GPS: Optimatics offers vehicle tracking
Aeromark are helping Crown Paints to drastically reduce mobile phone and vehicle tracking costs with their Optimatics mobile workforce management solution.
Crown Paints’ 100-strong delivery fleet have saved big since deploying the solution, which includes real-time vehicle tracking, in-vehicle Dialpads and a powerful reporting and analytics engine.
In addition, Optimatics Dialpads have replaced mobile phones; meaning drivers can receive calls from stores and calls to pre-programmed numbers, but cannot make personal calls or texts.
Ian Kay, Operational Support Manager at Crown Decorating Centres, said: “Since deploying Optimatics we’ve noticed a positive behavioural change now that the drivers are aware that the business is able to monitor their actions.
“They have become ‘self-policing’ and issues such as speeding, idling in lay-bys and out of hours use of vehicles seem to have gone away.
“It is difficult to put a value on this as we haven’t had this level of visibility before but it is clearly beneficial.”
Crown Paints formerly used mobile phones to ensure stores and key customers could regularly contact their drivers, and vice versa.
However, ensuring drivers were not making calls while driving was difficult to govern, with the company also suspecting efficiency gains were possible through vehicle tracking.
“Like many companies, we were looking to economise and improve safety,” Mr Kay added.
“We identified vehicle tracking as a way to monitor and thereby improve driver behaviour, alerting us to issues such as out of hours use of our vehicles, incidences of speeding, excessive time spent parked in lay-bys and early returns home by drivers.
“As the Dialpads are hands-free, we can feel safe in the knowledge that there is no risk of our drivers breaking the law by making or taking calls whilst driving, risking their own safety and that of other road users.”
Optimatics also enabled Crown Paints to track their vehicles in the case of theft, meaning they no longer needed to have stolen vehicle recovery tracker units installed.
This feature reduced the £120 cost per vehicle, per year, of possessing the units.
Roger Marks, Managing Director of Aeromark, said: “In the current economy, businesses are looking for ways to lower wastage without having to commit to high capital expenditure.
“The right mobile workforce management and vehicle tracking systems can offer great value for relatively low investment, and start saving the customer money as soon as they are installed.
“The key is to find a solution that delivers accurate, reliable data and detailed, configurable reports in order to gain total visibility of your resources.”
Aeromark Optimatics includes service and asset management, mobile workforce scheduling, mobility apps, GPS tracking and a powerful analytics dashboard.
It aims to provide better visibility and analysis of operational data in order to save UK businesses money.
Image courtesy of USAF, with thanks.
