Utilimarc's Fleet Management Technology is Driving Innovation with Device Magic
The Minneapolis-based, business intelligence company, Utilimarc, is exploring new ways to transform fleet operations through data-driven insights. Now partnered with Device Magic, Utilimarc has extended the capabilities of their existing systems with an integrated mobile forms component to complement data collection processes.
For nearly two decades, Utilimarc has committed to helping businesses build smarter, more productive fleets by translating complex data into simple, digestible pieces. Their team of data scientists, product experts, and ex-fleet managers banded together to design a suite of performance solutions that better connect, enhance, and identify patterns and trends in the fleet management sector.
We sat down with Utilimarc’s Chief Technology Officer, Michael Nowak, to discuss how the company got started, what set Device Magic apart from other forms automation providers, and why they chose to white label the solution.
A need for smarter data management
Utilimarc began as a benchmarking platform to show fleets how their performance compared with their peers’. To satisfy a growing need for smart data management, they have since expanded their solution to include analytics, telematics, and third-party integrations. The scalability of the solution allows them to support clients managing fleets of all sizes—with assets ranging from helicopters to locomotives.
Logistics and fleet management organizations actively depend on the synchronization of data between the field and office for real-time reporting. Managers and supervisors keep close surveillance on the status of vehicles and deliveries, as well as time logs and locations, on top of managing their teams.
However, managing assets requires teams to collect an overwhelming amount of data points on their fleet inventory. There is no disputing the existence of technologies on the market to gauge tire pressure, fuel efficiency, and optimize routes in real-time. But it begs the question, how can one make informed decisions from this information overload?
One of the biggest challenges facing the industry is the lack of tools available to help focus on this balance of information—and how to optimize it. That’s why fleets count on Utilimarc’s solution to disseminate all this data into actionable insights.
For transportation and logistics firms, improving the way you collect and manage data helps the bottom line in several ways. Frontline employees save time and increase productivity by entering data on a smartphone or tablet only once. Management receives expedited, higher quality information sent directly to back-office systems. Thus, eliminating the administrative time spent on re-entering that data.
Utilimarc recognized a reliable, mobile data collection tool is essential to unlocking these benefits and automating antiquated processes.
Introducing innovative technologies
Today’s emergent fleet technologies are focused on empowering drivers and fleet managers with the tools to increase work efficiency. Having established themselves as leaders in the fleet-technology space, Utilimarc looked to bridge the gap in the inspection process of fleet inventories.
Inoperable assets are detrimental to the fleet and logistics industry when you consider the downtime and costs associated with penalties for non-compliance. Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIRs), therefore, play a significant role in maintaining accurate records and compliance with operational safety standards.
Completion of DVIRs is a necessity—not only from a compliance standpoint, but also in regards to safety, productivity, and customer service. With industry regulations to meet and customer expectations to exceed, the company seized the opportunity to refine fleets’ data collection processes.
By equipping fleets with a mobile forms component, operators can perform inspections directly on their mobile devices. Using picklists, drivers quickly select answers from extensive data sets, including thousands of vehicle models, license plate numbers, or parts. Thus, dramatically reducing the time spent filling out forms.
Conditional workflows then automate any next steps for maintenance requests when a vehicle fails inspection criteria. Quotes for parts and repairs are also triggered by the submission of a single report to notify the right people at the right time—always keeping supervisors connected and in the loop.
Additionally, administrators have visibility of the location where forms were submitted and can even send pre-populated forms to teams on the road with the Dispatch feature. Having this bidirectional flow of data then gives office administrators time to focus on more valuable activities, as opposed to re-entering data.
Beyond inspections, routine audits and inventory checklists are also completed with the mobile forms app. Delivery and drop-off reports, commercial vehicle safety inspection checklists, work orders and purchase orders, customer satisfaction surveys, vehicle status and maintenance logs, geolocation, and timestamp reporting—just to name a few.
White Label made sense
White label capability was a critical component to maintain the cohesiveness of Utilimarc’s platform. “We recognized how strenuous and complicated it is, especially for large enterprise customers, to go to another platform, carve out another contract, and go through another assessment of security. It creates a set of roadblocks that way versus if it’s all wrapped under one contract,” says Nowak.
Another factor to consider is the strength and availability of an internal mobile development team. Organizations deciding to build their own applications are often unaware of the hidden costs. You must appraise the spend on acquiring systems, software, vehicles, and associated ancillary costs for fleet operations.
Trusting the Device Magic platform to be used in tandem with their own, Utilimarc clients now seamlessly connect vehicle inspection data from mobile forms with their existing integrations. Accessing their forms right from their mobile devices through an application called Fleet Connect. And while the primary focus of the app is on DVIRs, any ancillary vehicle inspection of aerial devices, larger trucks, for example, can be optimized for mobile forms as well.
Operational efficiency is imperative to maintaining a cost-effective fleet, as well as gaining an edge on your competition. Utilimarc gives you the information you need to see where you are and where you need to go. With Device Magic, they’re collecting faster, more accurate information.