Cover Story | Keys to a successful big data strategy By Mike Branch Vice President, Business Intelligence Geotab (www.geotab. com) is a global leader in telematics, providing open platform fleet management solutions to businesses of all sizes. It’s been 20 years since the U.S. government mandated that every new vehicle include an OnBoard Diagnostics (OBD) port. Around the same time, the term “big data” was coined. Both have steadily and fundamentally changed the way fl eets are used, maintained and operated. At the forefront of big data for fl eets is telematics. It provides access to an abundance of data on vehicle position, speed, trip distance and time, idling, aggressive driving, seat belt use, fuel consumption, engine faults and more. However, effectively collecting and applying this data is important for fl eets to better understand and optimize their operations. DATA TOOLS The primary challenge facing fl eet is the enormous volumes of information that vehicular systems can generate. Traditional database systems often can’t effi ciently process this volume of big data. To combat this, businesses migrate to systems designed specifi - cally to manage and access their big data – either Cloud/hosted or on-premise – whose architecture and processing methods are capable of quickly analyzing large data sets. One example is Google’s BigQuery. When queries are run on large datasets, Big- Query splits and distributes them across parallel nodes where they’re processed. The results from the parallel actions are then compiled and provided to the user. Some businesses have also deployed machine learning platforms, such as scikit-learn and TensorFlow, to enable predictive analysis. These systems analyze seemingly disparate parameters to identify information that otherwise would be overlooked. For example, trucking companies can use a machine learning to analyze driving behaviors and traffi c and road patterns to identify drivers that are at a higher risk of an accident. BIG DATA BENEFITS The big data trend means there’s no shortage of product options. An important feature to look for is application programming interfaces (APIs), which facilitate sharing of data between disparate IT systems. This allows businesses to integrate their own data with systems for maintenance, invoicing, route planning, risk management and safety. With Geotab’s Open Platform fl eet management solution, by way of example, the telematics device is only the portal to a whole ecosystem of mobile apps, add-ins, accessories and software solutions that allow fl eets to monitor, analyze and optimize their operations. To further maximize the benefi ts of big data, it’s important to build a culture of measurement by sharing that information across your organization. In order to do that, Geotab, in 2014, created an internal big data team in 2014, and it has identifi ed three key items to consider when building a team of your own. 1. Include varied skills. The team should span a variety of departments, allowing multiple skillsets to collaborate on common objectives and discover new business insights. 2. Include data scientists. Your team should include data scientists, as their technical expertise is needed in working with large datasets, machine learning and statistical analysis. 3. Share across your organization. Include team members focused on delivering the information in an easy-to-understand format. The more widely big data can be applied across an organization, the better able it is to achieve goals such as minimizing fuel waste and increasing vehicle uptime. BENCHMARK FOR IMPROVEMENT Once you’ve gathered and shared big data across your organization, an important next step is benchmarking. This involves comparing your company’s performance against a set of standards. It lets you visualize how competitive you are, where there are opportunities for improvement and make ongoing, systematic evolutionary steps forward. When producing benchmarks, it’s important to compare a fl eet with like fl eets in order to look at a cluster analysis and determine similarities. Clusters can be based on fl eet size, vehicle composition, geography, industry, etc. Having the ability to benchmark against a similar fl eet is crucial to understanding what your organization is truly capable of and where you can improve. Measurement is a key distinguisher between good companies and great companies. They inspect what they expect. Gather all of the data you can, implement a solution to analyze your data, build a big data team and, fi nally, benchmark to gain an accurate view of how your company is doing. Big data accelerates your data-driven management. Branch The growth and complexity of data By Bill Hathaway Founder & CEO Noregon Systems (www.Noregon.com) specializes in the creation of innovative diagnostic and vehicle data software solutions. Its JPRO branded commercial diagnostics system is a leading solution in the market, providing comprehensive in-shop and triage solutions for fleets, OES dealers, independent repair, municipalities and the military. Over the next fi ve to 10 years, the commercial vehicle industry will see a tremendous shift in how vehicle maintenance is managed. Advancements in vehicle technology, government regulations, pressures for better fuel economy, reduced dwell time and improved safety will be key industry drivers. Leveraging the advancements in technology and making the best use of the available data will position companies to address and benefi t from the changes aff ecting fl eet maintenance. One of the major keys for fl eet maintenance is the ability to effi ciently convert the increasing amounts of data from multiple sources into useful information. An area where the growth and complexity of data is readily apparent is the proliferation of electronic control units (ECU) on modern trucks. Th e average number of ECUs on commercial trucks has risen from approximately 1.5 in 1995 to more than 11.5 in 2015. As a result, the amount of data being output by vehicles has grown exponentially. We anticipate the number of ECUs will continue to rise, resulting in more data being available to be transformed into valuable information. ELD Another impact will be the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s electronic logging device (ELD) mandate. Fleets will have until December 2017 to equip their vehicles with electronic devices capable of recording a driver’s hours of service. While there is a strong focus on drivers, many fl eets will use the newly required technology to expand their abilities to access richer, real-time vehicle data made available by the ECUs. Vehicle health and safety will be of key importance, especially as industry focus shift s towards the trend of autonomy. Hathaway Continued Page 18 VehicleServicePros.com ❚ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 ❚ FLEET MAINTENANCE 17
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