Penske, a $26 billion transportation company, needed a better system to collect inspection data from its 700+ locations to identify operational issues and opportunities for improvement. The previous paper-based system took up to two weeks to provide information to management. Penske implemented an inspection management software called ECAT to digitally collect real-time data multiple times per day from 1,000+ employees. This new system reduced the audit process from 10 hours to 2 hours and provided instant data analysis to help Penske standardize processes and improve operations.

1. How Penske is driving
process improvement
Penske knew the insights needed to
maximise their operational performance
were buried in the fleet data being
gathered daily at their 700+ locations, but
the manual, paper-based system meant
that information could take as long as two
weeks to reach management.
As a $26 billion global transportation leader,
Penske offers full-service truck leasing, contract
maintenance, short-term truck rental and more,
with over 200,000 vehicles in North America
alone. Their truck-leasing division conducts a
wide variety of checks, reviews and audits in
more than 700 maintenance depots across the
US, detailing everything from physical condition
to oil levels to scheduled maintenance and
beyond.
Field systems analyst Vic Morgret took on
the task of finding an automated digital tool
that would collect data in real time, multiple
times a day from thousands of employees
across hundreds of locations. Penske needed
to be able to easily analyse the data to identify
trends, problems and opportunities for process
improvement.
Penske needed a better way.
Number of Sites: 700+ | Audits per year: 50,000 | Number of Users: 1,000+
In the past, all our audits were recorded
on paper. These then needed to be
manually typed into our system. This
was hugely time consuming, and the
margin for error and corrupt information
was large. Data wasn’t reliable enough
and, as a result our business decisions
weren’t completely accurate.
Vic Morgret, Field Systems Analyst,
Penske

2. Fivestepstooperational
excellenceforPenske
Wanting nothing less than a technology
partner who could revolutionise their
approach to internal quality checks and
inspections, Penske chose to implement
inspection management software ECAT,
throughout their truck leasing division in
the US in 2014.
1 BUILD INSPECTION FORMS
Penske inspections are guided by a 57-point
checklist of specific criteria, against which each
of their 700 North American locations is audited.
Checks include verifying the cleanliness of the
location, any potential health and safety hazards,
and that all tooling requirements are met.
Penske built inspection forms on a web-based
platform centrally located at headquarters, and
with the touch of a button, they made the forms
accessible to staff at all locations via an app
available on any iOS or Android device.
2 CAPTURE DATA ON APP
Penske staff used to do all quality checks and
inspections on paper, then manually type the data
into a system and submit to headquarters.
Now, they record all data in real-time using the
intuitive ECAT app on their phones or tablets, and
submit the data to HQ instantly. A process that
used to take ten hours now takes two.
3 ALERTS TRIGGERED
Preconfigured alerts are triggered whenever an
incorrect process is noted, enabling Penske to
take fast, efficient corrective action. For example,
if clutter is noted in the hallway during a location
review, posing an immediate health and safety issue,
a notification is sent to the relevant management
team.
This ensures that everyone on the management
team is aware of the problem and able to monitor
the corrective action taken.
4 CORRECTIVE ACTION
If a task or issue is flagged during an audit, it is
immediately assigned to the employee at the
location who is charged with performing the
corrective action. For example, in the case of the
hallway clutter flag, the person responsible for this
task is notified. Once corrective action is taken, that
person will mark the task as completed. If the issue
repeats on a subsequent audit, it raises a process
issue that must be investigated further.
5 REVIEW & IMPROVE PROCESS
The Penske audit checklist includes 57 points
because each one is important. If 56 points pass an
audit, the one issue that gets flagged is followed up
on and reviewed. The ECAT system offers a wealth
of data while making it easy to pinpoint the data
that needs action and review. “We don’t look at all
the individual forms”, says Vic Morgret, “instead we
monitor top-level trends per location. If a poor score
is returned from the location over a period of time,
then it is investigated”.

3. 10 hour process
reduced to 2 hours
Allowing Penske to reallocate staff to
higher value tasks.
Audits submitted on
the spot
Penske get an instant, real-time, whole-
picture view.
Achieving greater
standardisation
Through faster, more regular, more
precise inspections.
Outcomes
A treasure trove of
process improvement
opportunities
The switch from manual, error-prone, paper-based
data collection to a smart, integrated, technology-
enabled validation and auditing process has been
transformative for Penske’s business.
Through dashboards, trends and detailed reports,
Penske get an instant, real-time, whole-picture
view of how efficient their operations as well
as opportunities for improvement. All in one
streamlined and easy-to-use system.
Two years on, Penske has expanded its use of
ECAT from one single process to more than ten,
with approximately 1,160 users and growing.
Email: advisor@ecat-group.com
Tel: +353 1 9052590
Inspection management software to help
organisations monitor, review, improve and
embed their processes.
The return on investment really can’t
be beat—even on time savings alone.
ECAT has helped us improve operations
and create a more efficient preventative
maintenance system. Our bottom line
really comes down to maintenance
costs, so anything that helps decrease
that is good. And that’s ECAT.
Vic Morgret, Field Systems Analyst,
Penske