The global fleet industry continues to thrive despite the continuous disruption brought about by COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine crisis. In fact, a feature by Valuates Reports highlights that the global fleet management industry is expected to reach $52.5 billion by 2030, which is a significant increase compared to its value in 2020.
Despite the industry’s positive outlook, fleet management companies face a lot of pressing issues. Fluctuating fuel costs, vehicle maintenance, asset utilization, and compliance requirements are some of the concerns that fleet managers need to get under control. That said, tools such as data platforms, which collate relevant and important fleet data, have gained prominence in the fleet management industry.
In this post, let’s take a closer look at how data platforms boost the efficiency and effectiveness of fleet management companies.
Data platforms enhance predictive maintenance
From vehicles to warehouses, there are plenty of things that need regular maintenance in fleet management companies. However, it can be hard for fleet companies to anticipate when their assets will need maintenance. That said, a data analytics platform can enable predictive maintenance in fleet management companies. An article explaining data platforms on MongoDB notes that such software allows organizations to run complex queries using data they already have. Feeding vehicle data and other relevant quantifiable information to a data analytics platform can provide insights that help fleet management companies foresee upcoming issues and vehicle health concerns, saving them from costly repairs down the line.
Data platforms can improve fleet routes
One of the best applications of data platforms in the fleet management industry is its ability to construct more efficient fleet routes. Our article ‘Tracking Based on GPS and the “Internet of Things’ points out that fleet management companies today use IoT devices to track their fleets, monitor road traffic, and weather systems. Because of this, IoT devices hold a lot of real-time data that can help fleet management companies devise the most optimized path for their vehicles, which can help save money, fuel, and time — even if the proposed route is not the shortest one.
Data platforms make it easier to oversee demand and inventory shifts
As a key part of the global supply chain, fleet management companies recognize how vulnerable supply chains are. To help avoid being too affected by disruptions in the supply chain, fleet management organizations must be prudent in realizing future crises and potential industry setbacks like inventory and demand shifts. With the data analytics services powered by artificial intelligence, fleet management companies can gain insight reports regarding demand and inventory trends. Moreover, data analytics algorithms can also notify fleet companies when a demand spike might hit the market, allowing them to sort their affairs in order and prevent shortages. Such technology is used by huge companies like Amazon, which has an anticipatory shipping process in place that notifies them when a customer might potentially buy an item.
Data platforms help avoid low quality shipments
One of the biggest problems faced by fleet management companies is the deterioration of products during transit. This happens due to delays, as well as various transport conditions such as weather and improper handling. Through reports generated by data platforms, fleet management companies can predict and avoid certain situations that can degrade the quality of shipments. In addition, data platforms also improve the transparency in fleet management companies, allowing them to see any problem areas that they might not be aware of. This can work especially well for fleet management companies that work with perishable shipments like food, plants, and pharmaceutical products.
Data platforms help boost customer service
Keeping customers and clients satisfied is a high priority for businesses in the fleet management industry. That’s why fleet management companies invest a lot of money on efficiency-boosting technologies like data platforms. A post on the online community Smart Data Collective reports that by using a tool that aggregates and processes relevant data, companies can closely monitor their fleet’s activity and productivity. Furthermore, it also allows them to build a deeper relationship with clients as such data platforms have features that create unique customer user profiles by combining data from sources such as emails, websites, transactions systems, and CRMs.
Based on the points we’ve listed above, there’s no doubt that data platforms can greatly improve the efficiency of fleet management companies.
