While it might sound a tad futuristic, making the decision to alter your fleet operations with the influence of AI predictive maintenance is a wise one. Companies that do this are sure to remain relevant in an industry that’s currently going through an evolutionary phase.
There are many ways Cartrack has helped companies make better business decisions regarding their fleets, but this one has been a big money saver:
AI-powered software that predicts your vehicle’s maintenance needs.
Yes, it’s been here for some time now. Does it sound too good to be true? Well, it’s not. Here’s everything you should know about predictive maintenance software and how to integrate it into your fleet TODAY!
The five stages of implementing AI predictive maintenance into your own business are making an informed purchase, installing the IoT devices & software, training your staff how to use it, testing & tweaking operations, and scaling. If you’re about to make this very beneficial decision for your own fleet company, here’s how to go about it.
Do some research first. You’ll want to choose a software company that has a good track record for implementing AI predictive maintenance software. But you’ll also want to choose a company that’s known for good after-sales service.
It’s important to get the right advice from the start. A consultant should be able to gauge your fleet situation and offer you a package that works best for the size, type, and operations of your fleet.
From there they should always offer you a solid customer support structure that gets you through the teething stages, testing phases, and initial implementation. And when we say “Do your research,” we mean REALLY do a deep dive on what other users have said about the company you’re considering.
All these steps will help you make an informed decision about which predictive maintenance software is the best one for your company, your drivers, and your fleet of vehicles.
Now comes the hardest part. Implementation is a collaboration process between you and the software company you’ve selected. At Cartrack, we’ll walk you through the installation of IoT devices and the software itself, but there are a few things you need to do on your side.
First, get the logs of all your vehicles and their maintenance history. You can feed this into the new system for a more accurate reading from the AI-powered software.
Second, rank your vehicles from high to low priority. Priority shouldn’t be based on just how much they cost, but also how much you’d lose if they stopped working (even for a short time).
Check if it works. Do a quick test run to see how the AI interprets your manually fed data with its own diagnostics of your vehicles. You should get an easy-to-read schedule that more or less corresponds with which vehicles should be tended to first, and which can run service-free for a while longer.
At this point you should start seeing some early warning alerts that’ll turn your attention to the most important issues. These will be based on the priority list you created, the historical data you fed into the system, and the AI’s diagnostics of each vehicle.
Which staff need to know what? Your fleet managers are the most important people to educate on this new software. They should discard any ‘calendar-run’ maintenance schedules and trust the predictive AI to give them a more accurate reading of which cars, trucks or buses need attention.
Your drivers should also know that the vehicles they drive are now being monitored for things like harsh braking, speeding, excessive idling, and aggressive cornering. Brake pads, engine health, and tyres will now be diagnosed according to how your team drives!
Important tip: If you really want to get the most out of this stage of your AI-driven predictive maintenance software, combine it with fleet coaching software and vehicle cameras. These will further save you money on vehicle repairs and unwanted road incidents.
It would also be helpful to share this information with your regular maintenance staff. If they’re in-house, they should know when to expect vehicles being booked in for repairs. If you outsource your vehicle maintenance, share your schedule with them so they too can make time & space for your incoming vehicle repair needs.
Keep tweaking as needed. Some fleets change and reshape regularly. Your software should be able to scale with your fleet. It should be flexible.
This is where Cartrack’s predictive maintenance software really shines. It’s designed to be tweaked quickly. It also does well with small fleets that get larger, and large fleets that get smaller.
IMPORTANT! Always use this software to measure your ROI. You want to be able to print reports that show the usefulness of the software so that you can justify it to your company stakeholders.
AI-powered predictive maintenance software works with IoT devices (the hardware) to read pertinent vehicle information (the data) and feed it onto your computer screen (the software). Good predictive maintenance software will also auto-generate a servicing schedule so you don’t have to.
The hardware used to read the data of each vehicle is called IoT (Internet of Things) devices. These come in the form of sensors, clamps, and tracking devices.
Not all of these devices are always necessary, but together they form a powerful pool of data.
From here that data is interpreted into information you can easily digest. Some algorithms and equations run in the background and alert you to vehicles that are on the brink of needing a service.
It looks at things like:
Now the AI takes these and other important factors to do some serious maths. The result? A neat maintenance schedule that’s been automatically generated for the convenience of your managers and the health of your fleet.
The software itself is what translates this information. It organises it into reports, alerts, and overviews. This helps you to manage your fleet better. More importantly, it gives you the leverage to make better decisions based on accurate data.
Taking this from a problem/solution angle, let’s look at 5 reasons you should consider this revolutionary software for your own business.
Vehicles that are in good, consistent health are more likely to comply with road laws. This means fewer fines for your company and better overall compliance with regulating authorities. It also saves time at road stops or border crossings.
Use example: The software accurately predicted that two of your truck tyres needed replacing. The truck was stopped at a roadblock on its way to perform a delivery. Police officers examined the tyres and found them to be in good condition in terms of safety standards.
With a schedule in place, you can plan around vehicle downtime. If one vehicle needs a service, you can book another one to take its place if the job or delivery is an important one. You’ll also have a good idea of when the vehicle is set to be back in action.
Use example: It’s Monday. Your technicians have six tasks scheduled for Wednesday. But their regular vehicle needs its brake pads replaced on that same day. You have two days to arrange an alternative vehicle so that your technicians can carry out their tasks without any delays. This keeps your customers happy and keeps workflow on schedule.
How many times do you think you’ve scheduled unnecessary vehicle maintenance? Probably more often than you think! When you follow a set calendar schedule, you’re relying on guesswork to maintain vehicles. Basically, you’re fixing what isn’t broken. You’re preventing breakdown, but you’re not sure if it was actually necessary.
Predictive AI maintenance software can save large and small fleets thousands of rands by ONLY booking in vehicles that actually need it.
Use example: Steven is one of your drivers. In fact, he’s the best driver you have. He drives your delivery van carefully, obeys the rules of the road, and always gets packages to customers on time. He drives that van so well that it’s still running long after its last service over a year ago. Cartrack’s software predicts it can go another long while without needing a service. The result? You save on maintenance costs.
It’s obvious—vehicles that are maintained PROPERLY keep your drivers safe. A calendar-based vehicle maintenance schedule can’t predict what maintenance actually needs to be done. All you can do is hope & pray the mechanic will pick up everything they should.
But with an accurate system that’s constantly reading and diagnosing your vehicles, it’s like having a built-in mechanic that alerts you to problems as soon as one comes up!
Use example: One of your trucks is up for an oil change. But three days before it’s booked in, our system alerts you to something way more important. The gearbox of the truck is damaged and needs replacing too! Had this not been checked by the mechanic, it could have caused endless delays and even an accident after the service.
Ultimately you want to get the most out of your vehicles. They’re workhorses after all, and squeezing as much work out of them is how you get the highest ROI out of each vehicle. That’s why smart maintenance is so important, because you don’t want to spend money on unnecessary services… But at the same time, you want your vehicles to run for as many years as possible.
Predictive maintenance does exactly that! It maximises the lifespan of each vehicle and ensures optimal health no matter the age or mileage of your vehicle.
Use example: One of your vehicles is 15 years old. Because it always gets maintained IF & WHEN it needs it, it still runs like a dream. Your staff have even nicknamed it “Old Faithful”, because it’s got an engine that just won’t quit.
You should choose Cartrack as your AI maintenance software partner because our software is designed to save you as much money on your vehicle maintenance as possible. It does this without compromising on the importance of driver safety, vehicle health, and vehicle longevity.
We’ve explained what’s important in your predictive AI maintenance software.
We’ve done that because we know the industry.
We talk to fleet managers like you every day.
Cartrack is leading the industry when it comes to predictive AI maintenance software for fleet companies. Partner with us and we won’t let you down.
Still need to know more? Talk to a consultant at Cartrack today and learn how AI predictive maintenance software can change your fleet from reactive to proactive overnight.
Proactively manage your assets and boost efficiency today. Reduce downtime and cut maintenance costs with AI-driven predictive maintenance software.
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