Legislative compliance relating to the safe management of vehicles, plant equipment and other assets was uppermost in the minds of bosses at The Owen Pugh Group when they purchased Jaama’s Key2 Vehicle Management system.
Also critical was the technological flexibility of Key2, which enables the cutting-edge online system to be used as a comprehensive asset register across all mobile and fixed assets that require safety inspections and regular maintenance.
The Owen Pugh Group is a privately-owned group of companies involved in construction and related activities across the North East of England. Headquartered in Dudley, Northumberland, the business has 10 operating companies that are all subsidiaries of Owen Pugh Holdings Ltd.
Group-wide, the business operates a fleet of 90 company cars, mostly user-chooser although there are some job-specific 4x4s; 140 light and heavy commercial vehicles; and 80 items of heavy plant as well as a similar number of ancillary items such as welfare cabins.
Historically reliant on spreadsheets to manage its vehicle and plant asset base, introducing a state-of-the-art software system was a key role for Paul Cockburn, general manager of Owen Pugh and Company Ltd, and responsible for the company’s plant hire and haulage division following his appointment almost 18 months ago.
He explained: “Compliance was one of the major driving forces behind introducing the system as health and safety is critical in the construction industry.
“In going to market we also wanted to ensure that we introduced a flexible software system that enabled the company to build its own asset hierarchy across mobile units, but also relating to the maintenance of fixed installations. Key2 delivers on that score, while many other systems were wholly focused on vehicle management.
“Key2 provides me with Group-wide visibility of all assets – even though many vehicles and plant equipment are remote – and details of when inspections and routine servicing and maintenance is required.”
The Group will also use Jaama’s electronic driver entitlement checking service Licence2Check to verify the licences of almost 370 at-work driving employees with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The introduction of a robust driving licence validation system replaces a previous in-house checking initiative.
The business also has its own truck and plant workshops and plans to introduce the Key2 Workshop Control module to deliver further performance improvements to vehicle service and repair scheduling and stock and workshop management.
Mr Cockburn said: “We required a totally integrated vehicle, asset and driver management solution proven to ensure legislative compliance, reduce risk, help drive down operational costs and significantly improve operating efficiencies. We believe Key2 will deliver.”
To maximise the data and information available, Colin Simpson has been appointed fleet administrator.
Mr Cockburn said: “The ability to drill down into detail and examine management reports on all aspects of our asset base required an additional member of staff to maximise use of the system.
“We are confident that Key2 will deliver administrative and cost-saving benefits. However, the most significant payback will come in terms of compliance with the regulations imposed on us by legislative bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency.”
Mr Cockburn concluded: “I have been involved in quite a few software installations and I have been very impressed with the way Jaama has worked with us and from the outset has been focused on ensuring that we have solid foundations in place to support our use of what I am sure will be a robust system.”
Jaama managing director Martin Evans said: “Now more than ever, businesses need cutting-edge software systems to drive improvements and efficiencies across their operations as well as ensuring legislative compliance, managing risk and strategically managing their portfolio of assets, including vehicles and plant.
“The Owen Pugh Group has realised that to collate, measure and manage that information leading edge technology like Key2 is essential. This enables management reports to be compiled, targeted actions to be prescribed and critical data to be presented to executive boards in a format that is straight-forward and easily understood.”