Construction World June 2016

EQUIPMENT

SERVICES to keep construction WHEELS TURNING By Paul Crankshaw

“In the modern era, we build relationships on our ability to connect – with our customers, with our trucks, with drivers, and with our cross-border support network,” says Theunes van der Westhuizen, area manager for connected services for Scania South Africa. Technology now allows the monitoring of the vital statistics of each vehicle, remotely communicating this data to a central fleet management system. “Only by enhancing our customers’ oper- ational performance can we add real value to their operations, and we do this by ensuring high vehicle availability and performance,” says Van der Westhuizen. “Communication technology is now a vital tool in every sector for bringing us closer to our cus- tomers and to address their needs quicker and more efficiently.” Connectivity is increasingly driving the quality of partnerships between Scania and its customers – and no less so than on construction sites around Southern Africa. >

Remote support Construction contractors face particular chal- lenges in their working environments, which are often in rural areas quite remote from the nearest dealer or support infrastructure. Scania’s connected and contracted services address these demands by monitoring vehi- cles as they work, and tracking performance so that driver behaviour can be fine-tuned for better results. “All Scania trucks assembled in South Africa are linked electronically with our fleet management system,” he says. “The moment a vehicle is entered on our warranty system, there is a valuable stream of information available to the customer on a weekly, monthly or annual basis.” The monitoring hardware in each truck – the on-board control unit – comes at no additional cost to the customer, providing key data on indicators such as fuel consumption, carbon footprint, hours driven and periods of idling. Insight into driver behaviour is also available, indicating whether their driving habits are optimal, how these change from month to month, and other issues that impact on cost and performance. “These connected services assist us in supporting the customer remotely, irrespec- tive of where the vehicle is located at any point in time,” he says. “Customers will ask us to look at a vehicle’s data remotely and to advise on the appropriate solutions.”

The system keeps the vehicle in contact with Scania’s South Africa’s headquarters in Aeroton, south of Johannesburg, even when it has crossed borders into other Southern African countries – with no extra ‘roaming’

charges for the operator. Help on the road

The data from each vehicle’s control unit makes the work of Scania’s 24-7 breakdown assistance much more effective. This aspect of Scania’s connected services responds to vehicle breakdowns, providing an around- the-clock call centre service; by tapping into the fleet management system, consultants can access the fault codes directly from the vehicle – giving the technical experts a much clearer picture of what is wrong. “This helps our mechanics to be better prepared – which may have particular rele- vance for a construction truck on a remote work site,” he says. “When down-time is costly and distances from dealer to site are long, you want the technical person to be able to solve the problem first time around if the repair allows it. Connectivity allows the mechanic to be better informed, and to source the right parts and tools before leaving the workshop.” The breakdown service stretches across Southern Africa, so a customer working on a construction site in the Democratic Republic of Congo will still be able to contact the Johannesburg call centre for help. Rather than the operator trying to negotiate directly with the local dealership, this is done centrally – drawing on the resources and expertise of the relevant Scania dealership or contracted workshop. “We have strong links with the Scania dealerships in Angola, DRC, Botswana, Mozam- bique, Namibia and Tanzania and we are integrated through the same Scania systems to allow seamless processing of customer requests,” he says. “The contracted workshops in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe are also bound by the same stringent standards.” As with all aspects of the customer rela- tionship, there are quality assurance systems to monitor that performance is in line with expectation; time stamps in the system record reaction time and repair completion, showing how long it takes a mechanic to arrive on site, and the duration of repairs. “We take over the detailed logistics of the repair operation, so that the customer is not unduly distracted from getting on with his job,” Van der Westhuizen explains. “For us, this is what it means to be a partner in a productive relationship – to take responsi- bility for ensuring optimal productivity from

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JUNE 2016