WINNIPEG, Man. — Volvo has announced Bison Transport has selected its service management platform MVASIST to better control its breakdown and warranty service, leading to administrative and downtime cost savings.

The Web-based service platform allows Bison to communicate with dealers, even before a vehicle arrives at a service location, Volvo claims. Service technicians can view an electronic folder containing information on the specific vehicle coming in for service as well as Bison’s own preferred maintenance and repair procedures.

“MVASIST is now our main conduit for information about the status of a repair,” said Violet Hauptkorn, breakdown maintenance coordinator at Bison. “It streamlines communication between us and our service providers because all of the specification and warranty information about a vehicle is in the system. It also gives us much greater control over our equipment. A better supplier relationship leads to lower administrative costs, and virtually eliminates issues that could occur when we’re working with a dealer location on the road.”

Bison uses MVASIST to handle as many as 10 active repair orders each day, Volvo says.

“MVASIST provides us with an accurate, consistent and comprehensive process that is generating savings,” said Braedy Tritthart, coordinator of outsourced maintenance at Bison. “With the platform, we can see exactly the communication that took place between Bison and a service provider, removing the possibility of lost or deleted emails, faxes and phone messages. That eliminates the time it takes to address discrepancies, while knowing exactly when a repair is done cuts downtime and improves vehicle utilization.”