East Central Energy, a Minnesota-based utility company, announced that it has implemented Dossier maintenance management software for its fleet of utility and service vehicles. Dossier is the flagship software product from Burlington, N.J.-based Arsenault Associates, a provider of intuitive maintenance management solutions.
East Central Energy is a member-owned electric cooperative providing electric, Internet and long-distance services to homes, farms and businesses in east central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. The company serves more than 56,000 customers in 12 counties and operates a fleet of 185 vehicles, including vans, cars, SUVs and large utility trucks.
According to Holly Giffrow-Bos, fleet coordinator, East Central Energy began implementing Dossier in January of this year. “We conducted a five-month search for maintenance management software,” Giffrow-Bos says. “We settled on Dossier because it was the easiest to catch on to.”
Giffrow-Bos says that East Central’s information technology department participated in the search and approved selection of Dossier because the application is compatible with the company’s other installed systems. Dossier says it is suited for utility fleets because the equipment aboard some company vehicles also needs to be tracked by the maintenance department.
“Dossier allows an infinite number of user-defined fields for equipment on any individual truck,” Giffrow-Bos says. East Central uses Wright Express fleet cards for fuel purchases. “Data from Wright Express imports easily into Dossier,” she says.
Dossier will enable technicians at East Central’s primary maintenance facility in Braham, Minn., to track time and check work orders. Access on laptop computers also will enable them to see complete vehicle histories, an important element in ferreting out ongoing maintenance problems in particular vehicles or pieces of equipment.
