Predictive Maintenance Is Focus at Volvo, Mack Uptime Center

This story appears in the Dec. 15 print edition of Transport Topics.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks offered a glimpse into their new Uptime Center, where 630 employees monitor vehicles around the clock, and the companies say major advancements in fleet management and remote diagnostics will be developed.

“We want to get away from roadside assistance,” said Göran Nyberg, Volvo’s president of North American sales and marketing. The industry’s mindset should shift to “predictive repair and predictive maintenance.”

The 103,000-square-foot facility, took about one year to construct. It is part of Volvo Group’s North American facility, which includes the headquarters for sister firms Volvo Trucks and Mack.

When a problem is flagged by Mack’s GuardDog Connect or Volvo’s remote diagnostics, Uptime Center employees coordinate communications among drivers, fleets and dealers.

They handle roadside emergencies, arrange repair appointments and locate parts. The service is currently available on several new truck models offered by each company.

Stephen Roy, Mack’s president of North American sales and marketing, said unplanned downtime can cost up to $2,000 per day when adding up lost revenue, lost pay and the need for a rental truck.

A Dec. 9 building tour included observing agents interacting with customers in real time. All support staffers are trained to handle any Volvo or Mack issue.

Currently, Mack and Volvo partner with Telogis on their fleet-management services that utilize built-in telematics hardware.

Rich Ferguson, Volvo Group’s senior vice president of aftermarket and soft products, said the company plans to soon include more telematics pro-viders. He declined to give more details.

Roy was one of several executives who discussed using tel-ematics to predict the life expectancy of parts.

“We want [fleets] to be able to act on components before they break,” he said.

Nyberg acknowledged this requires a change in thinking by fleets, which may be leery of investing in replacing parts that appear to still be in working condition.

However, he said, the financial downside of a breakdown or losing a load over an unplanned repair is far greater.

Nyberg suggested fleets think more like the airline industry — where preventive maintenance is always the rule because planes cannot make a roadside stop if something goes wrong.

The companies also emphasized their customer-service efforts, with Roy saying that simply sending every fault code to a fleet or driver detracts from the goal of reducing downtime.

“We narrow down what is the most important to start the process of assisting,” Roy said.

It is also leading to a change in thinking among dealerships, some of which could initially perceive this as “Big Brother” watching them, Nyberg said.

In reality, he continued, it is helping them increase business by serving customers more efficiently.

One area of the Uptime Center is devoted to dealers, providing them technical guidance, information on warranty claims and other assistance.

Roy said the use of QR codes, which are standard on trucks, makes the repair process easier. When the QR code is scanned on arrival, dealers can more quickly get the truck to the right spot, where technicians are ready to get the repair started.

Looking ahead, Ferguson said, trucks will in some cases improve their electronic system remotely through software updates, rather than having to stop at a dealer.

He also projected an ability to change parameters automatically, such as fuel-tax reporting when state lines are crossed, or modifying speed limiters based on changing terrain.

Ferguson also said the longer-term uptime strategy includes working with third-party partners to bring older vehicles into the telematics network.

A closer examination of the data should yield additional advancements as predictive diagnostics evolves, said Evandro Silva, manager of connected vehicle service for Volvo Group.

Studying fault-code reports to uncover patterns based on geography or temperature can lead to more accurate analysis, or elimination, of potential problems. Silva and the other executives said the data could translate into better truck designs and where dealerships should expand. Though the focus of the event was the Uptime Center, the companies also provided a general business update.

Roy said he was pleased Mack’s sales are growing.

Its U.S. Class 8 sales are up 18.9% through October from a year earlier, according to WardsAuto.com.

However, Roy expressed disappointment market share had not reached 10%, which he said earlier this year was a goal. According to Ward’s, market share was unchanged at 8.4% through October.

“We will continue to focus on the highway segment,” said Roy, noting continued strength in refuse and construction markets. “We have done really well in regional for a long time. Now it is time to grow in longhaul.”

Nyberg noted Volvo’s market share has increased to 12% from 11% in 2013, and that sales have been very strong in Canada.

He also said Volvo is doing more business with regional fleets and selling more day cabs.