How To Harness The Power Of Big Data For Fleet Management

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1 White WHITE PaPer PAPER Winter FALL Focused HARNESSING Fuel cards THE drive POWER cost OF savings, BIG DATA accountability FOR FLEET MANAGEMENT & efficiency

2 OVERVIEW Today s connected fleet generates a constant stream of data from the many activities involved in successful fleet operations. This data needs to be captured and analyzed so that managers can use it to maximize efficiency and drive cost savings. Since fleet data capture will only increase as time goes on, it is important to understand how to leverage this resource effectively. This includes knowing when to engage a fleet management company that offers strategic consulting services. In this article, we will discuss what big data is and how to harness its power to gain insight into business activities, discern actionable items, and ultimately take your fleet further. SOURCES & CHALLENGES OF BIG DATA Big data is a term used to represent large, complex sets of data. This data is vast because in today s world, data is generated in real time by many sources, including people, vehicles, and devices at all points on the supply and demand chain. The list of data points and sources is ever-growing and can include hundreds if not thousands of sources. Fleet managers receive data constantly from these and other sources. The data is highly diverse in character, including different generation intervals, unique identifiers and code values specific to the device or application, plus many different data formats. Because the data is so varied, the challenge lies in aggregating and simplifying it to produce meaningful analyses. 2

3 Traditionally, these analytics were difficult if not impossible to create due to the time it took to capture, cleanse, organize and link the data. Contemporary technology makes incoming data much more useful. HOW TO HARNESS BIG DATA FOR INFORMED DECISION MAKING Big data is essential in gaining insight into business activities. These insights are important because they will ultimately lead to informed, datadriven decisions. Fleet professionals need quick access to accurate, reliable, secure, real-time information. They must be able to obtain it anywhere, anytime in order to make informed, time-sensitive decisions. In short, they need a way to harness big data. This is accomplished by building a solid and secure data infrastructure and roadmap: An Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) is the best way to ensure that the fleet decision maker can interact with all data in a timely fashion. An EDW also ensures that the data itself is up-to-date, clean, accurate, and that there is no overlap in information; that there is only one version of the truth. This singularity is essential in making informed decisions so the decision makers can rely on the data they are reviewing. Security is also paramount, because cyber-crime and data hacking are real threats that continue to grow each day. Any major financial services company or retailer can attest to this, as the number of data breaches hit an all-time high in 2014 and continues at a rapid pace in It is vital to find a trusted partner whose EDW has securities in place to protect important data assets from subsequent exposure and liability. 3

4 Many of the major fleet management companies have invested heavily in their technology resources. They have the infrastructure to send and receive secure data exchanges to ensure the accurate and reliable aggregation of information between vendors such as manufacturers, fuel merchants, maintenance locations as well as compliance, accident management and telematics suppliers (to name a few). This enables fleet professionals to harness all that data for informed decisions. INFORMED ANALYSIS As mentioned above, it is essential that fleet data be consolidated and distilled into analytical views in order to proactively manage total cost of ownership. This can be a time-consuming process. Studies show that preparing data for usability consumes 50-80% of the work time associated with data use [1]. Some fleet managers may have the capability and time to produce their own custom data interface. However, many managers can benefit from custom data dashboards and reports prepared by industry experts. These dashboards and reports enable the fleet manager to control such critical assets as drivers and vehicles, as well as fuel and maintenance spend. With correct reporting, key performance indicators such as miles per gallon (MPG), cost per mile (CPM) and total cost of ownership (TCO), can be monitored against industry benchmarks to ensure effective action is taken. In addition to the importance of monitoring real-time performance, many fleet professionals can benefit from access to experts in predictive analytics. These analysts are often found at strategic fleet management companies. Analytics professionals can assist a fleet in determining what the future may hold and how to best meet upcoming challenges. Fleet managers should select predictive analysts based on their ability to not only understand the big picture of data, but also to issue actionable recommendations that drive positive, experience-based change. [1] 07/17/15 NY Times 4

5 CONCLUSION Big data does not replace human judgment. Analytics-driven technology combined with personalized fleet management expertise leads to success in translating big data into actionable steps. These steps allow an organization to optimize fleet performance and meet organizational goals. Even highly experienced fleet managers can benefit from working with analysts from a strategic fleet management company to increase efficiency and take their fleet further. 5