Scania’s Application-Focused Solutions: Optimised Customer Profitability is Scania’s Goal

SÖDERTÄLJE, Sweden–(BUSINESS WIRE)–· Scania is further developing its approach to and dialogue with
customers, with a focus on each customer’s individual needs for specific
applications.

· Connected vehicles that are optimally adapted for different
assignments and supported by related services are the cornerstone of
Scania’s solutions.

· Scania Maintenance with Flexible Plans is a unique service that
ensures precisely the right maintenance as well as increased vehicle
availability.

· Scania is redefining the truck industry’s definition of ’premium’ with
its focus on providing customers with optimal conditions for sustainable
profitability, including looking at how customers’ earning capacity can
be optimised.

· Scania is placing particular focus on integrated related-services such
as Driver Services (driver coaching) and Fleet Care (operation and
maintenance of fleets).

Scania’s goal is to become the leading partner in the development of
sustainable transport solutions. The recently introduced new generation
of trucks is clear evidence that Scania is taking this challenge
seriously. In addition to the new product range itself, Scania is
introducing tailor-made solutions for 36 different applications as part
of its efforts to always be able to offer customers the most sustainable
solutions for every type of transport assignment. Valuable information
is continuously being obtained from the more than 210,000 connected
Scania vehicles that are currently in service.

With the introduction of our new truck generation, we’re placing an even
greater focus on the opportunities for connected European customers to
earn money through their investment in solutions from Scania,” says
Christopher Podgorski, Senior Global Vice President, Scania Trucks. “Our
focus on applications, integrated solutions, modularisation, and
user-based data make us the industry leader. With help from these tools,
our salespeople – in dialogue with customers – can tailor optimised
solutions with the potential for optimal profitability for all types of
driving assignments.”

Scania views every truck as a production unit – the better suited it is
to its unique duties and the more supported it is by tailor-made
services, the bigger the haulage company’s potential to get a return on
its investment. The haulier’s results are affected by a range of
factors. Some of them are relatively simple to identify and influence.
Others are controlled by circumstances beyond their own control or seem
insignificant at first glance, despite the fact that over time they can
have a major influence on both costs and revenue.

“We have the insights and experience needed to create optimised
solutions,” says Podgorski. “Because Scania also has access to crucial
information such as actual operational data from real vehicles, our way
of working gives powerful leverage to our customers in the form of
optimised solutions that take in everything from usage-based
maintenance, to finance and insurance.

The effects of digitalisation

The ongoing shift to digitalisation and the steady increase in access to
decision-making data – including operational and performance data –
means that Scania can be proactive and innovative. From an ocean of
information, Scania chooses and analyses relevant data for each
application and driving activity.

“We are fast entering a world where services and smart management of
information form the basis of profitability,” says Podgorski. “Many in
the transport industry are still working with a strict focus on costs,
with the vehicle’s purchase price a typical factor. In cases like this,
it’s important to remember that things such as earning ability – which
is largely controlled by how optimised the vehicle is for its particular
duties – have a far greater impact on whether there’s a profit or a loss
for the business.”

A good example of the way that Scania uses its accumulated knowledge is
the newly developed sales support system. It distills the company’s
collective knowledge regarding trucks, optimised transport solutions,
and industry conditions as well as actual customer needs for different
applications. This work tool is the result of many years’ work involving
collating, analysing and spreading Scania’s significant know-how
regarding the multifaceted truck and transport industry.

Scania was one of the pioneers of connecting all vehicles for purposes
such as optimising usage and availability. Scania has also been at the
forefront of improving the process around getting bodywork in place on
vehicles. One key step was launching a site in the summer of 2016 with a
focus on supporting body builders. Another decisive step was Scania
switching to CAN-bus technology, which greatly improves the potential
for configuring and controlling body building and related functions.

”We are working constantly to improve the outlook for customers,” says
Podgorski. “Access to real-time data is extremely hot right now, as it
means you no longer have to guess when it comes to the vehicle’s
position, its maintenance needs, or its actual fuel consumption. In
short, a partnership with Scania means that haulage operators are better
placed than ever before to improve profitability.”

Flexible maintenance plans

One of the best examples of this is Scania Maintenance with Flexible
Plans, a service that was initially offered across the whole of Europe a
bit more than a year ago. That process is almost complete now that the
new generation of trucks has been introduced. With all new trucks
connected, the basis for the service is how these vehicles are used –
and not the traditional mileage counts or calendar-based approaches –
controls how they should be serviced under the maintenance contract that
Scania and the customer draw up together.

“Scania Maintenance with Flexible Plans is the latest and the main
contribution to the ecosystem of services – both physical and digital –
that we offer and which is crucial to being able to operate businesses
that are sustainable in the long-term,” says Podgorski. ”Being able to
tailor complete and individual solutions, including things like service
and financing, is crucial in our industry. It’s here that the conditions
for either profit or loss are created in the only operation the customer
really cares about – their own.”

Scania is a part of Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH and one of the world’s
leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport
applications. Scania is also leading provider of industrial and marine
engines. Service-related products account for a growing proportion of
the company’s operations, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective
transport solutions and maximum uptime. Scania also offers financial
services. Employing some 44,000 people, the company operates in about
100 countries. Research and development activities are concentrated in
Sweden, while production takes place in Europe and South America, with
facilities for global interchange of both components and complete
vehicles. In 2015, net sales totalled SEK 95 billion and net income
amounted to SEK 6.8 billion. Scania press releases are available on www.scania.com (http://www.scania.com/se)

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

Contacts

Scania Trucks
Örjan Åslund, Head of Product Affairs
+46 70 289
83 78
orjan.aslund@scania.com