February 2010, Automotive Fleet - Feature
Siemens Streamlines Vehicle Relocation
Once a tedious manual process involving faxes, telephone calls, and e-mails, moving Siemens fleet vehicles around the country to new assignments is now almost entirely automated, thanks to a Web-based management system.
By Cindy Brauer
A Web-based vehicle relocation management program has transformed a tedious, intensively hands-on process into a simple, click-and-go operation, boosting productivity and saving critical time for Siemens Corp.'s busy fleet organization.
The Iselin, N.J.-based Siemens Corp. is the U.S. operating unit of Siemens AG, a global provider of electronics and electrical engineering for the industry, energy, and healthcare markets. With reported U.S. revenues of $21.3 billion, Siemens Corp. employees number more than 60,000.
Supporting 17 operating companies in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, the Siemens fleets comprise 16,000 units, including sedans, minivans, cargo vans, upfitted pickups, and medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Fleet vehicle relocations have been handled by Auto Driveaway (AD) for more than a decade.
Partners such as Auto Driveaway have helped fleet managers deal with the challenges they have faced in the last few years, said Jim McCarthy, director vehicle management services (VMS), Siemens Shared Services. Events such as mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, and reductions in force have challenged "even the most organized and structured minds" among professional fleet managers, McCarthy noted.
Auto Driveaway has "made this challenge and these tough situations much easier to manage and control," said McCarthy. "They understand the complexity of our business structure, they recognize our demanding expectations, and they do everything possible to make every move as seamless as possible for our Siemens' team and as painless as possible for our Siemens' drivers."
Siemens fleet account managers Dana Bussiere, Wendy Kupper, and Katie Buonacquista, and the entire VMS team handle more than 800 vehicle relocations annually. Nearly every new-hire, employee resignation or termination, and job reassignment requires transporting a vehicle or groups of vehicles, a process that includes arranging vehicle pickup, delivery and/or storage, and communicating with multiple parties.
In the past, each vehicle transport required several time-consuming manual "touches" - individual hands-on contact via faxes, phone calls, e-mail, confirmations, tracking, etc.
Today, however, Siemens' vehicle relocation program is almost entirely automated, supported by the enhanced AD Customer Module, a Web-based tool that streamlines the entire process.
Vehicle Moves Begin with One Click
Deeply entrenched in their respective fleet accounts, Bussiere, Kupper, and Buonacquista are inherently familiar with their clients needs and activities and often anticipate potential vehicle relocations based on information from their internal corporate contacts.
Siemens fleet account managers (l-r) Katie Buonacquista, Dana Bussiere, and Wendy Kupper now access Auto Driveaways’ “one-stop-shop” Web site and click on one button to start a nearly fully automated vehicle relocation process.
"We're hands-on with our fleets," said Buonacquista. "With accountability for 16,000 units and 17 clients, managing vehicle assets, minimizing dormant vehicle inventory, and optimizing driver productivity are extremely important, and as such, integral parts of what we do every day."
When a vehicle move is identified, the fleet account managers access Auto Driveaway's "one-stop shop" Web site and simply "click to start the move process," said Bussiere, an 11-year Siemens employee.
"When the Siemens/Auto Driveaway partnership began, Siemens was faxing orders and following up via telephone on all questions that result from moving hundreds of vehicles across the U.S.," said Scott Okun, Auto Driveaway national sales and marketing director.
"With multiple contact points involved in every relocation, including pickup and delivery points, fleet management teams, leasing company staff, and the driveaway company, there were numerous phone calls for scheduling and confirmations," Okun explained.