Rethinking truck service

Toyota I_Site provides a comprehensive
solution for materials handling fleet
management





The changes in the economy have increased focus on fleet
management; housekeeping, technician response and first
time fix to ensure maximum efficiency from material
handling equipment. Tony Wallis operations director for Toyota
Material Handling says: "One thing is absolutely certain, the
changes driven by the economic climate have redirected business
focus and things will never go back to the way they were.




Companies of every size are seeking to drive down costs.




Suppliers have to focus on real business needs, providing support
to ensure they help companies achieve their objectives."
Prior to 2007 there was often flexibility in material handling
fleets to meet the 'what if ' in the event of machine failure. Now
companies have really focused on fleet size and reliability
monitoring maximum uptime and productivity. Any supplier
who cannot support this with fast technician response times and
good fleet management, irrespective of fleet size will be at risk in
the future.




The Toyota Fleet Management system (Toyota I_Site) offers
companies and fleet managers a flexible approach to monitor lift
trucks. Through a combination of technology, information,
expertise and support, I_Site will help manage fleets from one
truck to hundreds of trucks. "We can help managers create
visibility on their fleets," says Wallis. "We offer the total package
which includes site surveys, equipment compatibility and a full
range of management tools to help identify trouble spots. The
objective of the Toyota system is to prevent damage and minimise
costs, not just fix problems and present customers with a bill".




Using on-truck technology and transmitting data via GPRS to a
monitoring site that only requires access to the internet gives
owners the information to analyse exactly where and how costs
are incurred in terms of damage or downtime.




The system designed by consulting with customers provides
the ability to pinpoint in a simple and cost effective manner
where excess costs are happening and exactly how they are
created.Multiple site customers can compare sites and observe
variations in terms of damage, which can help them to get to the
real cause of why some sites operate better than others.




Part of the programme can include a Pride in Performance
visual system as a tool in helping companies develop good
housekeeping, cutting damage to trucks and the site.




While fleet management provides the visibility, Toyota has a
550 strong team of service technicians providing support across
the UK. These technicians are backed up with a customer
support team who handle 15,000 to 17,000 incoming calls per
month with an average response time of less than 10 seconds.




"We've got a commitment to get a technician on site within 4
hours of receiving the call and are currently averaging 3.5 hours.




We also work to ensure the technician resolves the problem first
time, currently achieving in excess of 97%. Our simple objective
is to minimise idle equipment - it costs money and increases
stress in a climate where cost is everything," adds Wallis.




To meet these criteria requires innovative cutting edge
technology and attention to detail in developing processes.We
have invested significantly in technology, which monitors every
call to ensure our customers receive personal attention within
seconds of dialling the number. Our service team are trained in
our Toyota Training Academy to quickly extract key information
so they can pinpoint issues and ensure the technician despatched
is trained to deal with the problem.




Service is integrated into a holistic planning system, so
technicians are carrying the parts they are most likely to need in
their vans, we also use just in time technology to replace van
stocks on a daily basis. Our system even analyses where
equipment is sold and which technicians need training to ensure
maximum first time fix on all equipment.




The system also allows Toyota to take local conditions into
account. For example, if a customer operates trucks in a dusty
environment it may need filters to be changed more often and so
service to that customer will be adjusted.




Toyota also sees operator training as instrumental in effectively
managing truck fleets. To this end, it offers a full range of
training courses. "We believe if we can train people correctly and
show what they can save - by avoiding collisions and unnecessary
wear on tyres - they will see it makes a huge difference to
operating costs within their business," says Wallis. "Until damage
occurs, companies often don't focus on training but we see a
difference between those customers that use training to cut costs
and those that don't."
Toyota's main aim is to help its customers work through the
difficult economic climate.Wallis concludes: "We are determined
to provide a top class service to customers, and firmly believe
that by putting people in front of you that know what they are
doing and understand how your business works we will save you
money and help you to drive
down costs."