MICROLISE CONTRACT WILL STREAMLINE VEHICLE OPERATIONS FOR DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY COUNCIL

A new system to radically change the way housing repairs and maintenance is organised and delivered was launched at the Combined services Committee on 22nd December 2005. The system is the most advanced system to be used by any local authority in the UK.

The fleet of vehicles that carry out these repairs for the Council and under contract to organisations like DGHP and Loreburn Housing Association have all been fitted with a sophisticated tracking and communication system. The Microlise Fleet and Distribution (MFD) Map Client provides users with a real time map view of their fleet operations, showing current vehicle positions and pertinent locations (e.g. customer sites, depots, etc). The new system will easily display information about a vehicle's journey and the sites that they visit. It will show a vehicle's current vehicle position, speed, bearing and the customer's location using a virtual Vehicle Dashboard. It means the skilled tradesmen can be redirected easily when new urgent work comes in. Routes can be carefully planned with a projected 25% saving on fuel costs and staff can now start from home and in the long term, even be re-supplied without wasting time waiting at depots.

Corporate Director of Combined Services, Geoff Lewis, explained, "The system is in and working. It gives us immediate improvements to the way we plan and deliver our repairs service, but it also has the capability to extend into many other parts of the service. It's a big leap forward and
thanks are owed to everyone who made it possible"