Submitter
Steve Haindl, Executive Vice President, Technology and Innovation
Company
ARI Fleet
Industry
Fleet Management
Business Challenge
Companies hire a fleet management company like ARI to help them manage, among other things, expenses related to running a fleet of vehicles. In almost every case, a company’s biggest expense is fuel. The ARI Fuel Cost Reduction Program focuses on miles per gallon and cost per gallon awareness and improvement. Through quantitative and descriptive statistical analysis, focused reporting, alerts, KPIs, and predictive and prescriptive feedback, as well as consistent communication to the front line with strategies and best practices for improving these important metrics, the program produces a more transparent picture that identifies trends and the spending habits of fuel cardholders. This has created measurable improvement to their clients’ bottom lines, and ARI is now confident in its ability to deliver results consistently over time.
Analytics Solution
From a technology perspective, ARI used a combination of Oracle for base data; SAP ETL to reorganize and restructure the data; and SAP HANA for the in-memory analysis power. SAP’s HANA in-memory technology allowed it to define the statistical analytical routines that run in real-time across multiple data points. These routines/methodologies allow it to target outlying behavior, identify trends and provide real-time recommendations. Additionally, SAP’s Business Intelligence tools were used for end-user outputs; Lumira was used for data visualization; SAP Explorer was used for data mining; and Business Objects for reporting.
Impact
The ARI Fuel Cost Reduction Program allows the company to work very closely with its clients to deliver fuel savings while generating an additional revenue stream for ARI at the same time. Additionally, using data analytics as a tool to help companies better control their fuel spend gives the company a competitive advantage and further establishes ARI as a leader in the big data and analytics space. The overall project is a five-year initiative with a projected 30% return on investment; early numbers show ARI meeting those projections.