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smart towManage Towing with SmartFlow

As shops embrace SmartFlow across the nation, we have been approached by shop owners and their spouses, whether SmartFlow can be used for other applications. In every single case the interest was about a visible workflow and the ability to manage assets, some remote, some at the same location.


 

The most interesting application with great similarity to the in-shop workflow is towing. Lots of towing businesses use geo-location while trucks are enroute, but don’t know what the work on-site will be, how long will it take and subsequently, when will the truck be available again for dispatch. That can mean hundreds or more dollars could be saved or made. Now that SmartFlow can be used to add vehicles and driver information manually (see image below) the vehicle information is captured on the phone and entered in SmartFlow quickly.

add vehicle and driver

You click the ‘+’ sign at the upper left(1) and can enter all driver (2) and vehicle(3) information. Note that four fields are type ahead capable, that means that you just need to type at least 4 characters/digits and within seconds a list of existing drivers/vehicles appear in a drop down to be selected from (see below).

This feature is especially important for standard workflow scenarios and you use a PoS we do not integrate with (yet).

type ahead

Once the complete button is pressed, the vehicle tile is created and shows up in the first workflow step. For towing that is Dispatch Tow Truck (or whatever you want it to be).

Give the truck driver a connected tablet with the shortcut to the workflow management web page pre-installed on the home screen and off you go. A few new special markers might be very helpful, like ‘jumpstart a vehicle’. It makes it immediately clear to the dispatcher and truck driver, what the purpose of the tow emergency is.

See below how the workflow for the Smart Tow business might look like and all the truck driver needs to do is moving the vehicle through the workflow with one finger swipe at a time.

IMG_0239 (1)

And of course you  will be able to see the log of each step per vehicle.

vehicle event log smart tow

 

Ready to try it for your business?

What other ideas you like to try SmartFlow for?