Volvo 2015 Annual Report Download - page 19

A GLOBAL GROUP 2015 AVSNITTA GLOBAL GROUP VOLVO UPTIME CENTER
REMOTE DIAGNOSTICS
• Today it is possible to run diagnostic tests remotely on the
brakes, transmission, batteries and exhaust fans. It is also
possible to read the distance a truck has driven and the
road surface and conditions it operates in.
• When a truck sends a fault code, information such as fleet
name, vehicle identification number, location (latitude and
longitude) and the status (active or inactive) are all included.
includes parts specialists and technical experts who can trouble-
shoot difficult cases. This is the first time these support groups
have been together under one roof.
“We wanted to give our employees an environment that makes
it easy to deliver on the promise of uptime for our customers,” says
Mark Curri, Vice President, Aftermarket Quality & Operations for
Volvo Group Trucks in North America. “We took our front-line
support, which is our call centre agents, and surrounded them
with all the expertise they would need to get a truck back on the
road as quickly as possible. We specialize in taking care of the
things that are most important to our customers: the driver, the
truck and the load.”
The Uptime Center team is now receiving praise from custom-
ers for their ability to sidestep unplanned downtime and respond
to technical problems during difficult – and sometimes even life-
threatening – emergencies, such as during the wave of cold weather
that affected large parts of the US during the winter of 2014/2015.
Peter Dentler, who has been a Mack Parts Technical Analyst
for 10 years, says it is important to explore multiple options when
a truck is down. He recently received a call from an owner-opera-
tor who had been in a rollover accident and the cab was demol-
ished. Dentler worked with the Mack Trucks marketing, reliability
and technical support groups to expedite the case and the driver
was up and running in two weeks. With the introduction of Mack’s
GuardDog Connect and Volvo Trucks’ Remote Diagnostics tele-
matics systems, the brands are now taking a more proactive
approach to customer uptime.
Trevor Williams, Remote Diagnostics Supervisor, co-ordinated
a quick repair recently for a driver who had a time-sensitive load.
Because the truck he was driving had Remote Diagnostics
installed, the Uptime Center staff was alerted when the truck reg-
istered a fault code. They diagnosed the problem and confirmed
that the closest workshop had the right parts in stock before the
truck arrived for the repair. The truck was fixed and back on the
road in less than two hours.
“With our telematics offerings, we’re trying to give customers
the best information we can for them to make decisions about
their business,” Curri says.
“We don’t try to make the decisions for them, but we have
experts who look at the information and can see if it’s really worth
interrupting that driver’s trip.”
Since the Uptime Center opened in late 2014, it has become a
popular stop for visiting customers and potential customers, as
well as dealers. The number of groups visiting the facility aver-
ages about 20 a month.
“We want customers to see that with us, they get great trucks
but also the full range of uptime support that goes along with it,”
Mark Curri says.
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