Software programs for counter operations are improving every day. However, efficient shop management is equally important for the operation of a successful rental company. EZ Maintenance, a software package designed to track and schedule maintenance for vehicles and equipment, will be available soon in four different versions. Companies can choose the version that best fits the needs for their operation.
EZ Maintenance is a user-friendly Windows-based maintenance software package that tracks and schedules maintenance, produces work orders for required maintenance on any equipment or vehicle and produces histories of all maintenance performed — what was done, by whom and when, along with the cost of labor and parts. Maintenance can be scheduled by mileage, time intervals or a combination of both. One flat price includes all modules, unlimited entry rights for equipment or vehicles, full multi-user/network ready capabilities and video training on CD.
“I can't think of another feature you'd need to manage a fleet,” says Bill White, president of Transportation Maintenance Solutions, the national distributor for EZ Maintenance. “Not only is it complete, but it's only $1,500.”
In addition, a narrated video demonstration of the first version of EZ Maintenance is available online at www.ez-maintenance.com/fmms. It demonstrates the basic functions of the software program.
A second version of EZ Maintenance will be available in the upcoming months. The new Web-enabled version will allow larger fleets, particularly those with multiple maintenance facilities, to independently schedule and track the maintenance for the vehicles and equipment for which they are responsible. It will also allow fleets to access the same maintenance management software program at all locations via the Internet. This version will allow fleets to pull mileage off vehicles and that mileage information can then go into the software to schedule units and vehicles for maintenance. The program also tracks fuel costs and has a complete parts inventory section. Data is entered manually into the user's account on the Web site the same way they enter data in the standard EZ Maintenance version.
A third version of EZ Maintenance will allow vehicle mileage and hours of operation for equipment to be automatically fed into the EZ Maintenance Web site, rather than manually entered. For vehicles, the ongoing mileage or the state in which the mileage was generated will be entered automatically on pre-described intervals.
Version IV will include mileage and hours tracking, plus GPS tracking services. The GPS tracking service is only available when mileage/hour tracking is ordered. The GPS tracking features include ongoing tracking of vehicles and equipment location, vehicles routing, start and stops, mileage between start and stops, including states in which the mileage was generated. The tracking can be set to upgrade from every minute, every five minutes or every hour. Versions III and IV can also be expected within the next 90 to 120 days.
“The whole idea of this is that it does a lot of stuff and it doesn't cost a lot of money,” White says.
A new step-by-step training video for EZ Maintenance speeds up implementation and takes care of training through a fully indexed video, says Wayne McFarland, CEO of Link It Software Corp., Santa Clarita, Calif., the manufacturer of EZ Maintenance. The video is also available on the Web site.
“It's narrated; it takes you section by section through the program and tells you how to set it up,” White says. “It's very user-friendly because of this video.”
Free technical support is also available for the software. That support is available through phone support for installing EZ Maintenance on a network, related workstations and unlimited ongoing free tech support is available via e-mail. Ongoing phone tech support is also available for a charge, but according to McFarland, the new video training has virtually eliminated the need for clients to purchase ongoing phone support.
