Enterprise Navigator is a full-featured GPS  turn-by-turn navigation product for mobile computers designed to be integrated with your mobile workforce solutions. User benefits include increasing efficiency and decreasing fuel and labor costs.

Product features include:

• Turn-by-turn GPS satellite navigation with voice commands
• Maps for North America, Mexico, Brazil, Europe, Middle East, Southern Africa and Australia
• Voice prompts and text in languages including English, Spanish, European languages and Arabic
• Operating system support for Windows Mobile 5/6 and Windows CE 5 and higher
• API for integration with your application for passing address information into Enterprise Navigator
• Enterprise-friendly licensing

Download the Enterprise Navigator product data sheet here: Americas/APAC  or EMEA.

If you'd like more information, please contact me at info@electriccompass.com.

How to increase fleet fuel efficiency by 12%

12% is a pretty significant increase in fuel efficiency. How do you do it? Do you cut routes? Or maybe driver hours? Do you invest in a new fleet of fuel efficient vehicles? Should you install a complex and expensive route optimization system? The good news is it's much easier than any of those options -- you simply deploy GPS navigation software for your drivers.

Backing up this claim is a recent press release from digital map provider NAVTEQ, based on a research study into how navigation systems change the behavior of drivers. The study, which was conducted in Germany, targeted consumer drivers, but the data, to a great degree, also apply to commercial drivers.

The study which evaluated groups of drivers both with and without a navigation system found that drivers using "turn-by-turn" navigation:

• Drove shorter distances (see data chart)
• Spent less time driving (see data chart)
• Had a 12% increase in fuel efficiency, as measured by liters of fuel consumed per 100 kms (see data chart)

The results translated into a yearly 2500 kilometer (1550 mile) drop in distance driven per year per driver, and an average of €416 (US$560) in savings on fuel annually per driver.

What's interesting about this study is that the participants had not previously owned a navigation device, so they approached the topic without preconceived notions. The study results reflect more than 2,100 individual trips, more than 20,000 kilometers (12,400 miles) and almost 500 hours on the road.

Some other interesting tidbits of info came out of the study. Specifically:

• Reductions in trip times and distance driven increased over time. There was a “learning curve” with the use of navigation devices with greater decreases in trip times and distance driven seen in the latter half of the study.
• Greater reductions were seen during non-routine trips: When traveling a route other than what was customarily traveled, the reductions in trip times and lengths were also better.

So what does this mean for enterprise users? Deploying a GPS navigation system, such as Enterprise Navigator, can:

• Save you money. Even if the drop in fuel usage is half what the consumers saw (and it very likely could be more), the payback time on the navigation system is a matter of months.
• Increase productive time. You'll cut "windshield time" and increase the percentage of time that your workers spend doing service calls, making deliveries, or making sales.
• Improve performance, even on routine trips. The common misconception is that GPS navigation is only for dynamic routes, but this survey showed that there were time and fuel savings even on routine trips. So Direct-Store-Delivery/Route Accounting and Pre-Sales fleets can also benefit from GPS navigation.
• Field service techs must have navigation. When most trips are non-routine trips, the savings are the greatest. You are throwing money away if you let you field service technicians figure out on their own how to get where they need to go.
• it gets better over time. The survey showed that as the participants got more used to the system, trip times and distances traveled decreased even further. GPS Navigation will provide immediate improvements, but as drivers move up the "learning curve," your savings will increase.

So, with fuel prices on the rise again, an economy that continues to struggle, along and a need to squeeze every bit of efficiency out of fleet operations, a GPS navigation solution can provide you with immediate benefits that translate into costs savings and greater productivity.

I think every smart fleet operator needs to consider deploying a GPS navigation system. I hope you consider Enterprise Navigator from Electric Compass.

Best Regards,
Mike Forbes
Managing Director
Electric Compass