From left: Janice Cooper, Jamie Lynch, and Operations Manager Cory Lynch.
Presented by Transfinder
Managing a fleet of over 150 school buses is no small feat, especially when that fleet includes a variety of vehicle types and models, from wheelchair-accessible minibuses to full-sized, 56-passenger coaches. At Lynch Bus Lines, which serves the greater Vancouver area with both daily school runs and charter services, ensuring each bus is safe, well-maintained, and ready to roll is a top priority.
For Janice Cooper, shop assistant at Lynch Bus Lines, Servicefinder by Transfinder has become an indispensable tool for organizing and executing maintenance operations.
“Since I was onboarded, we were using the Servicefinder 6.0, which is I believe their newest update,” Cooper explained. “Prior to that, I believe we were with Servicefinder legacy. Our shop loved the legacy, they were big fans of it, so when change came around, they were kind of excited to see where it took us.”
Though Cooper inherited a system in need of cleanup, Servicefinder helped her streamline processes and bring structure to chaos.
“It was all over the place, organizing previous work, coming up with my own, so on, so forth,” she said. “So Servicefinder, thankfully it’s very simple and easy to follow, and it was really easy for me to get in there and correct some of that bad data and get everything up to shape.”
One of the standout features for Lynch Bus Lines is the platform’s ability to track service history.
“Any time a vehicle comes in for maintenance, the system will log the details for what was done, so the parts that were replaced, the parts that were added, and it’ll track when the next checkup date is due,” Cooper said. “We don’t have to waste time running diagnostics and so on, so forth, because we have access to the entire history of the bus right then and there.”
Beyond service history, Cooper and her team are preparing to take advantage of Servicefinder’s inventory management functionality.
“Starting in August of this year, we’ll be moving over to their inventory management, which can track all of the parts and the part usage, so that we know in advance what parts are running low and we’re able to place in orders,” she said. “This way we can reduce any unnecessary spending on the inventory side of things.”
The team is also looking forward to rolling out Servicefinder’s mobile functionality, which will enable mechanics to update work orders in real time while working on buses.
“They can look and say, ‘Oh, I just changed the oil filter,’ and immediately put in that oil filter to their work order, immediately track that to our inventory,” Cooper said. “And then we have a well-oiled circle of what parts are going in, what parts are coming out, what needs to be done, and what’s currently being done.”
For Cooper, implementing updates means more than flipping a switch.
“Primarily the one thing that I focus on and hone in on before any type of change, is just making sure everything that I have in the system is up to date, correct, and ready to go,” she said.
That includes verifying service records, optimizing system layouts for readability, and ensuring the physical shop is organized to support digital workflows, she said.
Servicefinder’s support team plays a critical role in this ongoing transformation.
“They’re very responsive, so it’s as easy as going in and scheduling a meeting with their help desk,” Cooper said. “I was once having quite a bit of trouble with learning and understanding how to create and how to make a report. I reached out to Transfinder and I heard back within that same week, and they put together a report for me.”
Transfinder also offers online videos, webinars, and a community hub called Transfinder Community for continuous learning.
“There’s constantly training videos or update videos showing you step by step the changes that have been made and how you can understand and apply them,” Cooper said.
Internally, Cooper makes sure that everything she learns gets passed along.
“Once I feel comfortable and I know I understand what I’ve learned well enough, I create a policy and procedure, or I’ll write up something and I’ll put it in the notebook for our mechanics,” she said. “That way they have the paper copy to refer to in case anything is forgotten or misunderstood.”
To learn more about Servicefinder, call 800-373-3609, email marketing@transfinder.com or visit http://www.transfinder.com.