Logistics provider, ATL, recently opened a new workshop, Haywood Commercials, to maintain its fleet. To ensure the smooth running of the new operation, the service centre uses Freeway’s mobile connected workshop. CVW finds out more.
Acting as a sister company to ATL, Haywood Commercials maintains ATL’s fleet of approximately 100 commercial vehicles and 150 trailers, as well as providing services to third party commercial clients.
According to Workshop Manager George Haywood, as well as expanding and modernising its engineering facilities, investing in the latest IT and software systems has also been a priority, and this has involved a full review of available software for managing the operation.
Haywood commented, “We looked extensively at the leading fleet maintenance systems and although many did certain tasks very well, it became clear that only one offered the comprehensive functionality that we needed. It was Freeway that met our needs, and the system has clear advantages for operators like us that need to optimise efficiency and productivity with a fully-integrated, all-in-one system.”
ATL use Stirling’s transport management system, and initially, this is being run alongside Freeway as the roll out of Freeway gets underway. The two systems interact, which enables fleet operations to be aware of vehicle availability at any time, and fleet data is synchronised to minimise any secondary data entry.
“The fact that Freeway could interact and easily accept data from both internal and external systems was an important additional benefit of the system,” added the Group’s System Administrator, Jamie Norvaisa.
Haywood said, “Cost control is vitally important for any operator these days and we knew we’d have to up our game when providing a competitive commercial service. Freeway gives us absolute control, as we can clearly see all our costs right down to shillings and pence. It also means we can optimise our efficiency and with performance reports generated by the system, we’ll be able to fine tune everything to optimise use of our resources.”
The system is transforming the way Haywood Commercials manages maintenance and compliance through the switch to digital and the elimination of paper records. “With up to 30 jobs a day, the paperwork could be a real burden, and it could take an hour and a half to check and then enter each sheet correctly. With direct entry into the tablets, we’ve saved many hours a day, and that’s leaving the staff time to do their job. Productivity has certainly been boosted,” explained Haywood.
Freeway is being used to manage stock levels and purchasing with barcode scanning to automatically match parts to jobs, and to monitor stock levels and the residual value of stock. PO’s are raised within the system, with easy tracking of parts from order through to picking, and ultimately the asset record. “We’re now in much better control of parts and stock levels,” said Haywood. “It means we can keep jobs running quicker and replenishment is much faster. Freeway records the cost and supplier on purchase so we can check prices and shop around for the best price.”
Haywood added that compliance is an important aspect of Freeway as it offers a ready-made solution for Earned Recognition: “We see Freeway’s Earned Recognition software feature as a really big asset, as it means we will be fully compliant with this DVSA scheme. However, it also means we can offer an Earned Recognition compliant service to others, which could prove key to attracting commercial customers; they can attain recognition without having to worry about the process and software required.”
