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Summer 2019 Truck and Track 37
BATTERY MANAGEMENT
Key features of ROBIS
■■Centralised dashboard showing regional and national KPI
output of workshop battery test performance.
■■Early detection of vehicle and battery related performance
issues.
■■Instant online access to current and historical workshop battery
test results.
■■User uploadable fleet information list to enable vehicle
performance and trend analysis.
■■Tracking of equipment usage across multiple locations.
■■Benchmarking of regional and national tests result comparison
and league tables.
■■Auditing of technician input, to measure and identify any
training needs required.
■■Delivery of continuity across business, with KPI dashboard
measuring key deliverables.
■■Centralised database enabling visibility of all data, without risk
of data loss.
■■Active vehicle database exception reporting of vehicles not
being maintained.
■■Highlightbatteryperformance issuesandtrends,tounderstand
the quality of the batteries you fit to your vehicles.
■■Active Warranty management reporting processes, enabling
semi-automated warranty process.
■■Multiple reporting software, enables numerous bespoke
reports to be produced.
■■Proven ROI capability, enablingmeasurement of success versus
impact of non-compliance.
■■Personalised database with company logo.
Gloucester Fire and Rescue
Services Case Study
ROBIS pays for itself within six months
Rotronics has been working with the Gloucestershire Fire and
Rescue Services since December 2017. The workshopmanagement
team had, for some time, been looking for better ways to manage
battery maintenance within their workshop programme at their
Gloucester workshop. The group previously did not have any form
of effective battery management programme in place, apart from
a simple battery tester.
They were aware that the Police workshop had been using a
Midtronics battery tester as part of their workshop maintenance to
identify faulty batteries and wanted to explore how this may help
them better diagnose battery defects.
Whilst the workshop had traditional 24v battery chargers in use,
they did not form any part of a routine maintenance process
or procedure and, as a result, balanced charging was not a
consideration within their maintenance procedures.
Battery warranty claims were not effective, with most claims not
being accepted by their battery supplier.
In December 2017, the Rotronics team visited the Gloucester site,
to demonstrate and provide an overview of the Rotronics Battery
Management programme. Equipment was left on trial to enable
workshop staff to evaluate it and offer feedback as to how it was
used. A follow-up visit was made in January 2018 and further
training was given to the team. With extremely positive feedback,
the trial continued to enable extended usage of the equipment.
In March 2018, the Rotronics team received the order to supply a
full workshop programme supporting the team, including ROBIS,
and they have been using the equipment as part of their everyday
routine maintenance and feel they are getting real benefit from its
use.
■■Battery sets are receiving a regular “balanced charge”.
■■Defective batteries, that would have previously gone unnoticed,
are being identified and replaced before a vehicle defect occurs.
■■The warranty claims process is much more effective, with faulty
batteries covered under warranty now being accepted and
credited by their battery provider, through providing a printout
of the faulty battery to support the claims process.
■■A total of 11batteries (at a cost of £1,760) have been successfully
claimed to date, without the use of the Rotronics EXP100FHD,
these claims would have been lost.
■■Thereturnoninvestmentcalculationwillresultintheequipment
paying for itself, within the first six months of use.
Workshop Supervisor Adam Fowles says “Our technicians think the
equipment is fantastic and find it easy to use and integrate into our
planned maintenance procedures. It’s really made a difference in
helping us to identify and better manage battery defects within
the fleet, so much so we have already secured 11 warranty claim
credits, that would have been rejected if we hadn’t been using the
tester.”
The data below highlights the number of tests recorded on ROBIS
during the start of the programme, and how, through pro-active
testing and charging, we can already see the positive impact pro-
active charging is having on battery performance as the number of
battery sets in balance continues to rise month-on-month.
■■A total of 269 batteries were tested during the period.
■■105 individual vehicles were tested.
■■23% of all batteries tested required charging.
■■10% of those batteries tested required replacement.
For more information on Rotronics and the battery management
programmes, go to d call Ken Clark on
0121 526 8185. You can also email
Rotronics is part of RuberyOwen ompany
at the forefront of automotive component technology since the
birth of the motor car and has been synonymous with quality and
enterprise over the years.