More fleets are investigating ‘joined-up’ cross-platform strategies as a result of increased interest in digitalisation spurred by the pandemic.

Fleets are rapidly become more aware of the synergies available from adopting complementary technologies to create new efficiencies, according to epyx

According to epyx, fleets are rapidly become more aware of the synergies available from adopting complementary technologies to create new efficiencies.

Commercial director Debbie Fox explained: “It’s been widely reported that the last year has seen much increased interest in digitalisation of fleet activities, as more people are working remotely and there is a greater demand for highly effective services that can be accessed online.

“What probably hasn’t been discussed as much has been something that we are definitely hearing in our conversations with new and existing customers, that there is an increasing awareness of what can be achieved through thinking about digitalisation in a joined-up, cross-platform sense, rather than it running in parallel lanes.

“For a long time, technological solutions were often siloed in the minds of fleets. They wanted something that made a process better or solved a problem. Perhaps if they were thinking bigger, they wanted to make improvements in an entire area of activity. While that situation has probably been changing for some time, the pandemic has added momentum.”

It’s something that epyx is already catering for through its platforms that manage service, maintenance and repair (SMR), vehicle procurement, short-term rental, and vehicle remarketing. For example, users of its 1link Disposal Network remarketing platform are able to use the service record as part of the vehicle description when the vehicle is remarketed, while those who use 1link Service Network alongside the 1link Hire Network daily rental platform are able to act upon the SMR data and provide replacements from daily rental providers.

“These are fairly basic examples and there are many kinds of cross-platform efficiencies of this kind available through digitalisation. We expect this to develop into the beginnings of a major trend during 2021.”