chain process of the construction industry depends on its vehicles to a large extent. In the foreseeable future, the importance of transportation in managing a business will remain unchanged. Monitoring the vehicles can cut down on the number of challenges and increase efficiency by helping businesses chalk out their plans in advance- saving both time and monetary resources. Integrating a fleet management solution into the system can achieve these goals.
What is a Fleet Management Solution?
Fleet management solutions are designed to help companies track and manage their vehicles for smooth operations. The technology automates the manual fleet management process. It provides real-time tracking insights, leading to smarter decisions. It saves you money. It allows you to schedule as well as book your fleets in advance, helping you to manage orders or shipments.
Generally, these solutions are GPS enabled, allowing you to locate, track and control your fleet in real-time. Some comprehensive solutions let fleet managers access drivers’ video feeds for complete visibility. Ease of use, accessibility, and actionable insights are some of the considerations while choosing the right solution for your company. To make the process more accessible, sometimes you do not even need to install a fleet tracker in your fleets individually, rather it is as easy as installing a GPS-enabled application on your smartphone.
The multitude of ways a fleet management solution can benefit the construction industry are highlighted below:
Optimizing The Performance Of Your Fleet
Evaluating fleet performance and cost can help business owners run their fleet at optimal speed. A fleet management solution such as Fleetio helps you track all your fleet data; be it license and registration renewal reminders or warranty information. These can later be used for tracking fleet asset status and much more from one point and for optimizing asset utilization. The GPS-enabled trackers help owners to track their vehicles at any time so that it does not go stolen or missing.
Scheduling And Booking Fleets For Maximizing Efficiency
One of the most pressing challenges the construction companies face is scheduling and booking fleets in a way that saves both time and cost. Especially in the European countries where space allocation is one of the crucial factors while managing vehicles, scheduling systems in a fleet management system can be extremely handy. The mobility & logistics unit of SELISE has built a Constructions Logistics Management Platform for Amberg Loglay, a logistics and infrastructure design company based in Switzerland. This solution provides fleet scheduling and booking facilities, and configuration of shipment delivery locations & acceptance times. It also offers a common transparent platform for all the parties involved in the project. Order or shipment management is another aspect that is handled by fleet management solutions that can help business owners forecast the number of goods being transported through these fleets and allocate them in a way that maximum efficiency can be achieved.
Increasing Productivity and Reducing Paperwork
In this industry, collaboration is a crucial component for success. Effective collaboration can be hampered with redundant paperwork, a legacy practice. It can be avoided by virtually storing the necessary and accessible information. Solutions like Fleetio and Verizon Connect can help reduce fuel consumption by monitoring vehicle diagnostics and highlighting vehicle monitoring needs.
Is Fleet Management Only for the Construction Industry?
In simple terms, no. If your company relies on a large number of vehicles for its business activities, then it has a fleet. And it also indicates that you would benefit from a fleet management solution. This can apply to various industries, like public transport, security services, education, FMCG, etc.
No matter which industry you belong to; be it construction or FMCG, having a fleet management system in your company not only minimizes the risk associated with factors such as vehicle management but also improves the efficiency and productivity of your workforce. By giving you more control over your fleet through an automated system, it allows you to concentrate on the areas that need immediate actions. Especially during the time of the pandemic, we have realized how automated systems make our lives easier and save cost and time in the long term. Due to having more control over the system, it is also easier to maintain compliance according to the fleet policies. Since the construction industry operation largely depends on the efficient management of its fleet, the importance of fleet management integration in this industry cannot be overstated. The multifaceted benefits offered by these fleet management solutions make them indispensable and worth investing in.