Bridgestone is the world’s largest tyre manufacturer. 10 years ago we won the contract to design an online platform for their UK division that could be used by employees and associate dealerships to report on tyre and client statistics. It was the start of a partnership that has seen us develop and maintain multiple pieces of bespoke software for the firm.
Total Tyre Manager
The first bespoke platform we built for Bridgestone was called Total Tyre Manager (TTM). The original version was intended to be for about 100 internal users in the UK. Crucially, Bridgestone wanted Admin level access to the platform whilst granting only partial access to the dealers and fleets that used their products. Bridgestone was quick to recognise how useful a tool we had built them. From these humble beginnings, the system was rolled out to 18 countries throughout Europe.
We’ve worked closely with Bridgestone to ensure optimal running of the TTM system. Bridgestone asked us to expand their original system so it could handle other types of data. We added modules that enabled users to analyse data on audits, breakdown information, fleets and dealerships.
Additional Modules
These are some of the modules that we have updated TTM with over the years - ensuring that Bridgestone has a truly versatile product that meets exactly their requirements.
- Fleet and Dealer Reporter: Presenting in easy-to-understand graphs the information data from job sheets (service work, tyres fitted and tyres removed) undertaken by Dealers on Bridgestone fleets.
- Breakdown Reporter: Graphic representation of drilldown data information of breakdowns that happened to fleet vehicles, which dealers were offered the work, who did the work, and times taken for the job to get resolved.
- Bus Audit: A Windows Store App that can be used for filling in forms, scores and checksheets on Microsoft devices running Windows (Bridgestone UK’s preferred operating system). These then get displayed and reported on in TTM.
- Inspection Reporter: Reports the information on Inspections from our own app (see below) as well as from other Bridgestone third parties. Displays the inspection information itself as well as vehicle compliance information.
- Fleet Documents: Works as a tool to create and generate Rebate Agreements and Dealer SLA Agreements for contracts between Fleets and Dealers. Generates the PDFs themselves as well as allows them to manage the contracts, log claims, etc.
- Mapping Module: Used to help new and potential Fleets have their nearby dealers and depots generated automatically, so Bridgestone can easily draw up service agreements and know who will be a fleet's allocated dealers and depots.
In addition to these we created various admin tools that feedback from TTM users suggested would help manage the platform and these modules.
The Accompanying Mobile App
Bridgestone asked if we could build an accompanying app - compatible with mobile phones and tablets - that would allow Bridgestone’s partner dealers to easily log inspections on Bridgestone Fleet Vehicles. As ever with an organisation of this size, time was of the essence: we were able to turn the project around in seven weeks from design and build, to testing and launch.
Client Brief
The mobile application would provide a portal that allowed the user to upload their completed inspections to the Total Tyre Manager platform. Essential features of the app included:
- The ability to send the user a PDF copy of the inspection for their own records.
- Full security so that only authorised users can use the app (understandably, the client doesn't want any old person downloading it and uploading junk inspections).
- User-friendly interface that would guide the user to input the inspection data as efficiently as possible.
- The capability to work "offline" so that a person only needed to be connected via 4G/Wi-Fi when actually transferring the data.
App Implementation
The original Total Tyre Manager platform used the React framework, so choosing React Native (the open source version for mobile applications) enabled us to use a familiar JavaScript framework without needing to learn completely new programming languages.
We made the app inaccessible without having an account set up by Bridgestone. While, in theory, anyone can still download the app from the Google Play Store, the app would not work without an official account.
To help guide the user, many fields are pre-filled or have an auto-complete feature. To achieve this, when the user logs in, the app downloads useful information from the Total Tyre Manager server and stores it on the device's memory; this can then be retrieved to help autofill information such as vehicle registrations, fleet and operating centre data and common tyre sizes.
The upload is very simple: the completed inspection data is sent when the user presses ‘Upload’ or ‘Upload All’. The back-end server takes this data and adds it to the Total Tyre Manager databases and generates a PDF copy for the user.
Paul Sheehan from Bridgestone said:
“The online tool was delivered to us on time, and to budget – furthermore it is an industry leading online reporting tool, capable of handling massive volumes of data – very quickly. As far as Bridgestone UK Ltd and myself are concerned, these guys are very reliable, very honest and deliver work to a very high standard.”
If you think that a purpose-built, adaptable and extendable web platform could be the solution to managing your data, then get in touch. You can call us on 01603 632552 or email info@rwd.group
