When seeking to streamline business operations, the ultimate goal is always going to be finding a way to reduce the costs associated with running that business. With that being the end goal, there are things you can do to make that happen. This would involve streamlining various departments and operations so that they become more efficient and as a result, more profitable. Let’s look at fleet management to see where efficiency could be improved.
Visibility Is a Key Factor
In order to increase productivity, the one key factor is visibility. Not only do you need to know where every vehicle in the fleet is at any given moment, but you also need to keep up with the costs involved in getting them to their current locations. For example, following the GPS tracking coordinates you find that there is a faster, more straightforward route they could have followed. Unfortunately, when the route was charted, GPS was not available. That’s how long you’ve been in business and if you want to stay operational, streamlining fleet movement is imperative. Not only will product get to clients faster, but the cost of fuel to get products there will also be greatly reduced.
Ongoing Cost Analysis with AI
That very same visibility that enables you to find more efficient routes within your fleet can also help you continually analyse costs. Fuel is just one of the costs which can be reduced but also the price of everything from fleet insurance to office supplies; with fleet insurance, it is definitely worth comparing quotes each year for maximum savings.
With AI and machine learning, fleet management software can be continually crunching numbers silently in the background so that when any one area puts up a red flag, AI seeks to find cost-effective solutions.
AI Is an Absolute Must
Gone are the days when a full-time bookkeeper and accountant would be tasked with running the numbers. No matter what business or fleet management software your company uses, you can be assured that AI is probably at the core of each program. The reduction in labour is beyond comparison and beyond continual data analysis to reduce costs, AI can suggest ways to increase profitability in each and every department within your company. From scheduling drivers so that few, if any, are running on overtime to shortening routes so that both fuel and labour are reduced, profitability can be significantly increased. To the extent you are able to reduce costs, you should see a greater margin in profitability and that’s the key to sustained growth.
As you can see, fleet management goes beyond the operation of, and costs associated with, running those trucks. It involves literally every task in every department within your business. By using the right fleet management software, in the Cloud or on your local hard drive, you can expect to have the best ‘man’ on the job. This will free up staff to begin canvasing new clients to bring in even more business, which in turn, points to yet another benefit of AI. After plugging in the parameters of your service area, AI can also find areas you aren’t yet covering. With AI finding a need and workers free to approach those businesses, there is no reason not to expect continued growth.
