Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/510247
4 T here's a very real chance in the not-too-distant-future that the way some of your customers look will change. They will get taller, wider and a lot heavier. E-commerce is an increasingly popu- lar option because it allows the customer to order what they need at their conve- nience, but I think there's a more conve- nient method on the horizon. Eventually, trucks will place parts orders themselves. Tractors are already capable of com- municating faults to drivers and fl eets, but it's only a matter of time before the truck takes it a couple steps further. The next great wave in truck mainte- nance will be in prognostics; technology that allows the truck to communicate that a failure event is imminent, but has not yet occurred. Such technology would allow fl eets and drivers to have a repair made before the truck actually breaks down and po- tentially slash downtime down to practi- cally nothing. Or as close to nothing as you can reasonably get. Once prognostic technology arrives on a wide scale and gets refi ned, I would fully expect the truck to place the order for the needed part without much hu- man interaction. That's not to say the truck will be reaching out to you directly. But if the truck communicates back to the fl eet that it is about to experience a failure of X-part number and can talk to the software that manages the fl eet's parts inventory — or communicate with the vendor's software — that's about as streamlined as you can get. A service ticket could be generated in a matter of seconds, and it wouldn't require a person to actually touch anything. Tying your software capabilities into this process could really streamline selling. Messages sent from trucks to fl eets could be redirected to you. Allowing you to ship necessary parts immediately, and minimize both downtime and rush orders. You could simply replenish the parts as they are used. And with prognostics, since the failure event has yet to occur, you could become an increasingly valuable supply resource. The part isn't needed right away since the truck isn't sitting on the side of the road. That gives you more time to order the parts you need that you may otherwise not keep on hand, without the signifi cant risk of having a disappointed and inconvenienced customer. If you're able to embed yourself deep- ly with the fl eet, you could get a clearer picture of what your customers are really dealing with and become a more valuable tool in the repair process. You're no longer just a vendor. You're providing backup. You're part of the team. And if you're also the one making the repairs, you get a part number and schedule a repair without an angry driver who just pulled in breathing down your neck. You might not have to juggle techni- cian time as aggressively as you do now because you can now actually better manage a downtime event. The shop effi ciencies this process could afford your business are practi- cally limitless, and with better effi ciencies come better profi ts. The transition to this process prob- ably won't be painless (or free), but I believe it will pay lots of dividends in the end, including a closer relationship with your customer — the truck. T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | M a y 2 0 1 5 Editorial | Jason Cannon When the truck becomes your customer By Jason Cannon, Online Editor jasoncannon@randallreilly.com Messages sent from trucks to fl eets could be redirected to you. Allowing you to ship necessary parts immediately, and minimize both downtime and rush orders.