Finally in control of complex fleets

Initial Situation: From Gut Feeling to Fact-Based Management

“For professional fleet management, you need reliable data and facts,” emphasizes Christian Lemmel, freelance fleet manager and lecturer for fleet management at the University of Applied Sciences St. Gallen. However, in many companies this is still a challenge today. Information on mileage, vehicle usage, or costs is often scattered across Excel spreadsheets or extracted from SAP systems – frequently incomplete or outdated.

The Challenge: Complexity and Lack of Transparency
“With a fleet featuring a wide range of mileages and brands, it was, from my experience, hardly possible for a long time to establish uniform management,” Lemmel explains. Attempts to introduce new systems failed again and again. Therefore, a solution was needed that could represent complex structures without being dependent on API connections, that was at the same time easy to use and could be implemented quickly.

The Challenge: Precise Mileage – A Question of Data Quality
One of the biggest problems was the lack of reliable mileage data. Since the vehicles had very different mileages, a uniform data basis was hardly possible. Up until now, mileage was collected manually via SMS from drivers or derived from fuel cards – a time-consuming and error-prone process that often delivered inaccurate values. An attempt to solve the problem with the help of a telematics system remained unsuccessful.

The Solution: Avrios as the Central Lever for Change

At that time, Avrios was the only software that could fulfill all requirements. Particularly convincing were the user-friendly design (“look & feel”), the solid basic functions for a quick start, as well as the useful add-ons that allow for easy expansion.

Implementation also went smoothly: In only three months – including full data migration – the system was ready to go.

Another advantage: The integration of historical data was extremely straightforward and worked without any API connection. Of particular note is the automated transfer of historical data from Excel spreadsheets directly into Avrios. This not only saves a tremendous amount of time but also ensures significantly higher data quality and creates immediate transparency in fleet management.

The Solution: Connected Cars Add-On from Avrios
With the Connected Cars add-on from Avrios, the turning point came: Thanks to the direct connection of the vehicles to the system, mileage data was now automatically, precisely, and in real-time available – completely without manual requests.

The advantages at a glance:

Elimination of error-prone recording methods
Reliable mileage data for all vehicles
Optimized deployment planning and more efficient maintenance cycles
Solid basis for budgeting and TCO calculations
“Connected Cars helped us to massively improve data quality,” the fleet manager summarizes. Especially the step away from the tedious “collecting numbers on request” towards automated and reliable data integration was a real quantum leap.

Concrete Advantages: From Overview to Reliable Planning

With Avrios, a solid data foundation was created to strategically manage the fleet. The system provides precise information on mileage (via the Connected Cars add-on) – eliminating the time-consuming manual requests via SMS or fuel card.

From now on, there was full transparency on:
Vehicle age
Vehicle costs
Commissioning
Total Cost of ownership (TCO)
Vehicle usage and capacity
Fleet CO₂ emissions

Thanks to the intuitive dashboards, comprehensive reporting for the management could also be established: “From now on we were able to provide the management with a clear picture – this increased our perception within the company.”

Particularly valuable was the integrated Industry Benchmark, which made a direct comparison with industry average values possible. The result: Highest transparency and reliable planning. Controlling was thrilled – budget figures matched perfectly.

Conclusion: More Control, Better Decisions
With Avrios there was finally clarity regarding the number of vehicles, their utilization, and age. Decisions were now based on facts instead of estimates, which significantly improved both planning reliability and efficiency.

The management particularly benefits from the meaningful, visual reports, which provide valuable insights and make collaboration easier. Budget planning and controlling were also significantly simplified.

Whether mileage, repair costs, or vehicle changes – fleet management is no longer just an administrative task but has developed into a strategic success factor.