Massive growth in the last five years has seen r2c Online rise past a double milestone of 10 million completed jobsheets and 10 million driver checks this year, as manufacturers, fleet operators and repairers join what is now one of the biggest communities for commercial vehicle SMR in the industry.
The unique way r2c Online is created, whereby operators and manufacturers can access thousands of workshops digitally on the platform, is the reason for exceptional growth over the past five years, says r2c Online’s Operations and Product Development Director Tim Griffiths.
“Around two-thirds of the 20 million completed jobs and checks have come in last five years, illustrating that the industry is changing the way it manages service, maintenance and repair.
“Clearly, these figures show a huge move towards the adoption of digital processes to streamline the way it works, but also, because the platform allows users to join a community of supporting suppliers and operators it offers a huge choice, and in these challenging times that flexibility has been shown to be hugely beneficial.”
r2c Online launched 19 years ago, aiming to put manufacturers and operators in touch with workshops and other specialist technicians and repairers, and it now has more than 60,000 fleet operators and 1,600 independent repairers now on the platform.
“Business in the r2c community benefit from visibility. A workshop can be seen by any operator or manufacturer, so if a fleet needs work doing, they can see repairers in their area that can do the job, and they can also schedule work, organise payment and manage sign-off and compliance all in one place. Access to each asset for all involved in the work is driven through the platform,” said Tim.
“As you can imagine, at a time when there is a shortage of bays and technicians, and operators are stretched managing so many other fundamental issues, being able to efficiently manage SMR is massively useful, and this major growth and the sheer number of completed jobsheets reflect that.”
As the community has expanded, r2c has added more products to its offering, including digital driver walkaround checks, and with the number of these now exceeding 10 million, Tim said it is due to an increasing willingness to digitise processes and to manage drivers remotely:
“We’ve seen in the last few years that the ability to automate many of these previously laborious, slow-moving processes has transformed fleet management. Where once, filling out a defect in paper could take time to work through the system, now an issue can be flagged, and the job booked into a workshop within minutes. It saves time and money, and massively enhances a business’s ability to keep vehicles on the road.”
Indeed, the r2c platform is now handling more than 10,000 driver checks a day, up a fifth from a year previously, while the level of attention vehicle condition is now getting from its users is remarkable: more than 20,000 defects are being reported each day.
“What this rapidly increasing digitisation and streamlining of the process means is that safety issues or repairs are being spotted more often and reported far more quickly than ever. In an industry that is beset by driver, parts, technician and capacity shortages fleets can feel more secure than ever that on any given day they have a complete understanding of their vehicles’ operation status, allowing them to plan downtime more strategically and keep employees safer,” added Tim.
The other advantage of the unique community-based approach of r2c Online is the opportunity for operators and suppliers to learn from each other.
“As a result of this collaborative approach, we are continually developing new products for the r2c Online community. The two 10 million milestones, and the exceptional growth of the past five years, show that there is a huge demand for innovative digital solutions that streamline fleet management, and so at this year’s CV Show, we will be launching major new products that we are sure will prove to be as popular as our workshop and driver management products have been,” Tim added.
