Frito-Lay Turns Fleet Data Into Dollars
Published: July 2011, Connected World Magazine
Meet Mike O’Connell, director of fleet at Frito-Lay. When the snack giant decided to add
telematics to its fleet of 17,000 delivery trucks, the business possibilities were endless.
“When we first did the pilot, it was very overwhelming because we didn’t know what we
were looking for,” he says. “We had so much data, we didn’t know what to do with it.”
“I don’t need a second-by-second of everything,” he explains. “I need snapshots of data,
and I need to know when things change. I also need to prioritize what is important to
us.”
But when you are swimming in data how do you even know what to reach for? The
answer to that question will vary by company, of course, but there are some current
trends that are leading fleet managers down the road to profitability.
According to Dominique Bonte from ABI Research, the problem is many fleet
management vendors never moved beyond “the dot on the map” GPS provided. “It was
very much pushing technology and then once it was sold, it was up to the fleet manager
to try and do something with it,” says Bonte.
But like most of today’s executives, fleet manager like O’Connell are trying to do more
with less manpower, which means they certainly don’t have time to translate stacks of
data reports. The key, Bonte explains, is finding a good data-processing solution that
does the work for you and, more importantly, creates value out of the data that is being
collected.
Focusing on the exceptions has certainly worked for Frito-Lay. Using the Geotab GO
Device, the snack provider has created data “scorecards” that are helping O’Connell
identify vehicles that are not meeting idle and out-of-route mile goals, the two metrics
the company is measuring to drive down fuel costs.
Getting Started
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