Amey Fleet & Plant Ltd
Organisation name: Amey Fleet & Plant
Fleet size: 10,000 vehicles and 78,000 items of plant
Software used: Jaama Key2 Vehicle Management system since 2010
About Amey Fleet & Plant: The vehicle and plant asset management business unit within Amey Plc, the leading public and regulated services provider across the utilities, highways, waste management, rail, justice solutions, social housing and facilities management sectors.
Amey Fleet & Plant is a business unit within Amey Plc and provides a wide range of transport, fleet and plant solutions to Group companies who in turn provide a wide range of business services to customers including the Ministry of Defence, local authorities and Network Rail. In August 2010, the company went ‘live’ with Jaama’s Key2 Vehicle Management System.
Earlier this year Amey doubled its UK presence with the £385 million acquisition of Enterprise plc, which was the UK’s largest dedicated provider of maintenance and front-line services to the public sector and utility industry.
Today, Amey Fleet and Plant is focused on a major integration project that will see the combined companies’ fleet of about 10,000 vehicles - ranging from company cars to HGVs and specialist vehicles - and 78,000 items of plant on to a single Key2 platform. Separately Enterprise was also a Key2 user.
Using fleet software to reduce costs, increase efficiency and stay compliant
Prior to the introduction of Key2, Amey had separate computer systems to manage its vehicle fleet and its plant equipment with workshop feeds into both. With none of the software being web-enabled it meant the systems were administratively complex and did not allow for multiple user access across different sites.
Amey selected Key2 fleet, asset and plant management and workshop control software system to pro-actively manage all aspects of its logistics operation and to ensure maximum utilisation that customers’ key performance indicators were met.
Replacing two systems with Key2 gave Amey a more robust solution and introduced significant efficiencies in terms of asset visibility and maintenance, data management and manipulation and delivered a clear compliance audit trail particularly in respect of HGVs on the fleet.
Transactional processes were also significantly enhanced as previously two or even three systems may have had to have been accessed to generate information relating to a single transaction
One of the major benefits of Key2 is the ability for existing modules to be regularly updated and new functionality continuously added to enable users to further increase efficiencies.
Paul Hyne, head of finance, Amey Fleet & Plant, said: “We are looking at different projects with Jaama and continually seeking to further develop Key2 to drive greater efficiency improvements.”
That “push” by individual clients, such as Amey, means that Jaama’s team of software developers are introducing new functionality to Key2 that ultimately benefits all users in driving down costs in many areas, notably in terms of administration as well as financial.
How integration can help streamline your fleet operation
Acquisitions and mergers are a major facet of business life and with that is a requirement for integration.
The integration of Enterprise’s fleet and plant operation with Amey’s is a current project that will see all assets managed via a single platform during the first quarter of 2014.
All Amey’s assets will then be managed via Key2 with financials managed on the company’s SAP platform and the two systems “talking” to each other.
Mr Hyne said: “There are still more benefits to be obtained from the system as we integrate further and analyse the data available.
“Over the last 18-24 months we have been pushing the boundaries with Jaama and becoming ever more efficient as we proactively utilise an increased amount of Key2 functionality.
“The more management information generated by Key2 that we can use, the more efficient we will become in terms of our operational capabilities. In turn that will generate benefits in many areas of the business and streamline fleet operations.”
Best practice when choosing the most suitable software solution
Amey chose Key2 after a rigorous six-month procurement and evaluation process. The process actively engaged the company’s operational fleet team to ensure all requirements were met. This included presentations from seven potential providers before a short-list was developed and the front-runners scored on the functionality of their individual systems.
Amey said that Jaama was able to successfully demonstrate to all stakeholders an effective fleet management system for managing quotations, hire and rehire, legislative compliance, the operation of plant and workshops including maintenance and accident reporting.
Also, Amey’s customers are able to access Data Vision - effectively “Key2 light” - to obtain records and management reports relating to the vehicles being used on contracts. The information available means that vehicles being used on specific contracts are managed effectively with service and maintenance work carried out on schedule. Historically, such information would have been provided manually and then sent out.
Critically, the Key2 system is able to interface with Amey’s other business systems allowing integration and reduced administration across a number of departments, notably finance and HR.
Conclusion
Amey operates one of the UK’s largest vehicle fleets, additionally the huge amount of plant and equipment means its inventory stored on Key2 is significant.
Jaama admits that Amey has shown huge faith in Key2 functionality to be able to deliver a wide range of benefits that will continue to drive operational efficiencies and ensure compliance with both a wide range of legislation as well as an ever-increasing amount.
However, implementation of a software system does not guarantee improvements in terms of fleet management efficiency on its own
Mr Hyne concluded: “We have put a lot of resource into Key2 over the last three years and, as a result, we are reaping the benefits. We and Jaama are looking forward to concluding system integration and a seamless transition to a single system.”