The transformation of bus engineering has again accelerated this year as operators rid themselves of paper and go digital. It’s not the elimination of paper that’s transformational but the information – both real-time and historic – that digital systems provide. Management now has a level of visibility they simply didn’t have before, giving them real insights into every facet of the engineering operation – increasingly aided by AI.
This year has seen big advances in integration and interconnectivity of systems. For workshop managers, that means they can, for example, get real-time data from driver walk-around checks, while operations are always fully informed of vehicle availability. Morning run-outs become a lot less stressful as real-time defect data allows the workshop to be more responsive and productive.
To manage the increasing amount of data, Freeway has developed dashboards – screens that show everything going on in a simple, graphical way. In London, First Bus has equipped 150 engineers with tablets to provide real-time data from 10 garages. Daily updated information is displayed through dashboard graphs and charts showing the performance of every aspect of fleet maintenance at each location.
The dashboards are continually updated and can show the status of everything from inspections to defects, MOTs to vehicles off-road, stock issued and mechanical lost miles. “Freeway’s dashboards are simply brilliant as they provide a complete management oversight of the performance of each garage,” says Chris Tong, Engineering Director at First Bus. “We can simply click on a graph and drill down into more detail to see what’s behind the figures and immediately see what’s going on.”
Weaning people off paper isn’t easy, but once workshop staff start using a mobile device, they realise they have a very useful new tool. Now they can check maintenance histories, spot recurring defects, identify and issue parts – all instantly from their mobile device. And the technology appeals to operators of all types. For example, Cambridgeshire bus company Whippet has introduced tablets with dashboards that give an immediate view of all daily activity on a large screen.
“With engineers using tablets, we now have live and detailed insight into everything going on,” says Scott Nicholetti, Engineering Manager at Whippet. “We now have a proper insight into our costs – something we just didn’t have before. We can then undertake cost analytics to minimise wastage, streamline stocks, and with maintenance histories, we can identify recurring defects, manage warranties, and use parts more efficiently.”
Elsewhere, Warrington’s Own Buses replaced its entire diesel fleet with 105 electric vehicles, and Freeway was introduced to manage the new EV fleet. Having aided the commissioning the new buses, the system is now benefitting stores and purchasing operations with automated processes, including barcoded bins, auto-replenishment, and real-time tracking of parts performance and costs.
“Freeway drives improved compliance, and the standout benefit is quality control,” says Karl Hutchison, Engineering Director. “We can instantly see what has been done, supported by photographic evidence. The system ensures every job is completed thoroughly, with digital proof to back it up.”
At Nottingham City Transport data from driver checks integrated with Freeway. This provides real-time visibility of defects, allowing the workshop to operate more dynamically, improving vehicle turnaround times and labour utilisation, resulting in significant productivity gains.
“With the mobile app, driver defect reports are sent directly to Freeway. That means we can quickly adjust workshop schedules and resources to minimize disruption to services,” says Sean O’Sullivan, Nottingham’s Head of Engineering.
With the success of Freeway amongst UK bus operators, the company is discovering demand globally. For example, Transdev, which uses Freeway for bus operations in Warrington and for airport services, is rolling out Freeway in Portugal, and in Singapore, Tower Transit has rolled out Freeway following a new contract award.
