**Going Hi-Tech in the Swamp**

Nearly five years ago, Manuel Garcia of the U.S Fish & Wildlife
Service's Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge faced
a challenge shared by many fleet maintenance professionals: how can I
accurately schedule, track and report on my organizations' maintenance
efforts? For Manuel the solution was to take advantage of the growing
trend of using technology to manage the various activities his job
demands. After researching his options, Manuel decided to implement a
fleet information management system (FIMS) called Auto-Do-It. He found
the program easy to use yet capable of meeting his needs at the time.

The use of a software program to manage maintenance schedules, work
orders and produce reports gave Manuel a level of control and
accountability that were not possible before. With much of the routine
paperwork for the refuge's over 100 pieces of equipment now done
electronically, the staff was able to spend more time on actual
maintenance tasks. The ability to focus on "turning wrenches" rather
than tracking down parts, equipment or work orders is typically one of
the first benefits many organizations find after they implement a FIMS.
As his needs changed, Manuel looked to collectiveData, a GSA Schedule 70
contract holder, for a more robust program that would not only handle
routine maintenance scheduling and reporting, but also provided advanced
inventory management, motor pool management and additional tasks.

The upgrade to the collectiveFleet Pro MP 5.1 software provided Manuel
and the rest of the maintenance staff with a powerful, easy to use set
of software tools. With the addition of motor pool functionality, the
staff can now perform all the reservation, cancellation, check out,
check in and common motor pool functions from the same program that
maintains those same vehicles. Now, at a glance, Manuel and the staff
can know the availability status for a vehicle or piece of equipment.
With the addition of the advanced inventory management tools, the staff
has the ability to run a "just-in-time" inventory system, which allows
for tighter budget control without impeding mission critical
maintenance. The system notifies users when part counts fall below
required levels, prompting them to generate a purchase order for the
correct vendor. With this inventory system in place, the amount of time
spent, on ordering and reporting is reduced allowing the staff to focus
on other tasks.

Another aspect of the system that facilitates the staff's commitment to
service excellence is the integration of work orders and inventory. This
integration allows users to allocate parts to pending work orders. This
seemly simple concept plays a major role in boosting overall fleet
uptime. Once the system notifies the staff that an inspection or PM
Service is coming due, the staff can schedule the services and create a
work order pertaining to the pending work. At this time parts and labor
are allocated to the work order tasks, if a part required for the task
not on hand, the user is notified so an alternate part can be allocated,
or the original part ordered. With this system, down time due to short
parts is virtually eliminated.

By implementing and fully utilizing fleet information management
software Manuel and the rest of the maintenance staff at the refuge have
been able to improve overall operational efficiency, cut costs, meet
reporting requirements and better manage the refuge's pool of motorized
equipment. As Manuel said recently "The program does everything I need
it to do."