Features
15 Dec 17

FleetWave bolsters productivity of control team at Ewals Cargo Care

European transport solutions provider Ewals Cargo Care recently implemented Chevin Fleet Solution’s FleetWave to centralise processes and integrate a burgeoning quantity of fleet data.

 

Family-owned, based in the Netherlands and established more than a century ago, Ewals Cargo Care operates in a highly competitive business. Logistics offers up little room for error as customers rely on the service provider to make good on its promise of transporting and delivering goods safely and on time.

 

Managing its fleet of over 4,500 trailers and 550 trucks, in 17 countries including Belgium, Germany and the UK, while facilitating 5,000 daily transportations is a complex job for Ewals’ fleet control department.

 

Comprising eight key positions: commercial engineer, operational supervisor, financial and IT engineer, team leader, repairs planner, supervisor administrator, claims controller and administrator, it was this team that captained the recent procurement process to find a replacement fleet management solution.

 

Taking back control of complex fleet management

 

The team manages the large-scale and highly complex fleet operations daily and they were being constrained by out-of-date technology with little support from the software vendor. The system was, for the most part, obsolete and something had to be done and done quickly as there was potential for things to slip through the net, particularly in terms of asset and contract management, damage registration and settlement, repair and maintenance and financial administration.

 

The old system also lacked integration in important areas. It wasn’t possible, for example, to link damage reporting with service assignment and the software didn’t support claims.

 

Added to this, Ewals was undergoing a continued period of fleet expansion. At the start of the implementation, the fleet comprised 2,850 trailers. That number has now risen 60% to over 4,500. During the same period, the operational occupation with the fleet control department increased by 20%.

 

Following a detailed procurement process in 2016, Ewals Cargo Care chose Chevin Fleet Solutions as its new fleet management technology partner and Chevin’s FleetWave as the solution. Roger Hilberts, business process engineer at Ewals Cargo Care, explained: “Chevin offered a highly structured, configurable system, with a range of modules that would provide in-depth spervision and specific management capabilities for the company’s rapidly growing fleet.”

 

Benefitting from a more modern fleet management platform

 

Numerous functions within the fleet control department are now being managed by FleetWave, including: assets, contracts, customer relationships, supplier side relationships, SMR, financial administration, reporting, fines settlement and internal communication.

 

Damage registration and settlement is now also integrated, which has helped streamline the repair process. The team has been able to customise modules within FleetWave to meet company-specific fleet and asset management needs.

 

Ewals Cargo Care now has high-level visibility of its entire fleet operation. The control team can access and use the same system from all workshops and work more efficiently as a result. The need for email and phone communication has been eliminated so team members can work in a more unified, efficient and speedy manner.

 

“The Company has also found value in FleetWave’s extensive reporting capabilities, and can access universal data via a singular solution; a process that was particularly difficult prior to implementation.” Hilberts stated.

Anticipated cost savings from FleetWave

 

Although too early to tell, cost savings since the implementation and roll out are anticipated but Ewals has already benefitted from increased productivity within its fleet control team. Hilberts concluded that: “the biggest benefit of FleetWave is that we now have an integrated system – all internal and external processes in our fleet control department are managed in one place.”

Future plans encompass digitalisation of Ewals’ global work order system, which includes managing flexible service processes, integration with external tyre suppliers via FleetWave’s Tyres’ tool, and enabling links to the company’s digital service archives.

Authored by: Alison Pittaway