Giving owners a better handle on their fleets

For 43-year-old G Srinivasa Raghavan, there is a lot in common between the IT and telecom industries, where he spent more than a decade, and an old-economy company like TV Sundram Iyengar & Sons, whose dealership and spare parts distribution business he now heads.

More so in one of the initiatives that TVS & Sons, the holding company of the TVS Group, has launched for those with large fleets of trucks or buses.

Called Fleet Service, TVS & Sons launched this service jointly with commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland, where it guarantees that vehicles will be in running condition as and when the operator wants them.

TVS & Sons has signed up with Delhi Transport Corporation under the Fleet Service business to manage its nearly 800 Ashok Leyland-made buses.

“We take ownership of the vehicle. Our commitment to them is we maintain it in such a way there is a zero breakdown, on an average it will run so many kilometres per month,” says Srinivasa Raghavan, CEO & Global President, TVS & Sons.

“We commit a 95 per cent uptime of the vehicle. As a model construct it is very similar to IT. I will keep the clock ticking. Of course, the skill sets are different, industry dynamics are different,” says Srinivasa Raghavan.

How does TVS do this? It has a complete list of every part in each vehicle and monitors the wear and tear. It carries out preventive maintenance when required and changes the parts when needed. TVS runs six of DTC’s depots.

It does “deep analytics,” which is where Srinivasa Raghavan’s IT background comes in handy.

His last assignment was as head of India operations at TCS, before he joined TVS & Sons in January 2013.

It goes with the same proposition to others with large fleets, jointly with Ashok Leyland, whose vehicles it sells.

TVS & Sons has signed up with group company TVS Logistics and is in advanced talks with a Gurgaon-based logistics service provider. “We are in active dialogue with large fleet operators where they can outsource fleet management. We have our own software, which can help fleet owners manage their fleet better,” says Srinivasa Raghavan.

There will be a big push in the parts distribution business too, with TVS & Sons planning to increase the number of its retail stores – branded PartSmart – to 100 by June from 33 now.

All the PartSmart stores are run by franchisees and will sell truck parts.

Apart from selling Ashok Leyland vehicles, TVS & Sons is a dealer for M&M in Kerala. It has car dealerships for Honda, Mercedes Benz, VW, GM and Renault.

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