Case study

Pike Electric improved fleet and asset management practices with FleetWave

By Ellen Sowerby
22 July 2022

One of the largest providers of energy solutions in the United States, Pike Electric fields a fleet of over 10,000 pieces of equipment, operates eight shops staffed by 20 mechanics and has about 40 field based maintenance and repair technicians.

Pike Electric, based in Mount Airy, North Carolina, provides engineering, construction and maintenance for distribution and transmission power lines, substations, engineering, procurement and construction and renewable energy projects, and is a recognized leader in storm restoration. The company’s clients include investor-owned utilities, electric cooperatives and independent power providers.

In late 2014, Pike Electric replaced its existing maintenance and management software systems with FleetWave. The web-based, enterprise level fleet and asset management software now serves as the central repository of all fleet related information for the company. The software is also accessible at Pike Electric shops and is being used remotely on laptops, tablets and phones.

FleetWave modules in use at Pike Electric include Equipment/Asset Management, Workshop and Inventory Management, Warranty, Work Request, Workshop Floor, Transport, Driver, Accident, PM Scheduling and an integrated Query Builder.

By using as many as six different systems to manage its fleet, before adopting FleetWave Pike Electric had no way to interface between solutions, integrate data or complete multiple tasks simultaneously. The use of multiple systems also complicated analysis by requiring the use of separate unrelated reporting capabilities.

 

Travis Bruner, Director Fleet Operations at Pike Electric explains:

“Before FleetWave, we had different systems in place to perform management functions, and we were generating many spreadsheets to analyze information in our garage database. FleetWave brought everything into one package that’s more accurate and efficient. The management information that FleetWave provides is much better, and its reporting functions give us the ability to track the Key Process Indicators we need to make more effective decisions.”

 

The ability to configure and build its own screens and to customize views in FleetWave modules to meet its management needs, as well as the availability of user defined tables and a range of integrations, were important parts of Pike Electric’s decision to implement our software.

Today, among others, customized screens are in use daily to track and manage the inventory of units at each facility, warranty, vendors, equipment issues related to crews, in-house testing of protective equipment, radios assigned to units, and lease and rental equipment usage.

Integrations enabled in FleetWave by Pike Electric include data from fuel card and mobile fueling providers, parts inventory tied to financial systems, license, insurance and tax information that is linked to equipment files, and employee data from the company’s HR system.

In 2016, Pike Electric begin receiving electronic invoices from outside vendors directly in FleetWave by employing an interface that imports invoice files, creates work orders, and applies an approval process.

 

Richard Jackson, Fleet IT Specialist / Business Analyst at Pike Electric elaborates:

“FleetWave is very flexible and highly searchable, and easy to configure to meet our particular needs. All of those capabilities save time. For example, electronically processing about 200 vendor invoices per week cuts out 15 to 20 hours of data entry time, and it’s done at a much higher level of accuracy. Our investment in FleetWave is returned in hours saved.”

 

Pike Electric is using FleetWave to provide its operating departments with a basis for determining vehicle and equipment costs. Included are any costs that can be allocated to each individual piece of equipment, or by vehicle class. The cost data in FleetWave is used to determine a per hour baseline for each operations group and each vehicle or type of equipment, a practice that leads to very accurate pricing and budgeting.

 

Travis Bruner sums up FleetWave’s value for Pike Electric:

“Chevin FleetWave pays for itself in several ways for us at Pike Electric. Data entry into a single, comprehensive and fully integrated solution is much simpler and more accurate. Data accessibility streamlines operations, which also saves time. Last but not least, reporting and data analytics in FleetWave give us insight into high cost areas, and the higher level of visibility leads to more effective decisions and better equipment and maintenance practices.”

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