As the largest independent mobile fleet maintenance company in the country, Dickinson Fleet Services employs over 1,000 individuals nationwide. With 21 maintenance facilities and over 400 mobile trucks, they believe in a personalized approach to maintenance. Now they can provide more enhanced, connected service to their customers from any location with the help of Guilford Group.
Challenge:
Dickinson Fleet Services was using a proprietary suite of web-based applications called TRAIT (Technician Reporting and Information Tool) including Preventive Maintenance (PM), Repair Order (RO), Purchase Order (PO), Training and Payroll modules. Each of the TRAIT modules were accessible to technicians via a mobile browser ONLY when they were connected to the Internet. Due to the need to service vehicles in remote & rural areas, where Internet connectivity is sporadic, technicians required an application that is available anytime, anywhere so they can perform their jobs without interruption.
Solution:
Guilford Group developed Dickinson Fleet Services’ mobile applications to be accessible even when offline. The cloud-based application saves all information in local storage and then sends the data (in the background!) to back office systems (via the Azure cloud) whenever the device is connected to the Internet. All applications are developed in the hybrid language, Microsoft Xamarin, which supports both Apple and Android mobile devices.
The TRAIT-PM app required 150+ inspection screens of five different types so a sophisticated rules engine was developed to dynamically generate screen configurations. With the aid of the configuration tool, administrators can add, remove or edit inspection screens on the fly by simply modifying the backend configurations. Technicians can also take pictures during the preventative maintenance inspection process to be saved along with the inspection results.
The TRAIT-RO app allows technicians to detail and submit repair orders along with pictures of equipment that need repairs. As part of the process, technicians may choose between a set of predefined criteria for the repair orders and then place an order in inventory for new parts. Since repair orders may require multiple iterations of steps and repairs, technicians can add multiple labor lines and place repair orders on temporary hold for later completion.
The TRAIT-PO app allows the technicians to submit purchase orders for equipment they need to replace. The app provides a view of current Inventory and allows technicians to add new Inventory as needed. During the purchase order process, technicians can associate an invoice to the account and attach pictures.
The TRAIT Tools-Training app provides a list of training material and quizzes that everyone must complete. Training materials are provided via on-screen questionnaires that users must fill out to completion after which they are given a final calculated score. Users can review their pass and failed quizzes along with quizzes not yet completed via the main training screen.
The TRAIT Tools-Payroll app is a time tracking tool which allows employees to input their time to assigned tasks. After a repair order is completed, the hours logged under a repair order are displayed along with the employee’s entry in the Payroll app so they can ensure accuracy. Employees can also view their time in a calendar view.
Result:
Customers are now able to get timely updates on the services performed on their vehicles and technicians have all information required to service each vehicle at their fingertips. The new and improved application requires fewer hard-coded screens, which reduces maintenance overhead and includes custom code that can be applied to future new customer additions and workflows. Since all the apps being developed are rolled out to the Azure cloud, Dickinson Fleet Services is able to monitor and scale supporting web services progressively over time.
With the PM app, technicians can now quickly access the appropriate Preventative Maintenance inspection program, record the results, add comments, take photos, make annotations, record measurements, and submit documentation without requiring an online connection.
The RO app now allows technicians to accurately follow each repair order through to completion and gives them the added feature of being able to stop, start and resume repair orders without an Internet connection. Utilizing their mobile device, technicians can track repair order needs and document all repair classifications, inventory, notes and photo evidence for submission and ensure that repairs are accurately recorded eliminating critical gaps in the process.
The PO App provides technicians with a streamlined method of obtaining inventory directly from purchasing and receiving, which results in improved repair order cost reconciliation and inventory management in real-time.
The Training app provides employees with all the training courses they are required to complete directly on their mobile devices so they can complete the training on their own time and ensure they stay compliant and up-to-date with their training. The increased staff responsiveness, compliance and accountability results in less management oversight with regards to employee training.
The Payroll app allows employees to record, review, and update their time accurately as they perform repair orders.
Overall, as the different Dickinson Fleet Services’ TRAIT modules have been enhanced, re-engineered and moved to the cloud, this enhanced toolset has improved the function, delivery and usability for all technicians and back office employees while improving management reporting. Technicians can now get their job done when on the road, especially in remote areas of the country even when not connected to the office.