So says European fleet management specialist, Fleet Logistics, which has recently added new data and reporting functionality to its global reporting solution, Fleet.Global, to provide international fleet managers with the ammunition to maximise their buying power across their global fleet by optimising discounts and reducing TCO.   

Amongst its multiplicity of uses, Fleet.Global allows fleet managers to accurately quantify how many of each make and model its organisation buys in each of the countries it operates in, and thus to negotiate more substantial discounts with manufacturers at a global level based on this information.

'This is becoming increasingly crucial as more and more fleets are organized on a global level. But without this data, and without this degree of transparency, the international fleet manager forfeits substantial value,' said Peter Soliman (Inset), CEO at Fleet Logistics.

'This approach also applies to other fleet commodities such as insurance, tires or any other aspect of fleet operations the organisation is responsible for buying itself. Without the right consolidated data, the organisation will never be able to maximise its buying power on a global level,' he added.

Fleet Logistics, which has over 100,000 cars under management across Europe, launched Fleet.Global last year as a web-based based global reporting platform, aimed at providing international fleet managers with a totally transparent picture of operations, data and financial information at local, regional and global levels.

Currently, fleet users are using Fleet.Global to upload and analyse fleet data from over 50 different countries around the world.

Fleet.Global consists of two password protected websites. One website allows users to upload fleet data, typically monthly, for various different operating divisions, company entities and countries around the world.The second website generates reports, both according to a schedule and also on demand.

On the data website, new enhancements provide access for fleet clients and suppliers to upload data for their country or company division themselves. This facility has restricted access so that multiple suppliers can upload data without being able to see data from other suppliers.

The system includes an inbuilt data quality and accuracy check which checks all data for deviations from previous downloads. Any significant deviations cause the data to be sent back to the originator to be checked.

There is also the ability to set up the project leader as client administrator with access to all countries on the platform, enabling them to manage all aspects of their company data, reduce Fleet Logistics’ involvement in the process, and cut waiting times and increase self sufficiency.

Fleet.Global is able to accept files in all formats with a key feature being the ability to input directly to data files to allow low touch uploading. The client has the ability to set up a multiplicity of functionality including their fiscal year, their preferred country and preferred exchange rates. 

The data website harmonizes these choices, locks the data in the system to avoid any accidental amendments and is instantly available to be reported on.

The complementary reporting website gives users access to an array of reports which can be customised to meet fleet operators’ exact needs. It allows users to schedule reports to their preferred time frames such as monthly, and then store them on the system ready for the user to download after their scheduled dates. 

Available reports include: 

TCO  – the total TCO by division, country and continent, the total TCO of all countries and for each country, including per car and by cost category

CO2 – the total carbon emissions for all countries and per country, giving a per vehicle average for each country

Make analysis and evolution –  this includes units per vehicle manufacturer by overall total as well as per country and company division

Supplier analysis and evolution – this includes units per leasing provider by overall total as well as per country and company division

Fleet overview – detailed report of every vehicle. This is the most popular report as users are able to analyze the data further, creating their own customised graphs and charts

Delivery report – delivery details for all pending vehicles

Data quality – to highlight differences in data compared to the previous month. Any discrepancies can then be investigated. 

All reports are highly visual  through the use of graphs and pie charts and contain a comprehensive back up excel sheet where the user is able to investigate data further. 

They can be broken down by time, geographic area and other criteria, while a history of all reports is stored on the system so the user is able to refer back to a previous report when required. 

Peter Soliman said that the enhancements to the Fleet.Global solution had been made in response to feedback from international fleet users.

'We have seen an increased desire amongst international fleets to be able to optimise fleet activity on a global basis, but one barrier has been the inability of conventional reporting systems to be able to aggregate and consolidate data from different operating divisions in different countries and on different continents. 

'Fleet.Global addresses this problem perfectly and, with the new enhancements and additional functionality, has delivered a low touch, low cost and high value solution ideal for obtaining global transparency for international fleet operators, he added.