Invensys is a global technology group supplying solutions, software, services and equipment to monitor, control and automate processes in a wide range of environments and across almost every sector. The company, headquartered in London, has three divisions; Invensys Operations Management, Invensys Controls and Invensys Rail, each with locations throughout the world. 

The Global Fleet Department is based in Foxboro, Massachusetts and manages the organisation’s  1,750 vehicles in total, with its key markets in terms of fleet size being North America (450), UK (450), Italy (140), France (120) and Germany (115). The acquisition policy in North America is open end lease and, in the rest of the world, primarily contract hire (full service lease).

Overall responsibility for fleet falls to Greg Asadoorian, Director – Global Fleet (left), based in the company’s Foxboro location. He has over 30 years’ fleet experience, is a member of  the National Association of Fleet Administrators (NAFA) Corporate Advisory Board,  past Chairman of the New England Chapter of NAFA,  prior member of GM’s Global Advisory Board and current member of  PHH’s Global Advisory Council.  He is supported in his role by UK-based Brian Staples, who is responsible for the operation of Invensys’ European fleet and also provides assistance for other regions such as South America, and by Karen Doyon, who primarily provides support for North America.

The changes undertaken by Mr Asadoorian and his team in 2004 – and indeed the reasons for undertaking them in the first place – will be familiar to many international fleet managers, especially those with major operations in the USA. “Our chief goals were to reduce cost by leveraging volume, with less focus on the emotional issues surrounding company cars,” said Mr Asadoorian.

“We see company cars as a tool for employees to use in order to do their jobs. We want them to have the right tool for that job. When we undertook our review in 2004 we had 22 motor manufacturers supplying cars to us, and this caused a number of problems, not least of all in the reallocation of cars when an employee left the business.  It’s far easier to reallocate a car to a new employee when you remove the bias of personal brand preferences.”

The decision that was made in 2004 was to reduce the number of vehicle suppliers from 22 to 2, with the main concentration of volume being through General Motors. GM has sole supplier status in North and South America, and Australia and in the rest of the world unless local conditions require a vehicle that GM cannot supply. In Europe Vauxhall/Opel is the primary supplier with Renault as secondary.

PHH provides fleet management services in North America, Lex Autolease and LeasePlan supply the UK and mainland Europe respectively, while LeasePlan and PHH supply other markets around the world.  Prior to 2004 Invensys had vehicle leases with nearly 20 vehicle lease providers.

Unsurprisingly, Mr Asadoorian faced some challenges when introducing the new fleet supply arrangement. “HR were probably the most difficult to win over.  It was a question of getting a balanced perspective from the various heads of department.  We tried a global approach in 1999/2000 which was not nearly as successful due in part to a lack of maturity in the fleet industry (OEMs and Vehicle lease providers) to organise and support global arrangements.  In 2004 with lessons learned, suppliers better prepared to support global agreements and with the full support of our leadership team we got it right and in the end the transition was smooth and relatively seamless.

“From the fleet policy perspective we have implemented specific operational fleet policies in North America and the UK. Outside of these major markets we have standardised lease terms, implemented our OEM and fleet management suppliers and provided continuous support to our businesses. We provide cars that are right and safe for the job in hand, but when it comes to employee recruitment and retention the car is just one factor. A consistent vehicle approach allows us to eliminate one-off exceptions as a means of compensation. “

Due to the size of the fleets in North America and the UK the Global Fleet Department has a “hands on approach” along with the fleet management companies. However, outside these regions, Mr Asadoorian’s policy is to direct the fleet from a high level, while allowing most operational decisions to be made at a local level. Accurate management information is the key to this, though it has not all been straightforward as Mr Asadoorian explained: “In North America and the UK we can get the consolidated cost data we need and can drill down in great detail to aid in our management decisions. We can do the same in each of the individual countries where we operate, but it is labor intensive to consolidate and the fleet management suppliers are only just beginning to pull the data together across markets.”

“UK-based Brian Staples has responsibility for Europe; pulling together management information from the various countries in which Invensys operates, and for overseeing the service provided by fleet management suppliers. Most importantly Brian is the ‘face’ of the Global Fleet Department in Europe. He frequently meets with our businesses located in each country throughout Europe, something which is vital to the success of the operation because in North America or the UK we are in constant contact with our businesses to manage, inform and re-enforce policy; Brian’s visits do that for us in mainland Europe. His visits help us develop strong business relationships that build understanding and support of our global mission.” 

“Our relationship with the leasing companies and OEMs is also crucial. It’s far better to sort issues out with an existing supplier than to find a new one, and that goes for price as well as service. We constantly benchmark the prices we are getting to ensure that our suppliers are competitive.

“Overall we’re looking for a situation that’s win-win for everyone. We know each other very well and meet on a regular basis to review the performance of different suppliers. It’s worth the extra work if it means that you can fix problems as they arise,” said Mr Asadoorian.

On issues such as fleet safety, Mr Asadoorian says that while the organisation has a wide range of existing measures in place to manage fleet drivers, he would always consider measures that provide additional control: “Where the vehicles are concerned we always specify ESP and ABS, Bluetooth and as many airbags as are available on the models offered.

“For drivers our policy includes journey planning, a ban on hand-held mobile phones and taking rest periods when necessary. All new starters have their driving licence checked when they join the company and existing employees are licence checked on an annual basis. We now have effective systems in place in the UK and North America, and across virtually all of mainland Europe. Currently, we are in the process of producing our own global fleet driver safety and awareness training video.”

On the environmental front, Mr Asadoorian says that fleet emissions have fallen consistently over the last five years, both as a result of company policy (diesel vehicles in Europe, introduction of four cylinder engines and E85 compatible in North America) and the improvements in vehicle emissions made by motor manufacturers like GM.

“The trend among motor manufacturers to fit diesel engines into higher level cars in Europe has certainly helped here,” he said. “We specify GM’s EcoFlex models where they are available and we’ve looked at electric vehicles as well, but with the highway mileages we are doing they just aren’t practical at the moment. Range-extended cars like the Ampera might be the answer, but additional subsidies would make them far more attractive financially.”

The global expansion of Invensys means that Mr Asadoorian and his team are increasingly developing fleet policy for new markets, including Algeria, Nigeria and Kazakhstan. But however challenging they may be, he believes that the first principle must still apply – start by finding the right vehicle for the job.

Invensys is a global technology group supplying solutions, software, services and equipment to monitor, control and automate processes in a wide range of environments and across almost every sector. The company, headquartered in London, has three divisions; Invensys Operations Management, Invensys Controls and Invensys Rail, each with locations throughout the world. 

The Global Fleet Department is based in Foxboro, Massachusetts and manages the organisation’s  1,750 vehicles in total, with its key markets in terms of fleet size being North America (450), UK (450), Italy (140), France (120) and Germany (115). The acquisition policy in North America is open end lease and, in the rest of the world, primarily contract hire (full service lease).

Overall responsibility for fleet falls to Greg Asadoorian, Director – Global Fleet (left), based in the company’s Foxboro location. He has over 30 years’ fleet experience, is a member of  the National Association of Fleet Administrators (NAFA) Corporate Advisory Board,  past Chairman of the New England Chapter of NAFA,  prior member of GM’s Global Advisory Board and current member of  PHH’s Global Advisory Council.  He is supported in his role by UK-based Brian Staples, who is responsible for the operation of Invensys’ European fleet and also provides assistance for other regions such as South America, and by Karen Doyon, who primarily provides support for North America.

The changes undertaken by Mr Asadoorian and his team in 2004 – and indeed the reasons for undertaking them in the first place – will be familiar to many international fleet managers, especially those with major operations in the USA. “Our chief goals were to reduce cost by leveraging volume, with less focus on the emotional issues surrounding company cars,” said Mr Asadoorian.

“We see company cars as a tool for employees to use in order to do their jobs. We want them to have the right tool for that job. When we undertook our review in 2004 we had 22 motor manufacturers supplying cars to us, and this caused a number of problems, not least of all in the reallocation of cars when an employee left the business.  It’s far easier to reallocate a car to a new employee when you remove the bias of personal brand preferences.”

The decision that was made in 2004 was to reduce the number of vehicle suppliers from 22 to 2, with the main concentration of volume being through General Motors. GM has sole supplier status in North and South America, and Australia and in the rest of the world unless local conditions require a vehicle that GM cannot supply. In Europe Vauxhall/Opel is the primary supplier with Renault as secondary.

PHH provides fleet management services in North America, Lex Autolease and LeasePlan supply the UK and mainland Europe respectively, while LeasePlan and PHH supply other markets around the world.  Prior to 2004 Invensys had vehicle leases with nearly 20 vehicle lease providers.

Unsurprisingly, Mr Asadoorian faced some challenges when introducing the new fleet supply arrangement. “HR were probably the most difficult to win over.  It was a question of getting a balanced perspective from the various heads of department.  We tried a global approach in 1999/2000 which was not nearly as successful due in part to a lack of maturity in the fleet industry (OEMs and Vehicle lease providers) to organise and support global arrangements.  In 2004 with lessons learned, suppliers better prepared to support global agreements and with the full support of our leadership team we got it right and in the end the transition was smooth and relatively seamless.

“From the fleet policy perspective we have implemented specific operational fleet policies in North America and the UK. Outside of these major markets we have standardised lease terms, implemented our OEM and fleet management suppliers and provided continuous support to our businesses. We provide cars that are right and safe for the job in hand, but when it comes to employee recruitment and retention the car is just one factor. A consistent vehicle approach allows us to eliminate one-off exceptions as a means of compensation. “

Due to the size of the fleets in North America and the UK the Global Fleet Department has a “hands on approach” along with the fleet management companies. However, outside these regions, Mr Asadoorian’s policy is to direct the fleet from a high level, while allowing most operational decisions to be made at a local level. Accurate management information is the key to this, though it has not all been straightforward as Mr Asadoorian explained: “In North America and the UK we can get the consolidated cost data we need and can drill down in great detail to aid in our management decisions. We can do the same in each of the individual countries where we operate, but it is labor intensive to consolidate and the fleet management suppliers are only just beginning to pull the data together across markets.”

“UK-based Brian Staples has responsibility for Europe; pulling together management information from the various countries in which Invensys operates, and for overseeing the service provided by fleet management suppliers. Most importantly Brian is the ‘face’ of the Global Fleet Department in Europe. He frequently meets with our businesses located in each country throughout Europe, something which is vital to the success of the operation because in North America or the UK we are in constant contact with our businesses to manage, inform and re-enforce policy; Brian’s visits do that for us in mainland Europe. His visits help us develop strong business relationships that build understanding and support of our global mission.” 

“Our relationship with the leasing companies and OEMs is also crucial. It’s far better to sort issues out with an existing supplier than to find a new one, and that goes for price as well as service. We constantly benchmark the prices we are getting to ensure that our suppliers are competitive.

“Overall we’re looking for a situation that’s win-win for everyone. We know each other very well and meet on a regular basis to review the performance of different suppliers. It’s worth the extra work if it means that you can fix problems as they arise,” said Mr Asadoorian.

On issues such as fleet safety, Mr Asadoorian says that while the organisation has a wide range of existing measures in place to manage fleet drivers, he would always consider measures that provide additional control: “Where the vehicles are concerned we always specify ESP and ABS, Bluetooth and as many airbags as are available on the models offered.

“For drivers our policy includes journey planning, a ban on hand-held mobile phones and taking rest periods when necessary. All new starters have their driving licence checked when they join the company and existing employees are licence checked on an annual basis. We now have effective systems in place in the UK and North America, and across virtually all of mainland Europe. Currently, we are in the process of producing our own global fleet driver safety and awareness training video.”

On the environmental front, Mr Asadoorian says that fleet emissions have fallen consistently over the last five years, both as a result of company policy (diesel vehicles in Europe, introduction of four cylinder engines and E85 compatible in North America) and the improvements in vehicle emissions made by motor manufacturers like GM.

“The trend among motor manufacturers to fit diesel engines into higher level cars in Europe has certainly helped here,” he said. “We specify GM’s EcoFlex models where they are available and we’ve looked at electric vehicles as well, but with the highway mileages we are doing they just aren’t practical at the moment. Range-extended cars like the Ampera might be the answer, but additional subsidies would make them far more attractive financially.”

The global expansion of Invensys means that Mr Asadoorian and his team are increasingly developing fleet policy for new markets, including Algeria, Nigeria and Kazakhstan. But however challenging they may be, he believes that the first principle must still apply – start by finding the right vehicle for the job.