At Te Whatu Ora Health Bay of Plenty, a small team manages a large fleet of vehicles covering a broad catchment area. Moving people around the health campus, visiting patients or heading out to meetings, the vehicles are always on the road, and there’s a lot to track and monitor.
Managing this complexity requires some sophisticated tech. That’s why the organisation uses two platforms to handle bookings, movement and more for its 320-strong fleet. By integrating Fleetwise and Argus Tracking, the team has streamlined many key processes, saved significant admin time and built a deeper understanding of the operation.
Thomas Larkin, Business Analyst at Te Whatu Ora, explains:
“That integration, that's been one of the main aspects. Fleetwise has been our core system, and we didn’t want to change that, so I was looking for a GPS system that could work with it. The fact that the two systems talk together provides everything we
need.”
Te Whatu Ora has been using Fleetwise to manage its pool bookings for a while, but the integration with Argus Tracking added functionality and streamlined the admin side in many ways. Some processes still being managed on paper are now automated, freeing time for the admin team and improving accuracy.
The integration also allows the management team to gather data from different sources, helping them identify issues or trends as they emerge.
Managing a large fleet of vehicles involves several small steps and processes. Before the Fleetwise/Argus integration, some key workflows were still manual, slow and error-prone.
For example, when a vehicle was returned to campus, the driver needed to fill in a slip of paper with the return time and odometer reading. Then, an admin would enter those details into the computer system to mark the car as returned.
Now, a car is signed out in the system, then tracked and signed back in once the GPS shows it’s returned to the site, all automatically. This eliminates many of the slower, more manual parts of the process and reduces missed returns or admin errors.
Integrated GPS tracking also helps the team manage client expectations. If a district nurse is out for an appointment, for example, and the client calls to say they haven’t arrived, the manager can use the tracking data to give an accurate arrival time. It all adds up to a system that’s far more efficient and less prone to mistakes and delays.
Because Fleetwise and Argus Tracking can ‘talk’ to each other, the team can share data between systems, giving them better visibility and improved analytics.
It’s also possible to bring data in from third-party sources, like the NZTA, for extra layers of insight and reporting. While Te Whatu Ora is still developing the analytics, the goal is to spot issues, patterns or trends as they emerge, so the team can deal with them quickly.
“What we’re trying to do is put as many controls in place as we can, so if we identify any pattern, we can address it,” explains Thomas Larkin.
Integrating Fleetwise and Argus Tracking has proved successful for Te Whatu Ora – from efficiency and analytics to improved tracking and staff safety. As the team build an understanding of the tools and learn more about integration pathways, they’ll be able to get more value from the platforms – and their fleet.
Thomas Larkin is keen to explore the integration further, developing data analytics controls and putting fuel efficiency tracking in place. For now, he’s happy with the outcomes and the support from the Fleetwise team.
“I definitely recommend it because of the level of support and care the guys provide,” he says.