Goodyear Dunlop expands FleetOnlineSolutions

Goodyear Dunlop’s pan-European internet-based tyre management system, FleetOnlineSolutions which was launched to truck and bus fleet operators late last year, has been expanded. The improvements that have been made include major functionality upgrades, web-based interactive reporting and intensive training, says the tyre manufacturer. There are now more than 3,500 contracted vehicles on the system, based in three countries. FleetOnlineSolutions utilises the internet and is accessible to the customer, contracted tyre service providers and Goodyear Dunlop. All details of a customer’s tyre contract are available via the secure FleetOnlineSolutions website which also handles all reporting, invoicing and stock ordering, related to contracts. This means that whenever a customer needs tyre-related work to be carried out, it is done exactly to the specification agreed in the contract. In other words, the service-provider works precisely to each customer’s individual tyre policy and pricing structure as originally agreed with Goodyear Dunlop.

In the case of work being carried out in a country with a different language, the system shows the service provider the contract in the relevant language so there can be no mistakes. Similarly, invoicing is done direct via the system, removing any delays obtaining guarantees of payment and at the price stated in the original contract. This means minimum vehicle downtime. A further benefit is that FleetOnlineSolutions provides operators with on-line reports and full operational visibility. As well as reducing downtime on the road it saves hours of administrative time for the fleet operator who further benefits from a potential reduction in the amount of paperwork. The improvements that have been recently introduced relate to giving greater provision to service providers in recording jobs over the web. Better reporting, resulting from this, and web-based interactive reporting, which has just gone live, mean greater transparency and greater ability to optimise the use of key performance indicators in fleet analysis. Training is equally important because although this is basically a simple system, not every service provider may be used to using web-based systems.

“Since we launched FleetOnlineSolutions last year, we have been working intensively to ensure that it provides everything it promises and that everyone involved with the system can maximise its advantages. This has meant a comprehensive training program across Europe and several improvements to the system itself,” said Henry Johnson, Managing Director for Goodyear’s European truck tyre operations. “This is a very powerful management tool which we have developed in conjunction with a group of customers who we have worked closely with since its prototype stages. Their reaction has been most positive and they are reaping the benefits in the form of less vehicle downtime and reduced operating costs.” FleetOnlineSolutions was developed in conjunction with software development company SAP and it uses the Goodyear central server. Here a database covering each contract-company’s vehicles, locations, tyre policy, agreed terms and services covered is held which is accessed by FleetOnlineSolutions. If required, FleetOnlineSolutions can cover the full spectrum of tyre services including regrooving, retreading, breakdowns, customers’ own tyre stock management and the supply of other brands.

The specification for FleetOnlineSolutions was drawn up in September 2002 and completed in November of that year, when the realisation stage commenced. Four software houses were approached to tender for the project. German-based SAP, which has a long involvement with Goodyear, won the contract to develop FleetOnlineSolutions and work started immediately. Testing and validation commenced in April of 2003 and the prototype was signed off in May, when the finalisation of the pan-European settings was made. In August 2003, pilot trials started in the UK involving Lex Transfleet on its Amtrak operation in Cannock, Exel Special Products division on its Rank Hovis contract in Southampton and bus operator Thamesdown in Swindon. In September 2003, the trials were widened and the pan-European pilot started with Netherlands-based Ewals Cargo Care, operating in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic and Sweden. FleetOnlineSolutions was launched in October 2003 and since then the number of vehicles using FleetOnlineSolutions has grown to over 3,500 with 10 fleets now contracted. These are based in France, the Netherlands and the UK and more than 2,600 of those vehicles are on trans-European operations.

A FleetOnlineSolutions customer who requires service will go to the nearest of Goodyear Dunlop’s 1,300 TruckForce tyre dealers. The dealer will then logon and enter the customer’s details onto the FleetOnlineSolutions system on the Internet. This will then display the terms and details of that particular customer’s contract in the language required. A series of illustrated screens help the workshop to complete the work to the customer’s exact requirements (including items such as wheel nut torques and tyre pressures). When the job is completed, the customer is invoiced at the contract price in the currency chosen and the workshop paid accordingly. The records are updated and the customer can see that his job has been completed. Not only that, any replacement stock will automatically be ordered for the service provider.

FleetOnlineSolutions is available to virtually any truck or bus fleet operator. The basis is the tailor-made contract, which will typically identify each vehicle (including trailers) and show what tyre, identified by its individual serial number, is fitted to each axle position, the tyre pressures, recorded tread depths and replacement tread depth policy. It would typically also show which tyres can be regrooved, those that can be retreaded and list tyres that the customer may hold in stock. It will further tell the service provider what tyres to fit in each position in the case of a replacement being required. A pricing matrix covers all services provided under the contract and, once the service provider has ‘signed-off’ the job on screen, the customer is invoiced at the contract price and terms (e.g. weekly, monthly or per kilometer) in his chosen currency and the service provider is paid. The benefits to the fleet operator of FleetOnlineSolutions include reduced costs and financial visibility. Reduced costs translate into agreed trans-European pricing, reduced paperwork and above all less vehicle downtime. A further benefit in reduced time comes where guarantees of payment and the translation of information would normally be required.