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Paul Hollick's blog: 8 September - An age of innovation

Date: 08 September 2016

Paul Hollick is the chairman of the ICFM.

I would argue that the world of fleet management has not moved on very quickly over the past 20 years.

For sure, there is more outsourcing these days, but the real content hasn't really altered that much. But things may be about to change, and most experts within our field now predict a marked difference in the role in a very short time indeed.

So what are the reasons behind this? Well, we are beginning to see three markets coming together - fleet, travel and payments - and these three combined deliver the currently overused term 'mobility'. The reason for the change, beyond the social and economic global factors, is the pace of technology, especially around portal communication devices, which include vehicle communications.

Rather than talk about what mobility means it seems more fitting to focus on the innovation element. So let me ask the question - as a fleet manager, where is real innovation coming from within your supply chain? Well, the answer is from everyone, whether they are large leasing firms or small start-ups in the travel and payment spaces.

They are all having an impact on your daily fleet management activities.

Of course, some of these companies have a greater competitive advantage than others - for example, well established firms have access to a customer base and can therefore shape products around real client needs. However, start-ups tend to focus 100% on their specific area of innovation, mainly because they are not distracted with the routine of managing a customer base and as a result they can usually get things off the ground at a much quicker pace.

There is great innovation going on at the moment and the following business segments are good examples:

  • Rental - supporting the usage rather than ownership of a vehicle agenda by launching a 90-day-plus hire structure while also being instrumental in the uptake of car-sharing.
  • Taxi - Uber disrupting the market, with other entrants joining in.
  • OEMs - using data effectively to deal with real-life issues; as an example, BMW recently announced dashboard warnings would be sent to leasing companies to help with SMR.
  • Accident management - harnessing telemetry to positively impact the market with incident mitigation.
  • Fuel card providers - using the data to move from fuelcard to fuel management solutions, with innovate payment methods constantly being launched.
  • Insurance - linking telemetry, with accident data to reduce premiums, and with policy set per employee rather than per company.

These are just the tip of the iceberg, and all market players are involved in the launch of elegant, innovative, cost- and time-saving solutions, so get in touch with your supply chain and see what they are up to.



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