MORE than one million company cars and vans are now using Fleet Assist’s nationwide network of service outlets.
Fleet Assist provides leading contract hire and leasing companies and rental organisations with a network of more than 5,000 franchise and independent service outlets which undertake service, maintenance and repair (SMR) work on vehicles supplied to end-user fleets across the UK.
Continuous expansion has enabled it to build up a wealth of SMR data to the extent that today a diverse range of organisations utilise the company’s consultancy service to obtain in-depth information on fleet car and van in-life expenditure to help establish real world whole life operating cost trends and even more accurate SMR cost figures.
Additionally, Fleet Assist’s continuous growth means that network garages are securing an increasing volume of fleet SMR work that keeps workshops busy.
Atlas is Fleet Assist’s sophisticated industry-leading online operating platform, accessible in real-time by all customers. Key users are the operational, technical and risk departments within Fleet Assist’s customer base.
Atlas Analytics is Fleet Assist’s big data solution. Launched in November 2017 it brings together the £2 billion worth of individual vehicle SMR transaction from Fleet Assist’s customers to provide them and their end-user fleets with unparalleled business intelligence into vehicle maintenance spend.
Growing by 2,000 invoices per day, Atlas Analytics gives customers the ability to slice the data to suit individual needs showing them:
- Where in the country;
- With which repairers;
- On what types of vehicle and;
- On what types of jobs SMR budgets are being spent.
Daily updates means those in charge of SMR budgets at Fleet Assist customers are no longer waiting for monthly reports; while information collected also allows them to identify and react to spend changes.
Karen Ewer, head of business development at Cambridgeshire-based Fleet Assist, said: “Sophisticated IT systems are now available to drill down and analyse all the data we have captured to provide customers with detailed information on every aspect of each vehicle’s SMR profile during its fleet life.
JCT600 Vehicle Leasing Solutions, which has 6,500 company cars and vans under lease and fleet management, was one of Fleet Assist’s founding customers more than 15 years ago.
Brian Kirby, business support director, said: “For JCT600, work authorisation was a manually intensive process and the company did not have an approved supplier network.
“Over the years we have introduced more Fleet Assist services notably including service booking, which importantly provides the company with work direction flow management.”
Mike Palmer, managing director of In Town Automotive, one of the largest independently owned vehicle servicing and repairs garage in Northampton, said: “Fleet SMR work is incredibly important for the business. Company car and van drivers who experience our service will then encourage family members and friends to use us thus generating further additional benefit for the garage.”
Recent investment by In Town Automotive in diagnostic equipment and technicians’ training means that it has the capability to handle SMR work on the increasing number of plug-in vehicles operated by fleets; and the company has introduced the TechMan garage management system to further improve vehicle workflow and management reporting.
Sam Tordoff, group operations manager at Bradford-headquartered JCT600, which operates 52 dealerships across the north of England, said: “Fleet Assist is our largest customer on the 1Link Service Network and as its client base has expanded so we have benefited by undertaking a greater volume of SMR work.
“That development is aided by the significant geographical spread of the JCT600 network across Yorkshire, up to Newcastle and south into Lincolnshire.
“The relationship with Fleet Assist is a true business partnership that is mutually beneficial. We deliver excellent customer service to their clients and that is rewarded by JCT600 securing continuous business growth.”
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