Bridgestone wanted a device which could detect the usage of tyres as it rents tyres to companies in Europe. As per the company's pay per use policy, transporters pay the company as per usage of the tyres instead of buying it.

The solution was targetted for deployment at 2,000 dealers (3,000-4,000 fleets) in more than 15 European countries. The device helped Bridgestone as there was no revenue loss due to incorrect or lost data. The device has improved the productivity of Bridgestone by 800 per cent.

How did the solution help Bridgestone? How challenging was the task?

Bridgestone's business requires their dealers and service engineers to undertake inspections of tyres on vehicles at various outdoor locations, often in difficult working conditions.

Data needs to be obtained regularly from thousands of vehicles across numerous fleets. The challenge was to capture the tyre usage data (millions of data points) on paper was inconvenient and messy due to the tough weather and working conditions, and often resulted in poor data quality.

Lost or incorrect data resulted in high operational costs and loss of revenue. The high cost of operation and risks involved resulted in poor acceptance of the tyre-as-a-service business model by dealers, creating a serious business challenge for the company. An efficient solution for easy and error-free data collection during inspections was desired.

Image: Persistent handheld device for Bridgestone. | Photograph, courtesy: Persistent Systems.

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