Heli goes into the cloud

References

Heli goes into the cloud

In order to remain competitive, we needed to bundle all phases of our machine rental - from orders, through planning and transportation and even inspection and repairs - into one system.

About

Heli has been in existence since 1983. The company specializes in rental, sales and 24/7 service of aerial work platforms, cranes, forklifts, rolling scaffolds etc. The rental fleet counts about 1250 machines. They also have a huge stock of spare parts, give training and bring the machines on site. The Heli Group consists of four subsidiaries. Heli nv is responsible for the rental business. Heli Trans is the transport service of the company. High & Safe offers a total package in fall protection, bridges and scaffolding.

Heli Safety Academy provides safety training.

The challenge

From on premise to cloud

Heli has several depots in Belgium. Some activities, such as maintenance and repair, are decentralized, which makes it difficult to keep an overview. The old ICT system with local servers and separate programs without mutual connection did not allow to bundle all phases of the machine rental. The company therefore went in search of a system in which the various applications (tracking, planning, accounting, etc.) could be fully integrated and connected. The motivation was first and foremost to simplify the processes, the follow-up and the management, to have better control and to work more efficiently.

The solution

Cloud solution and Suivo

In addition to a new, comprehensive ERP package from SAP, Heli also chose Suivo. Both solutions are cloud-based and can therefore be perfectly linked to each other.

Suivo is used at Heli Trans as a Track & Trace solution and for dispatching. With Suivo the complete tracking and tracing of the drivers can be managed. In the cabins of all 22 vehicles a Garmin navigation screen is installed that exchanges information with the Suivo platform. In this way the drivers can consult their orders (what needs to be delivered or picked up where), scan the machines and register the delivery or pick-up. If a delivery is registered, the rental contract starts automatically.

Registration of a pick-up leads to the termination of the rental contract.

Suivo also records data such as mileage, driving and resting times, consumption and driving style, which enables transparent fleet management.

To remain competitive, we needed to be able to bundle everything from machine rental - from orders, through planning and transport, to timekeeping, wage management and even after-sales service and repairs - into one system.

Gunther Van Den Hove

Sales manager

Further digitization

Heli does not intend to stop at the optimizations within Heli Trans. In a next phase, they want to integrate the entire rental fleet into the Suivo system, so that it can be monitored in the same way as their own fleet. This should make it possible, among other things, to pick up a machine last minute from a construction site where a driver happens to be in the vicinity. And more telematics will be used to monitor the hours of operation of all machines and automatically switch machines off in periods where no rental is charged (weather, weekends, evenings, etc.). It is also the intention to give the inspection partner BTV access to the Suivo platform. Their inspectors can then visit machines completely autonomously according to a predetermined schedule. Today this involves a lot of paperwork.

All these efforts are guaranteed to yield extra efficiency gains and cost savings.

The results

After the introduction of the new ICT system, the positive results quickly followed. The planning and execution of transports is simplified and much easier to follow up. The link with invoicing, fleet management, driver monitoring and subcontractor monitoring provides clear benefits. For example, the calculation of drivers' wages is now much smoother and subcontractors can also be paid more accurately. More efficient work and cost savings go hand in hand. At Heli Trans, since the implementation of the new system, subcontractors' transport invoices have been reduced by 8 to 10% due to more accurate recording of hours and kilometers.

References