Case Studies \ An end-to-end vehicle management system

Our client wanted to upgrade their manual system of managing company vehicles to an automated one. A single centralized framework that would integrate various disparate vehicle management processes such as scheduling, maintenance, insurance, sales etc was required. The web based vehicle management system developed by Icreon helps in streamlining and easing the process of managing company vehicles. The solution also provides the client with the means to monitor vehicle and driver performances.

Business Requirements

Our client owns a fleet of vehicles available for use by their employees. The existing process for employees to submit requests and be assigned a vehicle was a manual and time consuming one. Our client also felt that drivers and vehicles were not being optimally utilized with some vehicles idling and some being overused. With the objective of streamlining the processes and to better and more efficiently manage their vehicles our client wanted a web based solution that would automate the vehicle management process.

The solution was required to enable client to maintain a database of vehicles. Employees were to be provided with the means to submit and track vehicle requests online. Administration managers were to be provided with the means to process such requests and assign vehicles. The facility to track vehicle insurance, service, fuel consumption etc was also required.

A solution to automate the process of managing and tracking company vehicles

Benefits:

• Automates the process of vehicle management thereby increasing productivity
• Enables the tracking of vehicle and driver performances
• Vehicle insurance, service due and fuel consumption can be tracked
• Allows for easy scheduling of vehicles

Users:
The users of the system will be the employees of the company using the application. Access to the various modules of the application will be based on the roles assigned.

Solution:
Icreon designed and developed the vehicle management system on the .net framework. The application interacts with Windows Active Directory to authenticate users and determine their access levels within the application. The solution, deployed on the Intranet, allows our client to manage their company vehicles (across branches) in an organized manner thereby reducing the administration costs associated with manual way of managing vehicles.

The solution allows for the creation of a database of company vehicles for each branch. Vehicles can be classified according to vehicle category, type, class, manufacturer, model, colour etc. The system allows authorized users to create and manage the various vehicle classifications. A database of all company drivers can also be created and maintained. Mangers can maintain vehicle budgets within the system and can track the actual (i.e. the amount spent on the vehicle) against the budgeted amount.

Employees can login to the application using their network username and password. They can submit online vehicle requisitions (to their department manager) detailing date/time when the vehicle is required, the reasons and the approximate distance that is to be travelled. Upon approval from the manager the request is made available to the administration department. Based on the vehicle and driver availability the administration manager can assign a vehicle and driver, from the available pool, to the employee. An e-mail notification of the approval is sent to the employee.

Employees can provide feedback regarding their experiences with the driver. This feedback is made available to the administration manage, who in turn, can use this to judge driver performance.

Drivers can use login to the application and view their assigned jobs. For each job that they undertake the drivers are required to log the start and end mileage reading (this can then be used to determine the kilometers that the vehicle has run and when the next service is due). For the driver and vehicle to be available for new jobs, the previously assigned job is required to be flagged as completed. Based on the jobs assigned, mangers can track driver schedule and monitor performances. A record of all accidents that a vehicle has been involved in can be recorded in the system. The accident log is maintained for both the vehicle and the driver assigned to the vehicle at the time of the accident.

To help reduce fuel fraud, the system allows the tracking of fuel filled in vehicles. A list of authorized petrol pumps can be managed. Drivers are required to record the details of the station from where the fuel was filled, quantity, date and price etc.

The administration manager can define parameters when a vehicle is due for service. The system will generate alerts and e-mail service due reminders. A vehicle can be sent to any of the listed service stations and will be unavailable for booking till return from the service center. A detailed record for each service such as date sent, charges, work done etc can be maintained. This service costs and fuel consumption histories allow a manager to monitor the running cost of each vehicle.

Vehicle insurance can also be tracked within the system. For each vehicle, the name of the insurance company, the date of insurance and the insurance expiry and description of what cover includes can be entered. The system will generate notifications and e-mails alerts when an insurance policy is about to expire. Details of sold vehicles can also be maintained in the system.

Vehicles can also be assigned to specific employees for their personal use. Such vehicles can be assigned with or without a driver and will not be available for booking.

The solution provides for the generation of a variety of reports thereby allowing the administration manager to track and monitor the vehicle usage and performance. Some of the reports available include:

• Vehicle-wise Fuel Log
• Vehicle Insurance Log
• Vehicle-wise Expenditure
• Service Due Report
• Branch-wise Vehicle Availability
• Department/Employee-wise Vehicle Usage
• Vehicles Sold
• Vehicle Inspection reports

Each of these reports can be generated for specific/all vehicles during a specific time period. The reports can be downloaded in the form of Excel documents.

Technologies used in developing this application are: