Inchcape Automotive chooses state-of-the-art mapping
technology and saves
5,000 pounds a week
Implementation
of Microsoft MapPoint Location Server - the first mobile application of it's
kind in UK
Anglia Business Solutions has implemented a trail
blazing vehicle location tracking solution for Inchcape Automotive (IA), a
subsidiary of Inchcape Plc, the International Automotive Services Group.
The solution comprises Microsoft MapPoint Location
Server, Microsoft MapPoint Web Service, Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003
software for Pocket PCs, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and the Microsoft .NET
Framework. This mobile solution utilising the MapPoint Location Server
technology is the first of its kind in the UK.
With the new solution Inchcape Automotive can track the
location of its customers' assets at any point in time, and ensure that
their delivery drivers always take the fastest route to collect or deliver a
vehicle. The location of each delivery driver's PDA device is tracked using
a MapPoint Web Service. This sends the longitude and latitude of the PDA's
location and maps that data onto MapPoint Location Server in real-time.
Around 250 Inchcape staff are using the system and more than 50 customers
have access to their assets delivery location through the internet.
The solution also uses MapPoint Location Server to
calculate the distance between two points. This provides mapping and routing
information to ensure drivers always take the fastest route to their next
pick-up or delivery location.
Craig Marsh, IS Manager at Inchcape Automotive says "The
new technology helps us to operate much more efficiently. Our drivers will
always take the best route from A to B and we can calculate the exact
mileage of each journey. That's very important as we charge our customers
according to mileage."
"If we go over the mileage estimate for a job, we can't
charge for it. We calculated one week that we lost
5,000 pounds in mileage quoted and charged. Now we have
greater confidence in the accuracy of our quotes as they have been
calculated by MapPoint Location Server."
With high profile clients such as Ferrari, Jaguar, BMW
and Mercedes-Benz, Inchcape Automotive is responsible for vehicles that can
cost up to 50,000 pounds. Its customers must have the reassurance that their
high-value assets are well looked after.
"The automotive services industry is highly competitive
so we must find a way to differentiate ourselves", says Marsh. "We've put
ourselves at the forefront of our field with this new technology. While our
competitors find that their customers vehicles virtually disappear
in-between collection and drop-off, we can track our vehicles and give our
customers confidence that their assets are safe. We've already won some new
business and retained our existing customers on the back of this
implementation. It's vital to the success of our business".
For full details of the deployed solution
click here.
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