Customer-Centricity with Data-Driven Innovation

Every minute lost to inefficiency or downtime translates into potential revenue loss or customer dissatisfaction.

The rise of GPS, IoT, and analytics capabilities has created new opportunities for telematics, an evolving technology capable of transforming how businesses operate. Strategic use of this technology and intentional data-driven action can streamline operations, increase safety, and elevate customer experience.

Operational Benefits of Telematics

Adopting telematics capabilities leads to operational benefits, including:

• Fleet and equipment management
• Predictive maintenance
• Fuel efficiency and cost savings
• Safety and compliance
• Increased productivity

One of telematics's most significant opportunities for value is in fleet and equipment management. Businesses can streamline operations and make informed decisions by leveraging real-time vehicle or equipment location, performance, and diagnostics data. 

For example, predictive maintenance, prompted by actual equipment usage and input about field conditions, allows for proactive upkeep, reducing downtime and extending the lifespan of equipment. Maintained equipment is less likely to experience significant issues. Equipment managers can identify the optimal timing for predictive maintenance, reducing the impact on the project timeline.

Fuel is costly to companies and the environment. Non-productive idling accounts for approximately 10-30% of fuel consumption by construction equipment. Telematics can identify excessive idling, giving site managers insight into training opportunities for machine operators to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Drivers aware of behavior tracking will be less likely to speed, brake hard, or accelerate rapidly, which increases safety and decreases fuel waste and equipment wear and tear. Telematics also allows tracking the number of hours equipment operators work to ensure compliance with regulatory and safety requirements. This has real worker safety benefits. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers found that incorporating telematics led to a 79% reduction in worksite injuries.

Leveraging Telematics for an Enhanced Customer Experience

Companies can leverage telematics data to enhance the customer experience in several areas, such as:

• Real-time tracking and transparency
• Proactive maintenance scheduling
• Faster issue resolution
• Customized service

Real-time tracking provides customers with accurate delivery times, ensuring reliability and transparency to improve the customer experience. Tracking location, status, and progress builds trust and allows for better planning. For example, if a construction site expects a large equipment delivery, telematics can track the delivery truck to provide an accurate arrival time. Updates may occur by a text message or phone call triggered when the driver is at a predetermined distance from the site.

Efficient issue resolution is the key to a winning customer experience. For example, fleet vehicles automatically transmit error codes to the dashboard. The dashboard then forwards this information to a dealership or service provider. This quick communication ensures that the part is ready when the driver arrives with the vehicle, reducing waiting time by removing the manual diagnostic step. In the event of a vehicle breakdown, the service provider receives the exact location and diagnostic details, expediting getting the vehicle back on the road.

Customized web portals allow customers to access relevant real-time data, such as equipment performance and maintenance reminders. Portals can enable service providers to offer self-service capabilities that trigger based on telematics data, such as scheduling maintenance appointments or ordering parts. Customers can also use portals to request assistance. Service providers can then interpret the data to provide customized solutions, such as advising a customer if the fault code needs immediate attention or if it can wait until the next scheduled appointment.

Harnessing Telematics Data for Problem-Solving

Telematics systems collect a vast amount of data about the vehicle, including location, performance, system diagnostics, fault codes, usage, fuel consumption, idle time, and driver behavior (i.e., hard braking, speed, and seatbelt use). The amount of data collected is a benefit of using telematics in fleet management. But the data is useless if it’s not driving action. One-third (32.7%) of fleet professionals share that they’re not receiving optimal ROI from their telematics investment. Twenty-two percent of those professionals said they have challenges making the data actionable for their organization. Almost half (46%) of fleet professionals said gaining better insights via telematics would help improve vehicle maintenance.

While improving maintenance is a common use of telematics in any setting, insights from telematics data can inform solutions for many other problems. Common issues addressed with telematics data include:

• Optimizing operations to meet customer demands
• Enhancing business process efficiency
• Improving driver safety
• Boosting fuel or energy efficiency
• Reducing asset TCO (total cost of ownership) and maintenance costs
• Meeting safety compliance standards

Start by understanding what problems you want to solve. When you’ve identified the problem, you need to understand what data you need to collect to address it and where to find that data. An ideal solution is a central dashboard that provides a comprehensive overview of telematics and other equipment-related data, such as maintenance history.

Telematics can help managers manage costs and risks by monitoring both equipment status and worker activities. Tracking vehicle health data, such as oil levels or tire pressure, provides insight into data that equipment managers can access to determine preventative maintenance needs. Waiting for system failure could cause more significant issues that take more time and money to fix. With workers, mine managers can collect telematics data on idling time, fuel usage, haul cycle, and load size, providing insights about issues such as excessive queueing at the dumping zone. Since idle equipment costs companies time and money, real-time analysis can support more timely workflow optimization.

In addition, mine managers can gain visibility of historical data. This comprehensive view is essential for analyzing trends over time. Identifying which assets are breaking down more often than others may indicate a need for more frequent predictive maintenance or taking the asset out of service. Uncovering the root cause of excessive idling allows the site manager to assess the necessity of every piece of equipment on site. They may find a need for fewer assets or upgrades to larger machines.

Innovative Use Cases

A recent McKinsey article detailed how companies can use data to inform KPIs and decision-making. The article shares how a power tools and software provider for the construction industry, uses telematics data to ensure efficient customer equipment use. As batteries charge, data transmits to a cloud platform. Customers can also scan QR codes on every tool for instant insights. From there, the company and customers can analyze usage, consumables, and maintenance insights. This data gives the sales team insights about when customers need to upgrade or offload underutilized tools. The data also enables customers to understand how often they need to reorder consumables to ensure stock doesn’t run out or when a tool needs preventative maintenance performed. The customer can coordinate these tasks through an app. 

A heavy equipment manufacturer offers a subscription-based asset management and fleet productivity solution. It uses telematics data to provide comprehensive insights to customers. The platform integrates with other OEMs and third-party APIs, offering a unified view of fleet operations regardless of asset brand or type. Subscribers get actionable insights that minimize downtime, boost equipment utilization, and reduce ownership costs. This subscription model helps the company expand its customer base and lays the groundwork for future sales. The manufacturer uses digital solutions to strengthen partnerships with its global network of dealers. They leverage data from millions of assets to preempt equipment issues. This data helps enhance customer satisfaction, which drives business growth.

Leverage Your Telematics Data to Optimize Your Business

Telematics revolutionizes how companies operate. Real-time data streamlines operations and empowers proactive decision-making, leading to significant cost savings and productivity. These are key improvements in any industry, as both directly impact the bottom line.

The amount of data collected via telematics is vast. By harnessing the power of telematics data, companies can optimize operations, improve safety, and reduce costs. Ultimately, these optimizations foster long-term growth and success. Delight your customers and improve your business outcomes with data-driven innovation powered by HCLSoftware Aftermarket Cloud.