Orlando LYNX Fleet Management Case Study
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How FleetFocus Helps LYNX Connect Central Florida’s Large and Growing Population
Mention Orlando Florida to anyone and the majority of people will immediately think of Disney World, Mickey Mouse and Universal Studios. While it's true that Orlando can claim more theme parks and entertainment attractions than anywhere in the World and welcomes more than 48 million visitors per year, the true character of the city is reflected in the more than 2 million people who call the greater Orlando area home.
LYNX, the preferred name of the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, provides transportation services for both residents and visitors alike in this rapidly-growing area. The LYNX service area, one of the largest in the U.S., stretches over 2,500 square miles and spans three counties. LYNX operates 270 buses to serve an annual passenger count of 26 million with 65 routes. The sheer size of the service area translates into an unusually high average of 166 miles per day per bus or a fleet average of over 45,000 miles per day. These kinds of numbers can strain any transit system, so having sensible and reliable processes in place is critical and relying on the best software solutions is key to making service.
Maintaining the fleet to meet such heavy demands falls to Joe Cheney, the Deputy Chief of Operations – Maintenance. Joe and his team of 72 technicians assure that this hard-working fleet receives timely preventive maintenance so crucial to maximize availability and operational efficiency and that defects and road calls are handled immediately. Both LYNX garages are open 365 days a year to meet the demands of maintaining all 270 buses to the high level of safety and performance.
Pushing the Limits through Smart Maintenance
To assist in the goal of safety, performance and reliability, the LYNX maintenance department relies on AssetWorks' FleetFocus as its maintenance management software solution. FleetFocus helps the LYNX team track the total cost of ownership of all vehicles and components, from cradle to grave. By making FleetFocus the single system of record for all fleet maintenance tracking, Joe Cheney and the LYNX team have the data at their fingertips to make decisions based on facts.
The FleetFocus maintenance management database updates in real-time so that information is always current. This is important to Joe Cheney who relies on daily reports automatically generated by FleetFocus; "The real-time information is very important to helping make management decisions. Each morning I am able to review information such as the previous days' time card report, road calls and road call follow ups. Knowing what is going on helps me to make smarter decisions when I start the day."
Since fleet maintenance can best be viewed as the sum of many parts and not just the vehicle as a whole, FleetFocus also helps LYNX track individual components on and off the vehicles, from transmissions to radios to fare boxes, allowing fleet managers to identify, track and manage separate PM intervals for each component. This component-based scheduling has allowed LYNX to adhere to an extended oil drain PM interval and extend the life of transmissions for example.
As with any system, FleetFocus is only as good as the data it receives, so making the application as user-friendly as possible is paramount. "Technicians find the system very easy to use, whether they are very tech savvy or not," says Elvis Dovales, Maintenance Supervisor. "They are able to research prior work orders and prior tasks which helps them with the vehicle they are working on at the time."
Most of the buses that comprise the LYNX fleet are expected to travel 500,000 miles over a life of twelve years. Although LYNX is in the process of replacing its fleet with new buses, many of the existing buses will reach that mileage cap in seven years, and several of the buses have made it to 1 million miles in their 11th year. Preventive maintenance (PM) for high mileage vehicles such as these is essential in keeping the buses safe and operational. Each day supervisors use FleetFocus to run a report listing buses that are coming due for PM service. These buses are pulled from operation and replaced with substitute buses while all necessary services are performed. Once the service is complete, all tasks are checked, the bus’ maintenance history is updated and its next scheduled maintenance is forecasted in the system.
The type of maintenance detail provided by FleetFocus allows LYNX to determine the operating costs of different buses. Through detailed reports generated by FleetFocus, Joe Cheney has been able to track the long-term operating costs of the older buses and compare that to a possible capital expenditure for a new bus. Armed with reliable data, LYNX can make informed decisions about what buses will be retired and when.
Managing a Large Parts Inventory
LYNX maintains a parts inventory valued at well over $1 million. There are over 5,600 lines of inventory items, half of which show frequent activity. To manage this large and constantly revolving inventory, LYNX trusts FleetFocus. FleetFocus allows LYNX staff to view the inventory on hand, track it by part's classification and see the work order history associated with a given part. This full audit capability allows technicians and management to not only track when and where parts are issued, but which parts may be failing more frequently than others and which are subject to warranty.
FleetFocus also provides an automated inventory reorder process, including the issue of requisitions or purchase orders and robust receipts functionality that automatically updates stock levels. Integrated and working in tandem with LYNX's company-wide financial system, Microsoft® Great Plains, FleetFocus provides total materials and inventory management control.
Looking Forward
Central Florida has always been an area of cyclical growth and change. Responding to these changing demands at LYNX is CEO Linda Watson. Since joining LYNX in 2004, Watson has steered the agency to many positive initiatives including the opening of a new operations and maintenance facility (LYNX Operations Center), construction of a central bus facility (LYNX Central Station), the development of new service and routes, and increasing the number of bus shelters. LYNX has embraced environmentally sound solutions such as phasing out of older buses with new buses offering greater fuel efficiency with increased passenger comfort. LYNX has introduced hybrid-electric buses for its downtown routes to reduce both emissions and noise pollution. Since beginning service in 1931, the agency has been a leader, and in 2007, LYNX celebrated the 10th anniversary of LYMMO, the first fully-functional Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in the United States. Watson comments about the long term goals of LYNX. "It all comes together to give the community a really great system that they're proud of and will want to use."
AssetWorks is proud to assist LYNX with this goal.
