by Johan van Niekerk, Fleet Solutions Consultant, Fleet Domain (Pty) Ltd, a member of the Argility Technology Group (ATG).
Effective fleet management and cost savings can be achieved when the vehicle life cycle is well planned from start/selection to end/remarketing. The lifecycle of a fleet follows a logical process that encapsulates all the events that have a bearing on costs. It covers: vehicle selection; purchasing; financing; operations; replacement, and re-marketing. All of the foregoing form part of a total business programme that involves vehicles and drivers. The lowest and most efficient fleet costs are achieved when all these elements are synchronised to work in harmony.
Being able to manage a fleet effectively, taking all these matters into consideration, is not an easy task.
All the foregoing processes and requirements can be managed by well developed and tested fleet management information system which is available on the market.
FleetDomain Online Business Systems (Pty) Ltd have specifically designed and developed systems available that can cater for the different levels of fleet management.
Kindly contact us via email info@fleetdomain.net or our website so we can determine your specific requirements.
Afrirent has been relying on FleetDomain – part of the Argility Technology Group (ATG) – software for some years, to help it deliver outstanding service to a growing number of clients. Afrirent is a 100% female black-owned fleet management company, servicing clients in the public and private sectors. Afrirent covers assets ranging from cars to heavy construction vehicles. Information is the lifeblood of Afrirent’s business and ATG’s FleetDomain software has become an integral part of its value proposition, says Sivile Mbekeni, Senior Contract Manager, Afrirent.
“For our clients, their fleet represents a major investment and is a key part of their business – they want to be sure it is being properly managed to maximise uptime, and that operating costs are kept under a tight rein,” Mbekeni says. “To do this, we collect an enormous amount of data, and FleetDomain provides the powerful analytics to process all that data accurately and then present it in a way that makes it easy for our clients to make the right business decisions.”
FleetDomain is an end-to-end fleet management system offered as a cloud-based service to clients like Afrirent on a subscription model. Its range of functionality covers the full life cycle of fleet management, including rentals, driver management, maintenance, licensing, fines and accident/incident management, stock and workshop plus compliance management. FleetDomain also integrates with Afritracker, Afrirent’s vehicle tracking, monitoring and recovery system, to provide real-time information on vehicles.
Jai Kalyan, Managing Director at FleetDomain, says for a growing fleet-management company like Afrirent, manual processing of information on thousands of vehicles is simply not viable.
“When you have a few hundred vehicles to manage for clients, it’s possible to get the job done using manual systems and spreadsheets, but when you get into the thousands it’s just not practical – and your information will certainly be full of errors,” says Kalyan. “For Afrirent, automating the whole information life cycle has been a huge benefit, reducing management time and improving data quality. Once the information is in our system, we can present it in any way that suits Afrirent’s clients via a customised, mobile-friendly dashboard that supports decision-making.
“We have more than 30 years’ experience in fleet management, and that intellectual capital has been built into the FleetDomain software – a massive benefit for users,” notes Kalyan.
Afrirent has a broad portfolio customer base that ranges from multinational corporate enterprises to local public sector entities. For example, Argility has worked alongside Afrirent to develop a customised dashboard for one of its biggest clients, the City of Johannesburg. The dashboard allows managers to receive reports that cover key variables important to the City’s massive fleet of vehicles operated by several entities, including City Power and Johannesburg Water.
The business intelligence provided by FleetDomain is used by Afrirent’s account managers to reduce client operating costs, simplify administration and reduce the risks inherent in running a fleet of vehicles.
In addition, FleetDomain has developed a mobile app that streamlines the onboarding of new vehicles into a fleet. Using the app, an employee can scan the vehicle’s licence disk, which the app then uses to draw down details of the vehicle. This eliminates the need for manual (and error-prone) data capture and can save enormous amounts of time for the owners of large fleets.
“Using information from FleetDomain, we can help our clients manage their fleets much more effectively, maximising uptime and reducing costs without creating a huge administrative burden,” adds Mbekeni. “Afrirent’s tremendous growth has been based on our innovative use of technology to deliver excellent service and build strong client relationships, and ATG’s FleetDomain continues to play a key role in our strategy,” he concludes.
Source: IT Web | Hi-tech Security Solutions
The Argility Technology Group
The Argility Technology Group is part of the Data and Technology cluster arm of global enterprise, Smollan.
Argility is a leading innovator and implementer of software and data analytics solutions for retailers and brands. Our unsurpassed experience combined with a depth of proprietary software and skills enables us to address the multitude of challenges facing businesses in today’s era of digital transformation.
Our origins trace back over forty years as a major software developer in the retail sector. Decades of long, prosperous customer relationships bear testament to our customer-centric culture, exceptional service, and innovative thinking. From single systems to the digital transformation of an entire organisation - we have the solutions, skills, and experience.
We solve complex business problems by supplying and supporting various customised software solutions including Data Science (Artificial Intelligence); Retail Management Systems; ERP; Warehouse; Fleet; IoT; Proximity Management and more. We strive to be more than a technology/solutions provider by partnering with our customers to become an extension of their business resources.
The Argility Technology Group is comprised of: Argility; Cquential Solutions; Fleet Domain; Skydata Communications and strategic partner, Ashanti AI. All are foremost technology developers and suppliers of enterprise software solutions for the retail, supply chain and fleet industries as well as a comprehensive IoT framework that enables enterprises around the world, to integrate, manage and optimise their growing IoT ecosystems.
Afrirent Fleet Management
Afrirent Fleet Management provides services related to the management and maintenance of fleets of vehicles for businesses or organizations. These services include purchasing or leasing vehicles, scheduling maintenance and repairs, managing fuel usage, monitoring vehicle usage and driver behaviour, and providing technology solutions for tracking and optimizing fleet operations.
Afrirent Fleet Management is a subsidiary of Afrirent Holdings. Other entities in the stable include Indalo Hotels and Leisure which owns Skukuza Golf Club, The Fountains Hotel in Cape Town and three new hotels under construction; Afrirent Logistics, which has contracts to transport coal, cement, soya and a variety of other commodities throughout South Africa. Other entities are Afrirent Energy (fibre and cable projects), Afrirent Auto (Trailer Repair and Refurbishment), Indalo Investments (Private Equity, Property Investments and Retail Development).
Johan Van Niekerk Fleet Consultant, Fleet Domain, part of the ATG group, discusses Fleet Management during Covid19 and going forward.
As with so many industry sectors, the Covid19 pandemic has massively disrupted the Fleet Management arena to an extent never previously experienced.
Disruptions of deliveries, order cancellations, non-payment of accounts and many other influences are forcing company executives and fleet managers to re-evaluate all factors that influence fleet operating expenses.
Looking at the Life Cycle of a fleet vehicle, management must focus on areas where costs can be reduced, risks mitigated and safety improved.
Fleet policies governing all the components of the Fleet Life Cycle.
Fleet policies governing all the Fleet Life Cycle points should be in place. These policies should be agreed upon by management and the fleet department and then circulated to all company car drivers and allowance users.
Selection criteria for acquiring a vehicle should be based on usage requirement, correct vehicle for job application and actual lifelong cost to the company. The only way to determine this is by applying the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) evaluation process.
Procurement principles in the selection of specific vehicles from designated manufacturers/group dealerships or individual dealers should be agreed upon at the outset. All pricing influencers such as discount, on-road costs, workshop labour and spare parts rates, downtime assistance and delivery costs should also be agreed. This can be done by having a Service Level Agreement (SLA) in place.
Vehicle Financing can be done via various options. The best financing option should be investigated by comparing Lifetime Costs and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) options. All factors from procurement to disposal must be taken into consideration. Improving cash flow and mitigating risk should be noted as key objectives.
Operations: Maintenance, Tyre and Fuel expenses can be managed by engaging various types of service providers. There are Fuel, Maintenance and eToll cards available from all major banking institutions.
Financial institutions and specialist fleet management companies also generally provide managed maintenance product offerings – you can then select the one most suited to your needs.
GPS/Tracking service providers can supply information that enables the company to change and improve driver behaviour. The result is less accidents, fines and HR cases resulting in a better safety and risk profile for the company.
Accidents can be managed by the companies Insurer or the services of an accident management service provider. Both should be able to supply comprehensive reports which in turn should translate into the creation of actions that will influence driver behaviour and highlight areas of improvement.
Fines Management, in terms of the new suggested AARTO regulations, will become a very important factor in risk mitigation. Company driver, fines as well as their private fines, will have an influence on Insurance, HR interventions and driver training.
Replacement policies govern timeous replacement of older fleet vehicles. Ageing fleets lead to increased down time, a decline in driver morale, lower resale values and incremental escalations in replacement costs.
Vehicle Disposal of terminated vehicles should be planned to coincide with delivery of replacement vehicles. The possible resale value and benchmark price reserves should be determined prior to the method of sale. Sale of vehicles can be direct to staff members, on auction managed by experts in the field or as trade-in with the new vehicle supplier. All of this should be aligned with the agreed principles as set out in the SLA.
FleetDomain has developed a fully integrated Fleet Management Information System (FMIS) that can assist companies to reduce fleet operating costs and achieve valuable savings during and after COVID-19.
By centralising all cost influencers on one platform, from procurement to disposal, the actual TCO and Cost per Kilometre can be determined, per vehicle, in the fleet. This enables accurate budgeting, future financial forecast requirements, what areas to improve on and develops a fleet department that adds value by improving the Return on Investment (ROI).
Want more information as to how FleetDomain can help you – Contact our Business Consultants on 011 712 1300, email info@fleetdomain.net or visit our website, www.fleetdomain.co.za
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Brief Bio: Johan van Niekerk, Consultant, Fleet Domain – a member of the Argility Technology Group.
Johan van Niekerk boasts 34 years’ experience in fleet management, sales training, and consulting. His skills include fleet data analytics, reporting, and financial expertise. He has a profound understanding of the fleet industry including funding options, safety, and risk assessment plus the development of safety, driver, and vehicle policies.
Over the years he has gained experience conducting fleet evaluations and audits plus providing fleet management training to executive and various levels of management personnel. He has also conducted fleet sales training courses for manufacturers, automotive groups, and dealerships.
Johan places improvement of ROI in corporate enterprises and parastatal organisations through fleet optimisation – as his main business objective. He also assists businesses with budget development, scenario analysis, forecasting and ultimately the entire management spectrum of corporate fleets from procurement through to disposal.
