Advanced communication terminals fitted to service vans are doing much more than just speeding up service calls to the company’s forklift customers.
The advanced communication terminals are also helping to extend Linde Australia’s leadership in material handling fleet management.
The advanced communication terminals, which transfer data via satellite, are the new evidence of Linde Australia’s large investment in hardware and software over the last two years.
During that period Linde Australia has also doubled the number of service technicians it has in the field.
The personnel and technology investments have already paid major dividends for operators of Linde Australia’s equipment by providing quicker response times and improved first-time fix rates.
Internally Linde Australia has also achieved a significant increase in its productivity and a more efficient use of its resources.
Currently, Linde Australia has closed the loop on its fleet management activities by linking its service technicians with its information technology resources.
Linde Australia’s in-van terminals use global positioning systems and two-way data transmission to enable efficient management of services resources.
The advanced communication terminals also allow to provide the technician with specific information relevant to the site and fork truck he will be attending.
More importantly, Linde Australia’s systems have enabled the company to gather information, which enables it to become pro-active in a fleet management role.
Each time Linde Australia’s technicians works on a vehicle, he enters an hour meter reading into his in-van terminal and within seconds the data is transferred directly into the fleet management system.
Likewise, parts carried by the technician are barcoded and their details are scanned and entered into a forklift’s service history as they are used.
Direct data input such as parts and labour consumption and hour meter readings from mobile service technicians is aiding Linde Australia to be more proactive.
There are significant benefits, especially for a company renting Linde Australia’s equipment at multiple sites, as vehicles exceeding their budgeted usage and others are being under utilised can be noted.
Several times machines have been swapped from one site to another as a cost saving initiative for the customer.
An increase in customer damage can also be detected and the customer can be alerted to a potential personnel or driver training problem.
The advanced communication terminals allow Linde Australia to proactively manage and service its own assets as well as to reduce the cost of operating assets for its customers. The advanced communication terminals also enable both parties to measure the material handling equipment specialist’s performance against agreed key performance indicators.
Over the last two years, Linde Australia has won major material handling equipment contracts with some of Australia’s well known companies. In every instance Linde Australia’s ability to deliver good fleet management expertise has been a key factor in its success.