Vehicle fleet reporting at the agricultural cooperative AGRAVIS
The main agricultural cooperative AGRAVIS has been using the fleet management software comm.fleet from community4you since 2021. The Head of Purchasing, Frank Iker, describes where and how the software is used and what effects the changeover had.
"We manage around 1,200 personal company cars here," says Frank Iker. He has been the head of indirect purchasing at AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG since 2014. AGRAVIS - this is an agricultural trading company with the core segments of agricultural products, animal nutrition, crop production and agricultural technology. As one of the largest main cooperatives in Germany, the company has a special structure: around 6,300 employees work at over 400 locations in partly independent cooperations. Each location is responsible for a sales area and has freedom in its day-to-day management – including management of its own commercial vehicle fleet. “At our central office in Münster, we solely procure and control the cars for the management and department heads, field staff and other employees who are authorized to use company cars. We also have many commercial vehicles for service and industrial trucks in the company group but these lie within the responsibilities of each individual unit.”
The cars at AGRAVIS run on kilometer leasing. Running time usually 36 months on an average of 45,000 km per year. “We have not been buying plug-in hybrids since 2022. Other than that, the drivers always have a choice between the classic diesel engine or the electric drive; in the lower mileage range, the petrol engine can also be selected. A classic user chooser model. Electromobility does not yet make up a large proportion, but it is gaining momentum. We see that the electric vehicles can be integrated relatively easily. The mileage is not an obstacle. Our employees operate within their pre-defined sales areas. Anyone who drives electrically charges at the end of the day at home or at the place of business."
The cars at AGRAVIS run on kilometer leasing. Running time usually 36 months on an average of 45,000 km per year. “We have not been buying plug-in hybrids since 2022. Other than that, the drivers always have a choice between the classic diesel engine or the electric drive; in the lower mileage range, the petrol engine can also be selected. A classic user chooser model. Electromobility does not yet make up a large proportion, but it is gaining momentum. We see that the electric vehicles can be integrated relatively easily. The mileage is not an obstacle. Our employees operate within their pre-defined sales areas. Anyone who drives electrically charges at the end of the day at home or at the place of business."
From data maintenance to proactive fleet management
Iker looks back: “Until 2021 we managed all this with Excel, various databases and SAP. This set of tools ment that we were mostly limited to keeping record. Because when you are using three databases, you are always going to have inconsistencies in your master data, e.g. three different spellings for the license plate number. You can hardly get this data together for a reasonable evaluation. The management effort was huge and the reporting was bad nonetheless. We knew that there was potential, but could hardly leverage it with the current on-board resources."
AGRAVIS has been using the comm.fleet fleet management software from community4you since 2021. A change with noticeable effects.
AGRAVIS has been using the comm.fleet fleet management software from community4you since 2021. A change with noticeable effects.
We save costs in the larger five-digit range. With leasing contracts in particular, we can see at an early stage when the contractually agreed kilometers are no longer appropriate – i.e. when people drive more or significantly less. Then we adapt the contracts at an early stage and optimize the costs instead of paying expensive fees for the additional kilometers at the end.
The software enables AGRAVIS to map fleet management as a coherent process from a single source. From approving the provision of vehicles, procuring the vehicles, repairs, monitoring consumption data, mileage and much more, to returning the vehicles. All processes in the vehicle history can be controlled centrally from one interface. All data are networked in a central database. The Head of Purchasing is more than satisfied with the new system and wants to expand the range of functions even further: “We are now introducing the comm.cars module for vehicle procurement. In future, all employees will have direct access to a vehicle configurator in which all equipment options are available according to the individual car policy. This simplifies and accelerates the procurement process and lets us optimize leasing costs to an even bigger degree.”
New resources for fleet management
The fleet management software has created new resources at the headquarters in Münster. Many locations are showing interest - especially in the comprehensive evaluations and statistics that Iker and his team can automatically generate in the future. Once they fully integrate the online reporting module of the web-based and mobile-capable driver portal comm.mobile. “In the future, as a service provider for the entire group, we will be able to generate reports for commercial vehicles from here and make them available to the units. This is how we create the data basis for the work on site. And if the data indicate that there is potential for optimization, then we can give advise.”
AGRAVIS uses this software for fleet management
- AGRAVIS uses comm.fleet as its fleet management software,
- comm.cars as vehicle configurator and procurement software and
- the mobile applications for drivers comm.mobile with the extra module for fleet reporting.
- With the extra module for fleet reporting, the AGRAVIS headquarters also grants the partly independently operating locations direct access to comprehensive fleet analyses.