The art of Upfit
To the uninitiated, a fleet heavy with utility vehicles may seem driven by sheer brawn. But take a closer look, and you’ll see an intricate ballet of coordination between fleet owner, its fleet management company and third-party upfitters to equip vehicles with precision and deliver them when needed. That’s exactly what a diversified energy company and Wheels sought to achieve in standardizing the acquisition and upfit process for its Class 1–4 vehicles.
Coordination was Key
The goals were simple yet daunting: Attain 100% accuracy in order status, synchronize end-user delivery of new vehicles, and maximize supply chain efficiencies. Wheels began with its Results+ strategic consulting methodology to carefully listen to the company’s needs, understand each vehicle’s specific job, and shape specs that exceed work and safety requirements at a manageable cost.
Wheels then constructed an automated weekly order-status report, pulling the latest data from all parties. This gave the company the agility to bring in each old vehicle, remove and transfer its tools to the replacement unit, then transport the turn-in vehicle to auction, in an orchestrated process that enhanced accuracy and real-time accountability.
Visible Success
By spring 2021, order status reporting accuracy reached 100%. On-time completion of upfitter changes rose from 90% to 93%. And predelivery inspections completed at the upfitter resulted in a dramatic reduction of onsite mechanic inspection time. That meant reduced downtime for company mechanics whose inspection checklist was offloaded prior to onsite delivery—an impressive improvement to the delivery value stream.
