datos y Azar
AE 05 Asignar probabilidades
Overview of TruckPro4
TruckPro4 is a European truck manufacturer. They are one of the late adopters of servitisation in the road transport industry. TruckPro4 operates in the commercial vehicle industry. It mainly operates over continental Europe and has a smaller market share in the UK. The company has about 70% market share in Italy, 85% market share in Spain and just 7% share in the UK. TruckPro4 vehicles are sold across UK through their supplier network using the suppliers’ own sales teams. On average, the company makes about 3% turnover on vehicle sales. Their products range from 7.5tonnes vehicles up to 45 tonnes.
108
The company’s service offering is centred on vehicle repair and maintenance, which is carried out by the dealer network. They have various service offerings which include: six weekly inspection, fleet management, driver training, warranty, preventive maintenance and a finance option. TruckPro4 customers are grouped into two main categories, the key account customers and retail customers. The key account customers are any customer invoiced from the manufacturer, and retail customers are organisations that buy through dealers. Retail customers are generally small to medium sized
companies, which represent about 80% of the business, and key account customers are the top 20% of the business, which are large fleets.
Products and service offerings
Due to competition and the goal to gain more market share, TruckPro4 decided to expand by adopting a more customer-centric approach, increasing its service offerings to target different areas of customer problems. Consequently, the capabilities to provide various services to customers across the country became vital. TruckPro4 designed and proposed various value-added services, which allowed the customers to choose from various options. The proposed options are:-
a) Product offering: which allows the customer to purchase the product with a base warranty and maintain it themselves.
b) Product and service package: Where the product is maintained through the dealer.
c) Advanced services offering: where all maintenance and services are managed by the provider and the dealers.
The first offering represents traditional product sales, the second and third offerings involve servitisation.
Technology for services
The company uses telematics systems to provide two main set of functions to improve the customers’ experience. Their exclusive system, which is developed in-house by their head office information technology team, aims to integrate the control of information, navigation, aid the drivers and help operators manage their fleets. On the truck, the system is connected to the satellite navigation system enabling the service helpdesk to monitors drivers location and evaluates their driving style. The
109
vehicles have dashboards, where a driver can see upcoming event and adjust their driving style for example, using the cruise control etc. The telematics fleet systems allow TruckPro4 to offer fleet management services to various customers through a digital platform which the customers can assess at a single click. Data on every connected vehicle is automatically routed to their customer centre based in Europe (Headquarters), including its GPS position and the error codes of the vehicle’s electronic control unit, making it possible to effectively provide quick assistance at all times. It also monitors and communicates vehicle location using advanced functions.
4.4.1 TruckCus6
Overview of TruckCus6
A Midland based transport and logistics company, TruckCus6 is a family owned business which is part of a major freight distribution and transport group. Established in the early 80’s, their palletised distribution service covers the UK and the European mainland. TruckCus6 is a medium sized organisation with a fleet of more than 44 trucks, delivering loads from hazardous goods to construction equipment, and meeting fleet operator’s recognition standards. Their trucks are
sometimes used for double or triple shifted patterns to help meet business demands. The TruckCus6 fleet is made up of various brands of truck, allowing them to manage high volume production and delivery standards 24 hours of the day.
Technology for services
Using telematics and a transport management system, TruckCus6 manages complex supply chains that plan delivery routes and manage specific staffing operations to meet various business requirements. The telematics system provided through the manufacturers allow them to track deliveries until they get to the customers.
4.4.2 TruckCus7
Overview of TruckCus7
TruckCus7 is a reputable key account customer that has been in operation over 30 years. The company provides the largest agricultural service business across UK and partly within Europe, supplying
110
chemicals to and collecting agricultural output from over 20,000 farmers, representing 40% of the UK agricultural industry. With 30 distribution sites within the UK, the company employs over 800 staff. As the leading provider of agricultural services, TruckCus7’s focus is to ensure customers can meet daily farming challenges.
Products and services
The driving force of their business and services is to deliver heavy agricultural products to various customers, which requires TruckCus7 to find vehicles with higher payload capacity than the model it is replacing. Furthermore, due to the long distance journeys their drivers cover on a daily basis, TruckCus7 considers driver’s comfort highly important and specify that all vehicles to meet these requirements; for instance, automatic gear box, higher engine horsepower for ease of operation, comfortable seats, electronic mirrors etc. TruckCus7 pays little attention to fuel efficiency as their business operations are carried out seasonally (at a certain period of the year) and it does very low mileage at the end of the five year service contract.
Technology for services
Vehicle uptime is absolutely critical for TruckCus7, especially in the busy period of the year, which makes the service package they procure vital, and how the vehicles are managed or maintained even more crucial. The vehicles come with telematics and TruckCus7 pays monthly for service
maintenance, eight weekly checks and the annual MOTs, which allows them to predict costs of maintenance. The service provider manages that through telematics.
4.4.3 TruckSup3
Overview of TruckSup3
TruckSup3 is a main dealer for TruckPro4, based all across the UK. The company is a wholly owned dealership with authorised sales of vehicles, parts and service repairs for TruckPro4.
Products and services
They have a highly trained technical team with manufacturers training and technology to maximise their customers’ fleet uptime and to reduce running costs without compromising on quality. They
111
provide aftercare services to TruckPro4’s customers, which is coordinated by the manufacturer’s customer centre. The technicians are trained on the manufacturers’ telematics, in an effort to support customer needs.
4.4.4 TruckCus4
See section 4.1.4 above.
Conclusion
In summary, Chapter 4 presents background information of all the case studies, describes their products and services, and shows what technology is used for their services.
112