Contents
But where to start? If you are in charge of your company’s fleet, it is best to do some internal work before consulting the market. This is not a prerequisite, but it will ensure the success of the project and its rapid implementation. Below is the interview with Louis Ravel, Business Developer Notilus YourWay.
Assessing your needs
Before studying the market offer, it is important to evaluate your needs. Most of the time, there is a need for analysis, for a tool that makes the data speak, alerts and keeps track of its drivers, or more generally, a need to reduce costs and to optimize management and processes.
Among the issues encountered, the need for centralization is the most frequent.
“Many companies manage their fleet with Excel. It’s not uncommon for a client to use more than 10 files to manage their fleet of 300 or 400 vehicles. In some situations, Excel can do the trick. But what happens when employees are not present? Sometimes it simply becomes impossible to find the information,” says Louis.
A fleet management solution will centralize all the information, homogenize it and, most importantly, make it accessible and understandable by all.
Identify who revolves around your fleet
You have to identify the departments involved, their business needs and the connections between departments! Involving the fleet manager in the project is a no-brainer, but there are many other departments to take into consideration. For example, what are the needs of the HR and accounting departments? What about the administrative and financial director, the purchasing director, a general resources manager, or a technical manager? Managing a car fleet is all about the team and the diverse needs from different jobs in the company. You have to take into account the problems of everyone, as well as their points of friction. And don’t get me started on the operational, analytical, and reporting needs!
“We see it on a daily basis, projects that are successful and quickly add real value are always those for which companies have taken the time to do the thinking upstream.”
Reduce your costs by 3 to 6%.
Discover our SaaS solution to manage all the vehicles in your fleet.
Have a clear picture of your vehicles and suppliers
To evaluate your needs, it is necessary to make an inventory of your vehicles and different providers. There are several questions to ask yourself, such as:
- How many vehicles do you have in your fleet?
- Are they leased or not?
- How many vehicles do you renew per year?
- Has the number of vehicles in your fleet changed in recent years?
- How do you proceed with metre readings or when receiving a fine?
Also, the providers can be numerous and specific to each vehicle. Here are some examples:
- Oil companies
- Highway
- Pneumaticians
- Maintenance
- Renters
- Manufacturers
- Technical control centres
- State
It is important to make an analysis of your different suppliers (perhaps through mapping) and identify their specific needs.
Drawing up a scoping note, a set of specifications
It is only when the different points mentioned above have been taken into account that the consultation of the different market players can be carried out. While some of our clients have done this work before contacting us (reminder that it isn’t an obligation!), others have gone even further. We were recently surprised by a new client, whose project manager did a remarkable and very complete job:
“The twenty-page file was produced by a project team of three employees, with Gantt chart, the grouping of needs, objectives, research of possible functionalities and prioritization of the latter, level of maturity of the company or a test of the different fleet management solutions.”
Of course, such work is not a prerequisite, but it greatly facilitates the speed of project implementation and the understanding and alignment of the various stakeholders. In any case, when putting an asset management solution into production, the following information will be required:
- The state of the fleet
- The organization chart of the company, departments, and sub-departments
- HR files
Some car fleet management solutions like Notilus YourWay can go further (depending on your needs) and additionally require:
-
- To integrate supplier data (in our continuous efforts to centralize information);
- To change the accounting structure
About Louis Ravel
Louis RAVEL has been working in the automotive sector for more than ten years. He had the opportunity to work for a manufacturer, a long-term rental company and since 2016, he has worked in the edition of software for optimal car fleet management. For years he has been in contact with fleet managers on a daily basis, and he accompanies and advises them to help them meet their needs.
Our solution is dedicated to the moblity management. In addition to the expense reports management you can plan, book and track your business trips. It is also possible to manage your car fleet.
