Delphi's MobileAria and Arsenault Team Up to Bring Dossier Onboard To Fleet Maintenance Managers

Furniture World Magazine

Arsenault Associates, a leading provider of fleet maintenance management software, and Mountain View, Calif.-based MobileAria, a subsidiary of Delphi specializing in secured wireless systems and fleet management services, today announce Dossier Onboard*, an automated version of the popular Dossier* fleet maintenance management software. Dossier Onboard combines the organization and power of Dossier fleet maintenance management software with the automation of FleetOutlook and will be distributed by Pana-Pacific, the leading supplier of mobile electronics to the trucking industry responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of FleetOutlook*. "By reducing paperwork, data entry and driver intervention, Dossier Onboard will help significantly increase the accuracy and timeliness of reporting maintenance issues, reduce downtime and save fleets a great deal of money," says Charles Arsenault, president of Arsenault Associates. "This innovative technology is taking fleet maintenance management to the next level of automation." Dossier Onboard automates the reporting and recording of maintenance issues sensed by FleetOutlook, as well as mileage and fuel consumption. When a vehicle has a major problem, the driver is audibly alerted of the issue through the truck's radio speakers. The issue is automatically reported to Dossier Onboard software along with the vehicle's identification, the VRMS or other code identifying the component in need of attention, a brief description of the problem and the current meter reading. This message can also be automatically sent directly to a fleet manager's pager or cell phone. Minor issues, with a low level of priority, are simply passed along as a work pending issue to Dossier's automated Daily Reminder feature for future handling. With a single mouse click, the work pending feature instantly converts the message into an open repair order with all of the initial pertinent unit information pre-entered. Arsenault-conducted- studies that indicate the "average on-road" commercially registered powered vehicle has about 1.5 repair orders per month, and a non-powered unit about .5 repair orders per month. Disregarding the time the driver will spend explaining the problem, the data entry of a typical repair order with 1 to 2 VMRS coded issues takes approximately 3 minutes. Entering meter and fuel data takes an average 15 seconds per entry, per unit. Using Dossier Onboard in combination with Dossier's customized work completed templates, repair order data entry of common problems is reduced to about 60 seconds and accurate mileage meter readings and fuel data entry is reduced to zero. This represents a productivity gain of 66 percent in fleet administration based on repair order data entry and workflow, and 100 percent productivity gain on meter and fuel data entry. For a fleet of 500 units, this could help translate into savings of as much as 500 man-hours per year in reduced data entry time alone. The second phase of Dossier Onboard, due to be released later this year as a no-cost update to early technology adopters, will include automated pre and post trip DOT vehicle inspection recording and reporting (VIR). "Teaming with companies like Arsenault is the exact path MobileAria will continue to take," stated Karl Mehta, vice president of sales and business development for MobileAria's FleetOutlook. "The robust nature and simple configuring capabilities of FleetOutlook allows us to take existing software packages and automate them in a fast and cost-effective manner. We pass these benefits on to our customers creating a win-win situation for all parties involved." About Arsenault Associates - Founded in 1979, Arsenault Associates is a leader in the field of fleet maintenance management software. The Company develops and provides innovative technological solutions and services to assist fleet-dependent companies in reducing their fleet operating costs and equipment downtime. Their family of software products under the brand named "Dossier" have become one of the most widely used programs of its kind in North America with over 3000 private and public fleet customers who operate in excess of 400,000 vehicles in almost every industry. About Delphi Delphi is a world leader in mobile electronics and transportation components and systems technology. Multi-national Delphi conducts its business operations through various subsidiaries and has headquarters in Troy, Mich., USA, Paris, Tokyo and São Paulo, Brazil. Delphi's two business sectors - Dynamics, Propulsion, Thermal & Interior Sector and Electrical, Electronics, & Safety Sector - provide comprehensive product solutions to complex customer needs. Delphi has approximately 190,000 employees and operates 171 wholly owned manufacturing sites, 42 joint ventures, 53 customer centers and sales offices and 34 technical centers in 41 countries. About MobileAria Inc. - MobileAria, a Delphi subsidiary is a leading provider of fleet management and security services for mobile transportation platforms. MobileAria provides a secured wireless delivery platform that is scalable, flexible and utilizes open architecture to deliver a comprehensive set of telematics services across multi-mode transportation industries. MobileAria leverages its unique patented technology combined with world-class software to provide integrated and robust transportation management systems that help reduce security risks and help increase operating efficiency and effectiveness for governments and enterprises globally. Other investors include Palm (PALM) and Mayfield Fund. About Pana-Pacific - A business unit of The Brix Group and headquartered in Fresno, California, Pana-Pacific serves the specialty-vehicle and heavy-trucking industry and provides Original Equipment Manufacturers with an important distribution system that includes custom vehicle applications, engineering, direct sales, and retail channel sales. Distributed products include navigation and fleet management systems, vehicle PCs, telematics and wireless communication products and services, 2-way and CB radios, satellite radios, antennas, audio systems, microwave ovens, TVs and VCRs, mobile refrigerators, and accessories.