To add a new Asset to your asset list, follow these steps:
Navigate to the System Administrator Menu.
Hover over the Configuration button to reveal the dropdown menu.
Select Asset Templates from the menu.
Utilize the ‘Type to filter’ boxes under each column heading to locate the desired Asset Template.
Open the blank asset form by clicking on the purple link text.
Fill in the required fields.
Click the save button to store your new asset.
Note: Asset Templates are specifically designed forms tailored to collect relevant data for each asset type, which helps prevent unnecessary or unused fields.
In this meet-up, we talk about Long Term Replacement Prediction and 10-year replacement planning. We’ll be showcasing a new development in replacement prediction that was scoped by Bundaberg, along with existing functionality for tracking the replacement process of assets. We have integrated their scope for prediction and tweaked it to fit into our app.
In addition to prediction-based replacement planning, we’ll touch upon consumption-based replacement, another critical aspect of long-term asset management. By analysing the consumption patterns of assets, we can predict when they will likely reach the end of their useful life and schedule their replacement accordingly. This helps to minimise downtime and maximise the return on investment for the assets. So, whether it’s prediction-based or consumption-based replacement planning, our app has you covered. Let’s explore these features in more detail.
0:00 – Paul Introduction, housekeeping and overview
When a user encounters an error message indicating that their account is not activated during login, administrators can resolve the issue by following a series of steps.
Navigate to the user’s account document.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Click on the Account Control document in the table that sits within the Security panel.
Tick the verify checkbox.
Click the ‘Save’ tick in the top left corner of the page.
Note: the verify checkbox allows you to activate/deactivate login for an account without deleting it and losing historical data linked to the account.
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As director of the Bureau of Equipment in the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Toribio Noel Ilao (Noel) has an extremely challenging job. He’s responsible for more than 10,000 assets that the department needs to manage, maintain and as well as expand a network of more than 30,000kms of roads spread across more than 7,000 islands.
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Toribio Noel Ilao (Noel)
Director of the Bureau of
Equipment in the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways
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Environmental challenges
In addition, DPWH faces challenges from climate change, security and resource limitations. The Philippines is consistently one of the countries most impacted by natural disasters. In 2020 it was ranked seventh and has been ranked second only to Japan as the country at greatest risk from climate change.
Marikina River dredging
Mother Nature aside, Noel’s job is about to get much easier. Philippines managed security systems company Annex Digital has secured a contract from DPWH to provide a comprehensive fleet management system using Formbird FLEET, an Australian-developed comprehensive fleet management solution based on Formbird’s low-code development platform. This means that it can be easily configured by people who understand the needs of any particular fleet operator without them needing a high degree of skill to write or modify computer code.
Unlike conventional “off the shelf” solutions, Formbird FLEET is able to adapt its workflow to match and continually improve the existing business processes of an organisation.
BIG FLOAT – amphibious excavators
Latest of many initiatives
Implementation of Formbird is the latest in a string of initiatives Noel has put in place to improve the efficiency and safety of DPWH operations. In 2015, DPWH adopted ISO 55001:2014 (asset management) in its fleet management program and upgraded its ISO 9001:2008 quality management certification to ISO 9001:2015. It has since obtained certification to ISO 45001:2018, covering occupational health and safety, and has adopted reliability-centred maintenance’ (RCM), a process that ensures maintenance tasks of all kinds — preventive or predictive — are performed in an efficient, cost-effective, reliable, and safe manner.
Formbird FLEET, which Noel will deploy in his latest efficiency-boosting initiative, allows organisations to manage individual fleet assets, rather than managing a ‘class’ of fleet assets. It provides more than 100 forms, 130 business rules and 30 reports and is able to integrate with existing corporate applications.
More than three million assets managed
Formbird presently manages more than three million assets across 10 organisations. These assets range in value and complexity from a whipper-snipper worth a few hundred dollars to a channel dredger worth $6 million.
Formbird FLEET is able to take in information from assets in real-time and make this information available to those who need it. It builds and makes available a complete picture of every asset. Information is updated when a vehicle is serviced, when it is refuelled when the driver lodges a daily check sheet.
Improved management of vehicle warranty is saving operators that use Formbird FLEET thousands of dollars. Formbird FLEET provides different dashboards for everyone involved in FLEET management, giving them the information they need: information relevant to their role.
Formbird FLEET’s record-keeping and information logging enable better compliance with safety legislation and responsibilities around duty of care by enabling chains of responsibility to be clearly established and followed.
Formbird has developed a well-earned reputation for delivering tools and resources to the fleet industry. Now, in collaboration with Geosecure – an authorised GEOTAB partner with a unique approach to fleet management, the company has been able to add impressive new functionality to their flagship management application FLEET.
“Through our relationship with Geosecure, we are leveraging GEOTAB’s leading data processing solution and Geosecure’s algorithms to generate insights that help our clients proactively manage their fleet, turn safety policy into digitised processes and help clients map out their electric vehicle transition strategy,” said Mark Hosking, CEO of Formbird.
“The Formbird FLEET platform gives the functionality needed to streamline safety reporting and next-step processes, making it much easier for clients to manage their WHS obligations,” said Hosking
The quality and breadth of GEOTAB’s data processing make it easy to understand why the company has been ranked by ABI Research as the number one commercial telematics vendor worldwide for two years. The rich insights from the GEOTAB solution support the flexibility of the Formbird Fleet platform allowing Formbird FLEET to display it in a way that makes it easy for managers to understand and interact with the largest set of electric vehicle makes and models on the market today.
Whether it’s from the perspectives of operating existing internal combustion fleets or managing the impending electrification of fleets across Australia, Formbird FLEET and GEOTAB bring the latest connected fleet technology to the fleet community and advances well beyond vehicle location and into the realms of data analysis using the latest internet of things (IoT) technology,” said Hosking.
Cardinia Shire Council is planning for future growth and urgently needs to upgrade its outdated fleet management solution for its 75 significant fleet assets.
Cardinia Shire, located to the east of Melbourne, is one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia. There are currently over 112,000 residents. By 2041 this could grow to 200,000 people.
In recognition of the rapid growth of Cardinia, the Victorian shire is even a member of an exclusive club called the “National Growth Areas Alliance.” Not so much a secret society but a peak body for local governments in Australia’s outer urban growth areas that advocates for the local government area with state and federal governments on growth area challenges and opportunities.
Cardinia has become so popular with new residents the local government area has a population growth rate double the national average.
The Cardinia Shire Council plan for the area’s future liveability must include spending ratepayers funds wisely. Targeted for savings is better management of the council’s fleet assets. To achieve this, the shire council has implemented a new fleet management approach using Formbird FLEET.
Formbird FLEET is a modern fleet management app developed on Formbird’s low-code platform. Formbird FLEET distinguishes itself from the other solutions on the market through its adaptability. According to the marketing literature, the configuration of FLEET can match the existing business processes, which means that Cardinia Shire Council won’t have to squeeze their operations into the confines of how someone else thinks they should run their business.
Fleet management apps give organisations a window into the status of their fleet assets, whether it be tracking a garbage truck’s location or notifying the mechanic when the next service is due.
The new fleet management app will help Cardinia Shire maintain its fleet to a higher standard, extending the life of its assets with preventative maintenance schedules. And protecting the council’s team with daily driver safety checks. As well as saving the ratepayers money by spending less on their fleet.
Mark Hosking Formbird CEO remarked, “Formbird FLEET is all about giving organisations complete visibility of their fleet assets…. everybody in the team from the mechanics to the administrator can access the information they need from a single source of truth.”
Hosking continued, “We’ve saved organisations thousands of dollars by automating their preventative maintenance schedules …. documenting every service event and recording a comprehensive condition history. FLEET users minimise their vehicle’s total cost of ownership.”
Cardinia Shire Council plans to be up and running in the next month; we look forward to seeing how they progress and achieve their goal of a better-managed fleet.
A transformational journey to an operationalised fleet.
As a business moves from legacy processes and outdated methodologies, they move through four discreet “states” of understanding.
Past State
Most organisations start understanding their vehicles from a historical perspective—looking at what has happened based on reports from multiple ad hoc systems.
Present State
As organisations digitise and capture more data in real-time, they move to an active state- knowing what is happening. Real-time information now guides their decision making. However, the data soon becomes overwhelming, and decisions become reactive. Most processes follow historical behaviours. The organisation is still working in a non-digital way; by relying on reports that are only a little more timely than the previous approach.
Proactive State
As systems become data-rich and integrated, managers can start to be proactive. They can predict what is likely to happen. Organisations adapt current operational practices to solve problems that might occur in the future. When an organisation moves from the past or present state to proactive, there is still a tendency to take past processes and digitise them—resulting in unnecessary procedures and reports to deliver the outcome required.
Future State
The critical advantage of a fully operationalised fleet is the ability to focus on the future state. What is the organisation looking to achieve? How do they set up the processes to achieve the outcome they want?
For example, does an organisation want to reduce accidents by 50%, reduce their carbon footprint by 30%, increase utilisation by 40%, improve fuel efficiency by 20%, or achieve 100% compliance on FBT (Fringe Benefit Tax) or save 20 hours per week in administration effort?
Future state starts with the outcomes first and active digital workflows to drive results without being burdened by legacy, outdated practices.
Fleet management solutions come in all shapes and sizes. In my opinion, most of them have a single failing; they force your organisation to operate the way their application needs you to.
We take a different approach; we start by listening to what our customers want. The less we disrupt their existing processes, the more value we can deliver to the business. Once we know what the customer wants, we add flexibility because we know things will change.
From my experience, every organisation is distinct and has a different approach to getting things done. And every fleet has different needs and priorities. Some organisations fleet management processes have reached a level of “maturity” and size that they see the need to adopt an end-to-end management solution. Others have tried to implement a system that didn’t work out mainly because it didn’t cover our list’s features.
Eight Fleet Management App must-haves
1. End to end solution
Manage all components of a fleet asset’s lifecycle maintenance in one system bringing every element of fleet management under one “umbrella”—transition from a paper-based system to a fleet management app that everyone uses. Keeping everyone on the same page Managers / Mechanics / Admin / Operational staff / External Suppliers.
Fleet managers want one system to deal with.
2. Optimised Maintenance
Maintain the value of fleet and plant assets through timely preventative and corrective maintenance, management of warranty claims and maintenance history reports to support asset value at disposal.
Fleet managers want to save money with better care of their fleet.
3. Industry Standard Reporting
A suite of reporting tools and dashboards for management, administration, workshop and operations that manage workflow and provide analysis of fault identification for technicians and management. Notifications of overdue work orders, downtime and variance analysis.
Fleet managers want to know what’s happening on the ground and communicate within the team.
4. Parts and Consumable
Actively manage workshop stock items as well as ad-hoc purchases. Minimises mechanics administration time by connecting stores and workshops to facilitate the timely ordering of parts and consumables.
Fleet managers want people to do the job they do best.
5. Fuel Management
Fuel usage monitoring across the fleet to benchmark fuel consumption, assist with planning and detect anomalies.
Fleet managers can control expenses if they can monitor fuel use.
6. 10-year Replacement Progam and Risk-Based Approach
Adopt replacement planning using the proven risk-based replacement methodology and the conventional “10-year”. Fleet managers want to take fleet replacement policy beyond the simple metrics of consumption and financials.
Fleet managers need to know when to replace their fleet assets conscious of the risk to the business if that asset is not available.
7. Whole of life (WOL)Costing
Establish the use case for “whole of life” (WOL) costing to calculate plant hire rates and total cost of ownership accurately.
Fleet managers need to know the value of their assets and the total cost of ownership.
8. Safety, Time and location logging
Accurately record, daily driver check sheets, timesheets, location and plant utilisation. Make it easier for staff to record their activity and equipment use.
Fleet managers need to keep accurate records for work health and safety, particularly in light of changes to chain of responsibility legislation.
I know that loads more features could have made mention. Sometimes it’s better to keep things compact and always better to keep things simple. Maybe you have a suggestion, let me know, send me an email. mark.hosking@formbird.com
About Mark Hosking, Formbird’s CEO, has been building business applications since computers had floppy disks. Formbird makes modern, scalable business apps for Water utilities and Local Government, using rapid development methodology on their low-code platform – Formbird.
