October 3, 2020

To recap, our post on Silos of Information highlighted how complicated it can be to gain visibility across the organization, but in reality, even if all the information is available, would you know how to organize it? How do you recognize where the opportunities exist?

 

 

Our team looks at data, metrics, and information daily. Frankly, we enjoy it because we know it tells a story, and it guides us through various recommendations and strategies to help our customers. In one of our most recent reviews, we had the pleasure of diagnosing a forty (40) forklift fleet that consisted of five (5) different servicing vendors to accompany two different “fleet reports” created from the maintenance and finance teams, respectively. After dissecting those seven (7) streams of information, we were able to sort, verify, and organize the data to find opportunities. A few glaring takeaways in the site’s ability to self-manage:

Visibility Recognition
  • 4.3% of spend was not assigned to an asset
  • Are spare parts not being assigned? Inaccurate vendor invoicing?
  • 3.6% increase in average spend over last three (3) years
  • Accurate with how equipment should age? Any outliers?
  • Five (5) forklifts exceeding useful economic life
  • Is replacing equipment cheaper than keeping existing assets?
  • Three (3) units with $0 spent over last 12 months
  • Missing vendor? Out of service? Removed from location?
  • Irregular, erratic preventative maintenance (PM) schedules
  • Additional costs? Voided warranty? Preventable downtime?
  • All (7) reports were incomplete as provided
  • Impossible to manage in existing state

Earth-shattering? Not yet, but it is the foundation, and it is lost opportunity. If you do not know where you are, then you do not know where you are going. Propellr’s invoice auditing program and reporting tools can create small victories in the areas above, and ultimately allowing calculated planning to design a replacement strategy for the larger wins. Stay tuned as we elaborate on the “Buyer’s Journey” and where most companies go astray.