Driving fleet decisions
Each year, more than 400 million passengers depend on the Los Angeles Metro bus and rail system for transportation. However, poor record keeping and a 30-year-old computer system made tracking bus maintenance needs increasingly difficult and costly for fleet managers. Records were not always documented or stored properly, and the city did not file all of its warranty claims, missing many warranty payouts.
Metro had been using the same mainframe application system since the 1970s to collect, analyze and report data, but the agency’s needs had outgrown the system’s abilities. To boost productivity and save money, agency officials concluded they needed to improve work order reliability and develop a better system for logging and tracking jobs. Separately, Metro officials determined they needed better maintenance tracking and more robust warranty information on buses and parts.
After reviewing several alternatives, Metro selected software from Alpharetta, Ga.-based Infor Public Sector to help maintain its fleets. To best use the software, Metro acquired new servers with more capacity and touch-screen monitors that approximately 3,000 technicians, mechanics, maintenance supervisors, and support staff use to enter data at terminals and workstations as work is completed, ensuring that all data is recorded and accurate up to the minute.
Since installing the software in May, agency managers have begun analyzing detailed vehicular maintenance records, work orders and warranty conditions. The software also helps managers forecast and plan work schedules, reducing total labor hours. “We were inspecting the brakes every 2,000 miles; but, after analyzing our brake performance history, the software system determined the optimal inspection timeframe should be every 3,300 miles. That information alone saves us over 10,000 labor hours a year,” says Patrick Astredo, Metro’s director of operations system support for Fleet Management & Support Services.
Managers also are using the system to analyze warranty conditions and create warranty claims. “Our system now automates a warranty claim when a work order is entered into the system,” Astredo says. “This process has enabled us to increase our warranty dollar collections from $1.1 million to over $5 million annually.”
Project:
Fleet maintenance software installation
Jurisdiction:
Los Angeles County, Calif.
Agency:
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)
Vendor:
Alpharetta, Ga.-based Infor Public Sector
Date completed:
May 2008