In spite of coming to the brink of extinction, the American automobile industry has delivered an amazing stream of innovations over the past few years. We’ve seen and continue to see new offerings and gains in such areas as safety, fuel efficiency, electronics, basic materials, telematics, on-board entertainment, Internet connectivity and eco-friendliness. How has the industry managed all that while coming out of bankrupcty? The answer is that it couldn’t afford not to – the market is demanding more and more, and meeting that demand is a matter of survival. Necessity is, as always, the mother of invention.
Businesses and governments that rely on vehicle fleets are faced with a similar challenge: accomplish more with less, or be left behind. And so, fleet and sourcing managers have been required to seek innovative ways to reduce costs without compromising standards for quality and performance, not just in the way they conduct business themselves, but from their suppliers as well.
In fact, innovation is so important for results today and in the future that it’s imperative, in my opinion, that all sourcing decisions should be squarely aligned with suppliers’ commitment to innovation. And I’m not talking about a supplier paying lip service to innovation in marketing and sales pitches. I mean a proven track record and a business strategy and structure that makes true innovation a routine part of the way they do business. In other words, prospective suppliers have to be able to deliver when they’re asked to “show me the beef”.
I’d like to think that to fleet management, a supplier’s “innovation quotient” lies as the core of its value-added capabilities. Proof certain can be found in the supplier’s actual budget and capital investments, its operating model, and client testimonials that go beyond general measurements of service delivery and client satisfaction. High levels of service delivery are important, but a long record of innovation and a long list of current work in progress are critical.
When an innovation is central, the supplier should be able to “bolt on” more technology to continue serving customers, much like Apple’s own iTunes platform, which now supports music and software updates for music players, smart phones, laptops and tablets as well as the next platform of smart innovation. This is pretty much similar to the way we at CEI have managed the development and growth of our DriverCare™ fleet risk and safety management technology which has become the core for all of our driver safety initiatives and service programs.
Innovation is too critical to the future success of fleets and their organizations for it occupy a second- or third-tier seat in supplier evaluations. Instead, a supplier’s ability to innovate has to be a top priority and needs to be fully vetted for optimal future results. In the current competitive environment, betting on a long shot, an unproven innovator, is a choice that’s better left unmade
