Over the last 10 years, firms have become overwhelmed by the relentless flow of information from multiple sources, in various formats and through an array of tools. Data comes from GPS and vehicle-tracking systems, telematics, fleet management and workforce management.
Merging and organising this “big data” is so difficult that, in most businesses, it ends up unused. However, many are realising it is sleeping intelligence and that they need to tap in to make informed decisions.
The challenge is how to make sense of the massive amounts of data and tame this flow, to help hone day-to-day operations and make long-term decisions. The ability to make sense of data can be the difference between a business that is good enough and one that stands out.
Performance Management Analytics (PMA) has come to the fore as a solution able to tackle the Big Data challenge. PMA provides managers with the visibility to analyse the productivity of their operations.
For instance, the tool can help reduce unauthorised stops, minimise excessive speeding and idling, increase the number of jobs performed daily, and improve response times.
When a company figures out how to review historical data, identify patterns, and compile metrics and statistics to determine which assets and employees are the most productive, it can use those insights for predictive analysis and better business decisions.
Field service organisations that have deployed GPS, fleet and workforce management technologies already have the tools that help make sense of the information and make decisions to improve customer satisfaction. To accomplish this effectively, they must set specific goals, such as reducing overtime through route optimisation and cutting fuel costs through GPS tracking and fleet management systems.
Information from GPS, telematics, fleet management and workforce management tools provides concrete, actionable details, giving managers and dispatchers real-time visibility into fleet activities.
Systems set up to capture in-day exceptions can save a company thousands of pounds by catching bad driver habits such as filling up with premium instead of regular fuel, unscheduled stops, and ignoring pre-set routes optimised for time and fuel-savings.
By leveraging PMA tools, managers can identify top performers, determine which schedules and routes produce the best results, and compare results from one vehicle or worker against the fleet.
The basis of telematics was originally location, but location is now merely an enabling tool for a plethora of business applications. Analytics now let customers see everything from the most profitable jobs to success rates in meeting appointment times. We’re moving towards an era of “super information” delivered by telematics, which will see the impact of the technology surge.
With big data, knowledge leads to action. A manager who knows which drivers have bad habits is better equipped to evaluate those drivers, act to correct their behaviour and schedule training. Up-to-date information on the health of vehicles leads to better maintenance, to safer vehicles, improved fuel consumption and less wear and tear.
Likewise, the ability to collect real-time information on traffic through GPS tracking empowers dispatchers to make decisions on the fly to change routes and avoid congestion. Automatic vehicle location and real-time information on the distance between customer stops leads to routing and schedule optimisation.
Those are the immediate benefits, but understanding big data also brings long-term advantages, as companies engage in strategic planning based on historical patterns and predictive analysis. For example, for companies focusing on repair, using historical data about when a part is most likely to fail enables them to do preventative maintenance, fixing or changing a part before it fails. Furthermore, adjusting resources, modifying schedules, planning vehicle purchases and forecasting hiring needs become less about guessing and more about precise, well-researched planning. And that’s why field organisations need to take control of their information.