RAC Software Solutions - Home of Tranman Fleet Management Software & Servitor Asset Software

2003 archive Dec 2003 - Integrated IM solution for RACCA RAC Commercial Vehicle Assistance has invested in an integrated solution from RAC Software Solutions to manage its call-centre operation in Cheadle Heath, Stockport. The new incident management solution integrates with call-centre telephony equipment and mapping software to enable RAC Commercial Vehicle Assistance to deploy the closest third party engineer to its customers. The solution replaces a number of disparate systems and enables the company to capture valuable management information in order to achieve its objective to deliver inspirational service. David Grosvenor, General Manager of RAC Commercial Vehicle Assistance said, ”We now have a consolidated and configurable system which will provide benefits of speeding up our call handling and despatch times, maximise the team’s effectiveness through its ease of use and provide clearer visibility of KPI’s.” He went on to say,“I am delighted that the system, which was designed exactly to our stringent specification, was delivered on time, to budget and worked straight out of the box". Nov 2003 - Investment in people Hayley Vince is the latest addition to the team and has joined as HR Manager for both RAC Software Solutions and its sister company Lex Defence, where she will be responsible for all HR matters. For the last 7 years Hayley has worked for RAC plc in a variety of roles, her last role was HR Manager for Group IT. Hayley is returning to work following her recent maternity leave. Oct 2003 - New business venture requires additional sales resource RAC Software Solutions has appointed Kevin Stenner as Fleet Sales Manager in response to an increased demand for its fleet software. Kevin was previously Account Director at Northgate Information Solutions, responsible for strategic sales and major new business wins. His new role will be working as part of a team focusing on Incident and Fleet Management Software to both corporate and public sectors. Sep 2003 - Tranman goes live at AssetCo in record time AssetCo Vehicles, formerly The Leasing Group, has recently purchased the Tranman fleet management system from RAC Software Solutions to manage its 6000 vehicle Transco fleet. The 60-user Tranman system was chosen and implemented over an 18-week period including the data loading of 16,000 assets, the development of an enhanced work authorisation module and integration with OpenAccounts finance system. Tony English, Sales Director of RAC Software Solutions said, “The system provides detailed performance indicators for analysis of fleet operational costs and vehicle utilisation. This will allow AssetCo to identify cost efficiencies and offer the best onward service possible to their client”. Martin Kempton, Group Fleet Operations Director of AssetCo said, “Developed with a view to controlling whole life cost and risk on specialist and complicated assets, Tranman enables AssetCo to manage risk, spend, and compliance on behalf of its clients using state-of-the-art technology - consolidated email, SMS technology, web-based management information, client-defined reporting, and proactive cost control”. “This partnership brings together the most comprehensive integrated fleet system in the marketplace and AssetCo's years of experience in fleet management skills and market experience”. Tranman was purchased to replace a competitor product after a review of market leading systems. Aug 2003 - Servitor extends contract with Maidenhead & District Housing Association Maidenhead & District Housing Association recently awarded RAC Software with a substantial contract to provide Servitor for the management of its housing repairs process. Servitor had already been chosen for the consultancy phase of the project and has now been selected as the supplier. Aug 2003 - 1st Call Transportation order within one month Following a demonstration of the Tranman software in June, 1st Call Transportation, part of Debach Enterprises, placed an order for Tranman S5 just one month later in July. Tranman will be used to produce estimates for trailer repairs and subsequently invoice the customers as well as controlling their stock. The 5-user system is already installed and training has started.< Jul 2003 - East Renfrewshire Council order Tranman Series 5 East Renfrewshire Council is the latest local authority to purchase the Tranman Series 5 system, just two weeks after their initial demonstration. The Building and Works department will use Tranman to manage its fleet of approximately 300 vehicles and plant, and to run the council’s in-house workshop. One of the main benefits of implementing Tranman is that the council is now able to produce electronic invoices with a direct link to their Accounts system. East Renfrewshire also uses the Servitor system for managing housing repairs and maintenance, which illustrates the confidence in RAC Software Solutions as a supplier of quality IT systems. Jun 2003 - Tayside Police arrest rising fleet costs with Tranman Tayside Police is the latest Police Force to select the Tranman software to manage their fleet operation. Tranman Series 7 was chosen to replace a competitor system. The fleet of 250 cars, vans and small commercial vehicles are maintained in 3 vehicle workshops, where the Tranman software schedules preventative maintenance as well as managing ad-hoc repairs. Other modules selected are employed to manage fleet administration, stores inventory & purchasing, accidents and vehicle/plant hire. Fuel usage is recorded through a seamless interface with Tayside Police's existing Triscan fuel supply, preventing the need for manual entry of fuel data and reducing administration. David McColl, Vehicle Administration Manager was particularly impressed with the in-built reporting facilities available with the software and is extremely happy with the additional reporting tool of Crystal. The Tranman Best Value pack contains over 50 management reports to assist in analysing key performance indicators. The selection of Tranman by Tayside Police reinforces the position held by RAC Software Solutions as the leading fleet management system in the Public Sector, with a total of 65% of UK Police Forces using Tranman. May 2003 - Tranman on assignment to British Forces Cyprus RAC Software Solutions, the fleet and asset software provider has been working with the Project DARTS (Defence Automated Road Transport System) team since 2000 on various implementations majoring on the use of its Tranman software for transport requests and tasking. Most recently the Project DARTS team has been working in partnership with British Forces Cyprus on the Cyprus (tri-Service) transport rationalisation project. Objective of the project To set up a single transport support unit in Cyprus In 2001 the British Forces Cyprus ran three separate transport operation centres across the island to maintain the tasking and scheduling operation of its fleet of vehicles and assets. Project DARTS, who manage a portfolio of projects on behalf of the Defence Logistic Organisation (DLO), were brought in to assist in re-organising theatre assets from a three-tier operation into a single concept thereby reducing the costs and overheads of transport operations within Cyprus. Tranman To amalgamate the three transport operations the DARTS team needed to create the infrastructure to install a new fleet management solution and replace the existing collection of systems, which were predominately but not entirely standalone. After a review of software at the DLO the team identified Tranman, which was previously supplied to the British Armed Forces for other business areas mainly but not solely transport related to support the scheduling of resources for Transport Requests. The Tranman Series 9 application was subsequently selected for the Cyprus project for the following reasons: Configurable and flexible system User-friendly GUI system which can be set to either mouse or keyboard control Ideal for users across all ages and cultures Ideal for fast one to one training Demonstrations of the Tranman solution suggested the package met the Cyprus requirement Minimal training required Confidence that support will be provided in the short and medium term The requirement in Cyprus was critical and involved a sizable project. The DARTS team had to install the Tranman system and relevant hardware, deploy a new IT infrastructure, build a server room, implement Tranman on over 65 terminals and train British, Greek and Turkish Cypriot users, all within a six-month period. Benefits of the software Single transport fleet concept Reduced number of overheads and costs More effective use of core assets Visibility of vehicle/asset availability across the Island Improved utilisation of assets Improved management of materials and resources Ultimately to reduce Costs! The Results British Forces Cyprus now has visibility of all vehicles and assets. They use the data collected in Tranman to make procurement decisions and to specifically track 'cost against activity' KPIs (key performance indicators). Tranman Series 9 is already being used extensively to task and schedule the White Fleet that consists of saloon cars, minibuses, coaches, light goods vans and plant equipment as well as the hired assets pooled collective resource along with the sizeable Military Green Fleet vehicles. "The Tranman implementation was a win-win situation for the DLO and the British Forces Cyprus. Tranman Series 9 is being used extremely effectively to support the single transport fleet concept and is proving daily to be a flexible adaptable and comprehensive application operating overseas with minimum support from the UK (currently estimated at 7 man days a year)". "With deployment of new working processes and the efficient collection of utilisation data the transport managers can enhance their effectiveness, draw more usage out of pool assets and reduce overheads essential in today's environment that demonstrates truly effective management of on-island materials and resources". "The users want to use the application; they are enthusiastic, committed and proud of their new tool. They are producing real-time benefits daily, not only for the island but for their higher command and the wider MoD". Major Rick Jones, D SC Ops (Transport) Mar 2003 - bmi takes off with Tranman bmi, the UK's second largest full-service scheduled airline, is the latest customer to select the Tranman Series 5 fleet management software to run its fleet of approximately 400 vehicles and plant With a diverse fleet ranging from cars, vans, LGVs, trailers, fork lifts, cranes, high lift platforms to cabin heaters and air conditioning units, the software needed to be flexible. Tony Page, MT & GSE Manager selected Tranman to effectively manage the maintenance of the fleet through the company's purpose built three bay workshop at East Midlands Airport. In addition to this, bmi manages third party maintenance work for companies located at the airport such as TNT and UPS. Tranman Series 5 has automated all workshop processes, producing job cards, allocating stock, generating order numbers and finally invoicing third party organisations. "These are very competitive and challenging times for the airline industry so as a company we are focused on monitoring and reducing costs where possible. The Tranman system enables us to do this, especially in monitoring the profitability of third party contracts and the productivity of the workshop," says Tony Page. All of the company's flights out of East Midlands Airport are operated by bmi's low-cost subsidiary bmibaby. Feb 2003 - Tranman wins Fleet Excellence award for ‘Best fleet software’ RAC Software Solutions has won the Best Fleet Management Software industry award for its Tranman system, voted for by the readers of both Fleet Week and Fleet Management magazines. We are delighted that Tranman has won the award for Best Fleet Management Software, "Receiving this award is recognition of our leading position in the market and our reputation for excellent customer service", says Lucy Caudle, Marketing Manager. Jan 2003 - Servitor partnership with Xmbrace for support of mobile workforces RAC Software Solutions, the asset and fleet management software provider, has teamed up with Xmbrace to bring its advanced planning and scheduling capabilities to Servitor, the market leading asset management system. The Servitor system is a business management tool which can be used to manage building repairs, highways maintenance, grounds maintenance, refuse collection, street cleansing, building cleaning, gas servicing, resource management, service desk and customer survey along with many other functions. Xmbrace has introduced Opti-time, real-time scheduling software, to the UK and has specifically focused on the needs of the social housing repairs and maintenance sector, which is to facilitate the booking of appointments for tenants, enabling efficient use of labour resources and minimising travel time. Opti-time is currently being implemented in two local authority housing and building maintenance operations, and has now been offered to the entire Servitor user base as an additional module. David Todd, CEO of Xmbrace, said "RAC Software Solutions is the ideal partner. With the size and strength of its user base in our target market, and the introduction of mobile communications to Servitor II, there is an excellent functional and technical fit. This has been helped by RAC Software's commitment to partnerships." Mike Bailey, Director of the Servitor division of RAC Software Solutions, added "we are very excited to be able to offer Europe's leading automated scheduling software to our existing and potential clients. Whilst the opportunity is greatest in housing maintenance, we can see benefits for all types of mobile operations supported by Servitor, and for users of Tranman, our fleet management solution."