By Chris Cuffe, Aquarius IT Consultant

In recent years the uptake of Aquarius’s Asset Maintenance module has been unprecedented.  From talking to customers, we put this down to the flexibility of the system and the constant investment to improve its versatility yet further. Not only can you manage your fleet assets, but you can pretty much manage any type of plant or machinery. In addition, all of this data can be integrated and cross-referenced with compliance, defect reporting, document management and time and attendance. 

With all this data stored in one place it makes it easier to cross check the availability of personnel and assets.  To take further advantage of this we have recently introduced the Fleet Avaiilability option within Asset Maintenance to a number of customers during the onboarding process.

So, what does the Fleet Availability tool do?

In essence it allows the user to work with an interactive table that is representative of an ISO week. The vertical axis contains a filtered list of vehicles and the horizontal axis the seven working days of the week. The user can assign a driver to a vehicle, a vehicle and trailer combination or assign multiple drivers for each day. If a vehicle is planned to be off the road, has a PMI or service booking then this is highlighted, thus avoiding the planned use of a vehicle that is unavailable.

The planner can also see whether there are enough vehicles available to meet the current delivery or work demands. The maintenance team can then be encouraged to stagger vehicle service bookings, and planners have time to spot-hire vehicles if necessary.  When combined with the Time and Attendance module, users can also see what drivers are available for a specific shift.

To make life easier for planners one ISO week can be copied forward to another, which saves a lot of keying work. The user can also export the fleet availability plan to Excel for further manipulation if required, or to share data.

The Fleet Availability tool is yet another example of how Aquarius are trying to help customers maximise the effectiveness and productivity of their people and assets.  

ASSET INCIDENTS – RECORDED AND MANAGED

Incident;

an event that is either unpleasant or unusual:

Source: Cambridge Dictionary.

So, the worst happens, an incident occurs which causes damage to an asset or a third-party asset.  In this particular case let’s focus on a collision between one vehicle and another, or a vehicle and another object, for example a construction or piece of road furniture.  When such a collision occurs many drivers will panic and the opportunity to gather key information that could help in a subsequent insurance claim is lost.

To help with this, users of the Aquarius App have automatic access to an Incident Module.  The user can setup an incident template for each type of asset and assign it to an asset.  These templates can contain a range of questions that the driver has to answer, and can also prescribe a set of photos the driver needs to take at the scene.

How it Works

When an incident occurs, the driver can use the Aquarius App to select the Incident Icon and then in turn the particular asset. The driver is led through a precise process ensuring that all key data is captured and photo evidence taken.  Once the incident has been recorded key users of the core system are alerted on screen and by email.

Using the defect web application in the software, an incident report can be created for the insurer, which contains information from the scene, photos and an exact GPS location.  At this point a relevant system user can start a collision investigation that is monitored via the defect web application until its conclusion.

Incidents can be extremely costly and at their worst can be very damaging to organisations.  By ensuring that information is correctly recorded at the scene, Aquarius is endeavouring to alleviate some of the pressures of incidents and help improve outcomes for customers – turning the ‘unpleasant’ into the more manageable.

Aquarius has known and worked with Chris for more than 16 years; since his early days at Tachosys when he was the Sales and Marketing Director. Today, using his vast experience of tachographs and software, he works as a freelance consultant alongside the management team at Aquarius.