Data collection program seen as beneficial for customers and wider transport task
Scania has hailed a major milestone for its data collection program, with 500,000 of its vehicles – 7,000 of those in Australia – now continuously sharing data for analysis.
Scania started the initiative 10 years ago when it introduced a communication device as standard in all its vehicles – for customers to improve performance and Scania to collect scientific data about product use as well as analysing logistics patterns.
The importance of having large numbers of vehicles connected cannot be over-stated, according to Scania lead product manager for fleet management services Venugopal Gangaiah.
“It is vital in our journey towards becoming a sustainable end-to-end solution provider of transport,” Gangaiah said.
“Scania wouldn’t be where it is today in terms of knowledge about products and customer behaviour, without the first vehicle being connected some 20 years ago making this possible.
“The Scania Fleet Management Portal and later launching our own communicator in 2009 were also strategically important milestones – not to mention recognition through the various telematics awards collected by Scania over the last decade.”
Scania Australia CEO Mikael Jansson on the truckmaker’s local operations, here
In Australia, Scania has been promoting its Fleet Management Services for several years.
“Scania customers who monitor the data produced by their vehicles and drivers have a far clearer understanding about how their assets are being used and with what degree of efficiency and productivity,” Scania Australia services portfolio manager Richard Bain said.
“The data generated and analysed by the Fleet Management System really gives them a bird’s-eye view of their costs and highlights where money is being wasted or where they can make changes to improve their total operating economy.
“Drawing on the global data relating to usage, speed, loading and driver behaviour, Scania is better able to predict service needs and suggest preventative maintenance plans in order to ensure the operators benefit from, and achieve, the highest possible uptime.
“We have had very high levels of uptake of the Scania Fleet Management Packages in Australia, especially since the debut of the New Truck Generation range in 2018, because our customers really understand the power of the data to influence their running costs.”
Scania reached the 100,000 connected trucks and buses milestone in 2014, and the numbers have risen at a rate of close to 60,000 annually to pass 500,000.
Since 2019, Scania has also offered this vital connectivity feature to users of its industrial and marine engines.
Although all new vehicles leave the factory equipped with a communicating device, customers have to sign a contract before Scania can process their vehicle data, and then access commercial service packages at various levels to see the data.
Customers can currently monitor their vehicles based on engine or fuel use. With increasing electrification of heavy transport, upgraded hardware and software will also make tracking of battery electric vehicles’ (BEV) performance possible, Scania claimed.
“The existing Scania Communicator will be upgraded soon, enabling quicker and more advanced data collection and analysis,” Gangaiah said.
“This will result in even more modular and tailored services and is a prerequisite for reaching our science-based targets (SBTi).
“Emissions data reveal tank-to-wheel facts by default today in the Fleet Portal, but soon it will also be possible to view the well-to-wheel figures, another milestone to look forward to.”
A current proponent of Scania’s fleet management services is global logistics company Mondiale VGL, which currently operates 78 Scania prime movers in Australia.
“We supply our customers with accurate fuel efficiency and emissions data, to help them strengthen their own green footprint position,” Mondiale VGL national fleet and maintenance manager Rory Gerhardt said.
“Not only does the Scania Fleet Management Portal tell us where our trucks are, how they are being driven and when they are due for service, but we’re able to measure their environmental performance, something which is already growing in importance for us when we bid for new work.
“Our customers’ customers want to know that all along the chain, suppliers are taking an active interest in reducing their emissions or environmental footprint. The Scania Fleet Management System provides us with visibility of this data.”