Garmin wins top industry award

09 July 2007, 2:24pm

The GPS and satellite navigation expert, Garmin, has been awarded the honour of ‘Innovation in Fleet Management 2007’ by the Institute of Transport Management (ITM). Garmin was chosen as the manufacturer most able to meet the challenges of the efficient movement of people and goods vehicles through its comprehensive product offering in Automotive and Fleet Management innovation, as well as customer service excellence.

Garmin is a world leader in GPS enabled technology. It designs and manufactures navigation and communications equipment for the automotive, aviation, marine, wireless, OEM, outdoor and fitness markets.

The award has been independently accredited after three months of undercover research by the ITM, looking for GPS solutions available to motorists and fleet operators. Garmin was particularly commended for its customer service, technological advances, reliability and value for money.

Commenting on the win, Patrick Sheedy of ITM said; “The Fleet Manager is becoming increasingly dependent upon technology to operate a successful fleet. Support for this technology is paramount to successful operations, and customer service from the supplier is a key element. In its findings, the Institute’s fleet research team found the levels of customer service and satisfaction at Garmin to be of the highest in the entire fleet sector. Customer service is always key in the list of criteria outlined in overall success and Garmin more than excelled in this area.”

Garmin’s Automotive Product Manager, Giovanni Di Santo, said, “We are very proud to be awarded the prestigious honour of Innovation in Fleet Management 2007 by the ITM. The outstanding efforts by the Garmin teams on both sides of the Atlantic contributed to this award. By successfully identifying that one of the most important parts of the logistics cycle is supply chain traceability, particularly the tracking and traceability of transport, personnel and goods, we provide a support tool to the transport process that promotes efficiency, speed, cost savings and higher levels of productivity within the transport arena, which sets us apart from other manufacturers”.

Forming strategic alliances with solutions providers has allowed Garmin to add an innovative interactive element to its service that many fleet systems are still lacking. With these solutions partners, Garmin personal navigation devices provide the link that allows immediate and direct communication with mobile workers. This is achieved via text messaging to and from the Garmin unit, and instant re-routing message sending. For example if the office needs to send the driver to a different location, the driver will receive turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions to the new destination. Alternatively a route can be sent to the Garmin unit with all the driver’s stops / deliveries for the day listed (including routes).

Sensor technology also allows users to track information such as vehicle location, speed and direction of travel, cargo temperature, fuel status, idle times, number of stops and more.

In this dynamic business environment where unforeseen route changes/delivery requirements happen daily, there is scope for significant time and cost savings due to improved communications. Other potential benefits include a reduction in fuel costs, increased pickup/ drop off rates and an increased ability to monitor mobile workers/ vehicles.

Says Sheedy; “Garmin systems provide the fleet manager with everything they need for effective fleet management in an increasingly fraught and demanding industry.”

www.garmin.co.uk

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