Tackling Fleet Sustainability and Asset Management Challenges
As a value-added distributor, this Wheels’ client provides essential products and services that help businesses operate efficiently. They set a goal to meet ambitious sustainability targets by converting 18% of their fleet to hybrid or electric vehicles by 2024 and 70% by 2025. At the same time, they faced challenges in managing over 4,000 material handling assets, such as forklifts and floor scrubbers, using outdated, manual processes. These inefficiencies in asset tracking, along with sustainability pressures, highlighted the need for a centralized, streamlined solution.
Collaborative Solutions for Fleet and Equipment Optimization
The organization partnered with Wheels to drive their fleet sustainability goals by transitioning to a new OEM as their primary hybrid vehicle supplier. They worked with Wheels to customize their vehicle selectors to feature hybrid options and to introduce an automated driver ordering system to reduce administrative workload. Wheels also provided reporting helping the client track the progress of this initiative.
For the organization’s material handling equipment, Wheels introduced a centralized digital platform, replacing their error-prone spreadsheets. This system streamlined asset tracking, including maintenance schedules, and enabled more effective decision-making using the ‘Four Rs’ strategy—Retain, Relocate, Remove, Replace—based on equipment performance and cost. The shift to digital lease documentation and e-signatures further enhanced efficiency, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Surpassing Sustainability and Operational Efficiency Targets
As of October 2024, the client surpassed its sustainability goal by 40%, with 24.9% of its fleet now hybrid. The fleet transition reduced annual gasoline consumption by 14,872 gallons and CO2 emissions by 148.5 tons. With 35 additional hybrids on order, they are well on their way to meeting its 2025 target of converting 70% of the fleet to hybrid or electric vehicles.
The client’s material handling operations have seen significant improvements. The consolidation of over 4,000 assets into a single digital system provided enhanced visibility and control, reducing the complexity of asset management. The digital platform also streamlined maintenance processes and centralized financing, enabling the company to operate more efficiently across the US, Mexico, and Canada.ategic partnership and clear vision not only enabled the company to meet its targets but also set a sustainability benchmark for the pharmaceutical industry.
