RentalMetrics

RentalMetrics 60 Second Grill - Episode 003

In this episode, we get to gnaw on some serious RedMeat.  We're talking about continued investment in training and throwing around meat metaphors galore.  Your mouth will water. 

Technology: Killing the small farm and helping large operations produce maximum yields

Image via Wikipedia

Whatever your opinion on "big farming" pushing small firms into obscurity...know this.  Today's large farming operation is very advanced.  This piece in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel written by Rick Barrett discusses some of the advances that have really produced incredible yields from the same areas. 

"It's apparent how successful technology is in farming today, as we are producing more every year with fewer farmers," said Tamara Kass, director of agricultural products for DTN.

For example, in 1997 the national average corn yield per acre was 128 bushels. Seven years later it was up to 160 bushels. And milk production has increased 18% per cow over the last 10 years.

Click through to the article and read the cool tidbits in the right sidebar!  Here's a hit, I bet you didn't know that they can identify weeds via infrared now did you!  Click it!

New Series - RentalMetrics 60 Second Grills

Hello there.  We've just released the first in a series of videos called the RentalMetrics 60 Second Grills.  These short videos are designed to get your creative juices flowing.  Do you like Red Meat like we do?  Well you're about to be served up a bevy of bovine enjoyment.  So grab yourself a cup of coffee and share about a minute with us.  WARNING:  Watch AFTER lunch.  The images inside this video will get your mind...and stomach working overtime!

Chief Deliverer of Results Quoted in Utility Contractor Magazine

The cover story for the May 2008 issue of Utility Contractor Magazine is called, "The Transmission: Fleet Management Systems Employ GPS and Cellular Signals to Up Productivity

It's a great article.  Here's my quote:

“By injecting actionable data from fleet management systems into the business cycle, leaders can proactively make decisions on fleet composition, replace vs. repair and fleet staging,” says Doug Mitchell, CEO and founder of RentalMetrics, a subscription-based consulting service operating online — allowing professionals to research available GPS solutions for their equipment, trucks and trailers and identify and calculate ROI for solution deployments across the enterprise. “Also, data can become very powerful when used across the enterprise to streamline transportation, dispatching a driver directly to a machine vs. somewhere on a jobsite or in field service, dispatching a technician to a machine with a proper inventory of parts based on a fault code received at the home office.”

We try to take a holistic approach with GPS solutions.  I've been chatting with solution manufacturers the last few days and each describe that "most clients still buy for one or two key reasons." There's nothing wrong with that...but to really extract the value from the solution across the enterprise, we must engage the entire company and break down the walls between corporate silos. 

"Mr. Large Construction company President...tear down these walls!"

(first equipment rental/construction company reader to add a comment with the person who's words I'm making a play on...gets a free 14 day FULL ACCESS trial to the RentalMetrics Interactive Learning Environment.) 

Doug Mitchell's Podcast with Sam Simon at the Construction Equipment Owners Blog

I was recently interviewed by Sam Simon over at the Construction Equipment Owner's Blog for a podcast. 

If you can spare few moments...take a listen.  We chat about extracting maximum ROI from equipment tracking solutions...across the entire enterprise. 

Many times, GPS buying decisions are made by one silo within an organization.  Often the decision is reactionary.  In this podcast, I give some strategies on how to step back and make a sound decision on deploying GPS and getting the MOST out of it. 

Sam also references our Introduction to GPS video which is one part of our Free Trial course in our Interactive Learning Environment (ILE).  To see all of our course offerings in the ILE, click here for your free trial.

Should I pick ONE fleet management-asset management GPS solution across the enterpirse to maximize ROI?

We get this question quite a bit.  Often, larger organizations have divisions or departments that are tasked with "finding a GPS solution that will solve their needs".  In the end, that solution does just that...solves ONE group's needs.  The group tasked with choosing a GPS fleet management solution will examine the wants, needs, must haves, delighter's, etc. with their lens on, often overlooking synergy between other departments. 

Most often, the transportation department will not be consulted or considered when buying ASSET based GPS fleet management devices. 

That's too bad, because often times 10-30 minutes of wasted time per day per rental transport driver can be saved by dispatching the driver directly to the machine based on its exact and current location NOW...not the location of where it was dropped off. 

Whatever your dispatching system (white board, Nextel, yellow pad, software system) just providing transport with a means to know exactly where their pick up located vs. guessing based on drop can yield enough ROI to pay the monthly bill for the tracking devices.  Remember, if canvassing an area for 15 minutes searching is enough to put driver A into overtime...you've not only paid the monthly bill for one GPS device...but likely 3 or 4.

It's very important to look at your operation as a whole (THE ENTERPRISE) to fully exploit the economic benefit (ROI) of a fleet management GPS solution.  This is often very difficult to do with busy schedules and competing interests.  The RentalMetrics team highly recommends a comprehensive look at the each piece of the enterprise before deciding on a solution.  Making the right choice of fleet management GPS solutions NOW...will pay huge dividends down the long and winding road.

We dive into many more examples of this situation and explore the ROI opportunities in our Interactive Learning Environment or ILE. 

RentalMetrics Online GPS Product Showcase - Blue Sky Network

If you can spare 5 minutes and 44 seconds...take a look at the next installment in our Online GPS Product Showcase where we chat with Blue Sky Networks, an Iridium Satellite Tracking Partner/Provider.

"Confessions" book coverage results in global exposure

Yesterday, Michael Krigsman over at the IT Project Failures blog posted a nice review/highlight of my "Confessions" book.  He was very adept at showing the value of the book as a guide to reduce hype in the enterprise sales process...and not a "hit piece" on the sales profession (we're all selling all the time right?).

As a result of his post and various other channels, RentalMetrics has been contacted by companies as close as our own backyard, Des Moines, Iowa...and far away as Bangalore, India. 

The power of delivering a solid product and service on line is unparalleled.  It allows us to have Breakfast with Brits...and Lunch with Laotians...and Dinner with Dominicans. 

If you're wondering what blogs, social media, social networking, and sharing your knowledge of your niche with the world can possibly do for you...I'd be happy to chat with you,

over a coffee... or over a broadband connection.

Return on Investment from GPS Solutions

Paul and I were chatting the other day about the ROI model going into our Independent Learning Environment subscription site.   It was interesting because we hit upon something that often gets lost when project teams are caught up in justifying the expense or dissecting the areas in which ROI can be captured.

So often, ROI models include things that are very cool and very critical to savings....if you use them. 

If your main purchase driver is theft prevention, then it would be silly to count "Higher and more accurate billable hours" in your calculations.  Even if you have every intention of "possibly using those other features", your ROI in this case would be:

1. Possibly reduced insurance rates for the fleet.
2. No down time while stolen machine would be processed/replaced.
3. Deductible not paid out.

There's nothing wrong with using this ROI model at all.  The key is recognizing that a GPS tracking system may have 5-10 key areas of savings it takes credit for...but if you don't have the staff or system to take advantage of them (at least today) don't delude yourself into using those elements to justify the expense.

Qualcomm Offering OmniVision Metro for Local Fleet Management

Qualcomm has just launched "OmniVision Metro", a terrestrial based solution targeted toward metro market based fleet operations (think service trucks, delivery vehicles, landscapers, pest control, couriers, etc.).

According to Qualcomm,

“The focus [with OV Metro] was on the user interface – the software and applications,” Gillespie said. “We want to let people manage their business without having to learn ours.”  Comparing it to the intuitive interface of the iPod, he added, “We want to give the users access to everything they want without needing outside help to get it.”

I recommend reading the full press release. 

It intrigues me though that QCOM seems to be dipping its toes well into the "total solution software" game here. They mention that the platform is quite open and agnostic so plenty of 3rd party apps can be used on it.  But they go on to say,

"Future services and features planned for OV Metro include workforce management tools with support for handheld devices that would aid proof of delivery, inventory management, signature capture and other remote data functions."

Has the pendulum swung back toward providing a full compliment of software/hardware/integration/airtime/support?  For a while there, I was convinced otherwise. 

I think it's the right move for QCOM to offer a full compliment of services and software. 

Too few companies are able to take FULL advantage of the QCOM solutions because they have other legacy software issues requiring expensive integration...OR...they don't have other key pieces of software (dashboard analytics, dispatching, mobile resource management, etc.) that leverage the "dots on a map" data into usable/actionable information. 

This offering REALLY rounds out the QCOM package and I think it could make a big impact on the market.