Maintenance Via The Web

JOHN BENDEL
TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

      The Information Systems people at K&R Express Systems, Inc. had a lot on their plate. So when the Maintenance Department needed a new system, K&R decided to rent one over the Internet.
      In November, K&R implemented Transman System maintenance management software provided over the Internet by TMT Software of Durham, N.C. If K&R likes the software they may chose to license Transman from TMT and run it on their own server.
      Meanwhile according to K&R's maintenance and Information Systems people, Transman works just fine over the Internet. And whether they decide to bring the software in-house or continue to work over the Internet, it will be on their own timetable.
      "We're currently tracking about 340 pieces of power equipment and about 1,400 trailers,'' said Dominic Troglia, K&R's Director of Maintenance.
      K&R, based in Hinsdale, Ill., is a 70-year-old regional LTL carrier serving 17 Midwest and Middle Atlantic states and two Canadian provinces. "We have one location where we do our own maintenance and then we farm out the rest at our other terminals,'' Troglia said. Transman tracks that off-site work as well as maintenance at the company's main Hinsdale terminal.
      Transman replaced a proprietary in-house maintenance management system.
      "It just wasn't doing what we needed. It was a little outdated. It didn't have the capability of tracking the parts like we needed to. It didn't capture any type of warranty,'' said Troglia.
      K&R technicians currently work with two touch-screen PC terminals, one on the trailer side of the shop and one on the power side.
      "They open their name on the computer. It gives them jobs that we have created for them. They touch the screen on the job they're going to do and (the program) puts them automatically on the clock on that job,'' said Troglia.
      "We have a terminal in our foreman's office, where he creates the plans for the mechanics. I have a terminal in my office where I can view what a mechanic is doing at any time. I can create a purchase order. I can pretty much do anything on of my computer. It's made my job a whole lot easier.''
      Troglia said the previous system did not track purchase orders. "It was paper and pencil, then having to go back and track it in a book. With this I punch in a purchase order number and it will tell me what invoice it was on, whether I paid it and it's date-stamped.
      "As far as tracking maintenance, I can go in and pull up a certain truck and see what I've done on it back since we got the program in November. We didn't enter in any old history. It was just too much.''
      Despite the lack of history Troglia expects the new database will begin paying off fairly soon.
      "In six months the fleet should start seeing trends on repair and parts failures. As we fill up that database we can watch for specific fleet-type problems and I think that's where we'll see some real benefit,'' Troglia said.
      K&R is enjoying some benefits right now, particularly where the company's $200,000 parts inventory is concerned.
      "We have a terminal in our parts room so we can receive parts, print out bar code labels and do any purchase orders from there. My parts man takes care of all that through his terminal,'' he said.
      "We have entered minimums and maximums so the program creates a requisition list, parts reorder list based on what we use. So it comes in handy with the mechanics scanning their parts as they use them."

ASP Fits The Bill
      Why an ASP rather than licensed software? Troglia said the ASP model cost less to implement.
      "A lot less money than purchasing it. Then we also figured we would be updated on the ASP without having to put out additional money for software updates,'' he said.
      Troglia said an ASP makes it easy to set up a work station anywhere there is an Internet connection, which means almost anywhere in a terminal. Similarly, management can access the software from home or any other remote location.
      "If I happen to be on the road, I just get on the Internet and I can see what's going on in my shop,'' he said.
      K&R's Information Systems department is pleased with the Transman ASP for other reasons.
      "One of the reasons we took it in this direction is we have a lot of other IS initiatives going now that take quite a bit of resources,'' said Eric Witsaman, K&R's Director of Information Systems.
      Among those initiatives: a new routing and dispatch system.
      According to Witsaman, the Transman ASP model "has worked out very well.'' He expects to reassess the system in a year and decide whether to continue as an ASP customer or to license the software and "bring it on board.''
      Meanwhile, the Transman ASP is winning fans on the shop floor.
      "At first, everybody was a little timid to use it. I have some 30-year mechanics here who are up in their 60s and were a little afraid at first, but they're working through it just fine now,'' said Troglia.
      Troglia said he knew the system had won acceptance when an error at K&R temporarily knocked out Internet connectivity and took Transman off line.
      "They had to go back to the paper writing of work orders. They couldn't wait for it to get back up,'' he explained.

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