Summit Fleet Leasing and Management has celebrated its 10,000th vehicle contract since its formation. The FMC credits the Miles software platform from Sofico with helping to reach this milestone.

“Miles forms the backbone of our business,” said Summit Fleet’s General Manager David Clinch. “Most other systems throughout our business are heavily integrated or at least rely heavily on the outputs created by Miles. It is definitely seen as our most critical technology solution,” he added.

To mark the occasion, Clinch was presented with a special celebratory “birthday” cake at the head office in Rydalmere, Sydney, which was baked by Kalpita Pandit, the wife of Satyakam Pandit, from the Systems Team at Sofico Services Australia.
Summit Fleet is part of the Sumitomo Corporation of Japan, with a majority owned shareholding by Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service Company (SMAS). It has fleet size of more than 640,000 vehicles and a growing presence in many countries.

Summit Fleet, which was established in 1997, currently manages more than 500 fleet clients in Australia in a wide range of industries, including corporate and community groups, health groups, and local government bodies.

As well as the head office in Sydney, it has sales offices in Perth, Brisbane, and Melbourne with a total staff count of around 70. The majority of its customer portfolio is funded via fully maintained operating leases, finance leases, novated leases, and providing clients with fleet management.

In 2005, the company went to market via a tender process to replace its existing fleet management system which had been in place since 1997. Following a comprehensive review process that included three other vendors, Sofico was selected as the most suitable ERP (enterprise resource planning) partner for Summit Fleet.

“During this selection and evaluation process, it became very clear that the other suppliers could not meet our specific requirements as comprehensively as Miles,” said Clinch.

Summit Fleet went live with Miles in 2006 with 3,500 vehicles on its books. Since then, Summit Fleet’s business volume has almost tripled, a growth rate in line with that of Sofico’s software systems which now manage more than 1 million vehicles worldwide, according to the companies.

“Since implementing Miles we’ve increased our ability to adapt to changing market conditions. We can better manage our customers’ vehicle fleet requirements utilizing automation and less human interaction,” said Clinch.