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Customer Studies
Truck PM Plus
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Truck PM Plus Implements
TMT Fleet Maintenance Software to Take
Operations to the Next Level
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Truck PM Plus, a central Florida-based truck maintenance firm, was founded in 1990 under the name Truck Lube 1.
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Serving both fleets and the walk-in retail market, the company is committed to enhancing customer service and optimizing the use of its resources to improve efficiency and customer retention. With multiple locations, the need for coordination and automation of information has never been greater.
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When the international firm Bandag, Inc., purchased the company in 2006, it was rebranded as Truck PM Plus. The new owners brought sophistication in the use of information systems that inspired the exploration of an upgrade in its own systems.
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That led to a close look at the benefits of TMT Fleet Maintenance software from TMW Systems - and opened the door to a major rethinking of the company's value proposition for its customers.
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The Challenge
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With an increasingly demanding and sophisticated maintenance services market, especially one served by seven locations throughout central Florida, Truck PM Plus could no longer rely on paper files stored in physical file cabinets. Such a system did not allow the company to access customer records as efficiently and accurately as today's truck maintenance consumers demand. It was too difficult to ensure that records were up to date, to access them from multiple locations and to find what was needed.
What's more, with paper-based systems, Truck PM Plus could not quickly provide customers with regular updates on the status of a maintenance job, nor on the need to come in for scheduled maintenance.
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"We recognized we couldn't grow our business that way," said Don Davis, Truck PM Plus' Vice President Finance & Administration. "Once you get out of a local area, paperwork is not a reasonable solution."
It was essential for Truck PM Plus to automate its information systems to make them quick and easy to use in the retrieval of customer data, the management of repair resources and the coordination of operations between different locations.
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The Solution |
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After researching different solutions, Truck PM Plus was impressed by the capabilities of TMT Fleet Maintenance. The system handles every aspect of managing and maintaining equipment and makes it easy to plan, execute, track and bill work. Costs are reduced through the efficient, integrated management of all maintenance functions--including preventive maintenance schedules, parts inventory, fuel and tire usage, mechanic hours, billing, improved warranty recovery and much more.
"The ability to have all customer records right there--unit information, historical records on the units, PM due dates and pending repairs--is crucial," Davis said. "If a customer comes in and we find a brake job or some other repair they need --but they don't have time for us to fix it that day--we don't have to depend on our memories to follow up with that customer once that truck leaves our lot. The TMT system allows us to automate that reminder process, and that helps us keep that customer and keep that revenue."
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The Result
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Just a few months into full implementation of the software system, Truck PM Plus is already seeing a significant impact from the implementation of TMT Fleet Maintenance.
One of the first areas to benefit was the consolidation of vendors, which is helping Truck PM Plus to strengthen its buying power, get better pricing from vendors and track its progress in this area. Improved tracking and management of inventory and purchasing has the potential to bring about enormous savings, Davis believes.
In addition, Truck PM Plus is discovering how the system can improve its mechanics' productivity.
"Understanding the productivity of our mechanics is going to allow us to better identify training needs and also to assign work in a more efficient manner," Davis said. "If a certain mechanic excels at certain kinds of jobs, we'll know that from looking at the system, so we'll be able to put him on more of those jobs."
Davis says TMT Fleet Maintenance will also help Truck PM Plus improve sales by making it easier to stay in touch and follow up with customers.
"If a customer has a need, it stays in our system until we deal with it. So if they don't come back, we have to put in there that the customer did the job somewhere else, which means we have a sales relationship issue," Davis said. "At least we're aware of it. If it still needs to be done, then, as a value-added service to our customer we're going to bring that to their attention."
As more data enters the system, Davis is seeing additional benefits in terms of pricing accuracy and improved invoicing processes.
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Continued Benefits With Expanded Rollout |
Because of its focus on the retail market, Truck PM Plus found it essential that TMT Fleet Maintenance could handle a variety of pricing scenarios, including the use of coupons and the ability to handle the same unit number identification multiple times.
"A fleet product would only handle one of the same unit number," Davis said. "If you had a "Unit Number Ten", that was it. You were done. In the retail world, we may have 100 "number tens" from different customers. This system permits that and has the ability to track scheduled or required maintenance for each one."
Truck PM Plus is now aggressively expanding the use of the system and fine tuning its processes to enhance both its operations and its customer relationships. Chalk this innovative operation up to forward-thinking management enabled by TMT Fleet Maintenance to provide premier customer service with low operational cost structures.
"The ability to have all customer records right there--unit information, historical records on the units, PM due dates and pending repairs--is crucial."
Don Davis,
Truck PM Plus
Vice President
Finance & Administration
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