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For a business to thrive in the modern world, all possible leads and advantages need to be availed to get a competitive edge in the market.
It is also pertinent to manage all aspects of your business efficiently even though you yourself cannot possibly handle all of it at once.
This is where modern tools need to be implemented. Software are the necessary tools which are being created to help you in any and all the aspects of your business.
One aspect of all businesses that is immensely improved through these software is fleet management.
As the number of vehicles increases it becomes tedious to keep paper trails for all of them and often they get muddled up.
To stay organised, fleet management software is a must have for every company.
What is a fleet management software?
A fleet management software is an application that assists businesses in organising, managing and synchronizing company cars from a single principal information system to make all the fleet operations run effortlessly.
A good fleet management software should be able to enhance fleet performance, lower overall costs, and give good progress reports.
It should be able to keep track of all fleet vehicles including vehicle schedules, monitor vehicle location at all times, manage price and quotations, plan optimal travel routes, and keep fleet vehicles in top shape through maintenance.
One such software is Odoo which not only provides these functions but has further unique features created solely to improve fleet management.
Who is Odoo and What About it’s Fleet Management Software?
Odoo is one of the world’s topmost business applications, where they provide over 30 applications to be used by many business organizations ranging from small scale businesses to large companies.
They have over 1500 members. These members have contributed to expanding Odoo’s range to provide up to 1600+ apps, to get in touch with Odoo contact Syncoria.
Syncoria is a digital transformation solution provider based in Canada, and an official Odoo Ready partner. Odoo has more than one application that helps in fleet management.
Odoo OpenERP Fleet Management
Odoo fleet includes all the basic features and more required to manage your fleet most effectively. Some of these are―
- Adding exact descriptions of vehicles: very detailed descriptions of each vehicle from your fleet can be added, including but not limited to; brand name, car make, model, registration number, number of doors and seats, and colour.
- Driver Record: all the record for each vehicle driver can be kept separately such as name, driving license, contact information, personal information, position, HR settings, etc.
- Write-offs: there is no difficulty in editing, adding and removing cars from the database. With one click of a button you can write-off any detail like a colour change on a car or just discard an entry for a new car altogether without having to manually erase each entry about it.
- GPS and Location Tracking: you can monitor the speed, location and routes taken for individual vehicles and plan better courses.
- Vehicle History: it can automatically create databases recording extensive history of individual vehicles including odometer readings
- Maintenance and service: automatically records all the repair and maintenance work done on each vehicle including the costs and type of work done.
- Work Orders: Based on the last date of repair and maintenance of car parts you can get the option to automatically generate work orders for new parts. This can then be viewed in work order summaries with clear and detailed reports, all the while avoiding hassle of lengthy paperwork.
- Monitor fuel consumption: you can link each vehicle to a fuel card to automatically record fuel refills and type of fuel refilled.
- Status and overview: shows you easy to view representations of the costs related to each vehicle. It also shows you clear overviews with the number of vehicles you have ordered, vehicles you have sold, vehicles you currently own, etc.
- Leasing contracts: you can manage contracts conveniently and add start and expiry dates, initial and recurring costs. You can see the status of the contract any time you want to.
- Dashboard: you can get live reports and graphs to show vehicle performance, cost cuts, fuel consumption, etc. You can also create customized reports showing only the information you need, for example, reports showing only recurring costs.
Accounting
You can avail the accounting application separately or with the OpenERP Fleet Management program and integrate it fully.
If you do this then all the cash inflows and outflows related to the fleet are automatically recorded and added to the accounting report. This is later taken into account in forecasts.
If you synchronise your bank statements with the system, you can automatically import files without having to go the bank.
You can even create your own cash flow statements, get profit and earning reports, and develop balance sheets.
Human Resources
Human Resources application allows you to manage your fleet manager, vehicle drivers, and all other employees’ information efficiently.
Fuel logs and other recurring expenses can be recorded as employee expenses and taken into account when managing employees.
You can create a separate department for fleet management and see all the information related to it with just one click.
You can limit sensitive company information to only the HR department or easily make public announcements to all employees by changing the filter.
You can also keep track of number of working hours for each driver and monitor the statistics to see if they are slacking off.
If this is integrated with the accounting application, you can automatically get real time reports based on hours logged by employees.
Expenses
The Expenses application lets you save valuable time on expense reports. Sometimes employees may need to buy supplies for the fleet or fuel on the go.
They can then easily submit and justify these expenses since all the information, expense description, amount, etc. can be added quickly at one place.
Once the fleet manager approves it, it is automatically logged onto the system. Employees can also avoid losing receipts by uploading them directly into the expense record.