Management or Control?

Before we begin this subject, it is important to acknowledge there are many different tire related software and equipment solutions in the market.  Some common terms are: tire tracking, tire survey, tire point-of-sale management, tire inspection, tire control, casing tracking, and tire management.  Many of us believe that all of these mean the same thing, resulting in a misunderstanding of the potential benefits a true tire management solution can offer.

So we hope to clear up this subject here, providing a good basis of how tire management differs from tire control.  Our use of the word tire management is geared towards "fleet" tire management software and management procedures.

As my high-school teacher in Iowa always said, "a good point to start a story is from the beginning"... ...so lets go there...

For us to compare a tire Management and a tire Control solution, lets first analyze the meaning of these words:

The meaning of the word Control

  • Power or authority to guide or manage
  • A device or mechanism used to regulate or guide the operation of a machine, apparatus, or system

The meaning of the word Manage

  • To handle or direct with a degree of skill: as a : to make and keep compliant b : to treat with care : c : to exercise executive, administrative, and supervisory direction of
  • Direct: a : to regulate the activities or course of b : to carry out the organizing, energizing, and supervising of c : to dominate and determine the course of d : to train and lead performances of

Basic Conclusion

In analyzing these meanings, and placing them against practical tire management terms we can arrive at the following basic conclusions:

  • It is possible to maintain control without any management.
  • A control by itself does not mean management.
  • It is necessary to have control in order to manage.
  • A perfect control is essential for a perfect management.
  • It takes more knowledge and skills to manage something than to control something.
  • Managing can change and determine (improve) the outcome, control will only... ...control

Practical Analysis


When comparing Management and Control in a practical, real tire related work level, there are 3 key essential factors that make up the core principals of a professional tire management system:
  • Data Collection
  • Cost Analysis (CPK=Cost-per-Kilometer, CPM=Cost-per-Mile or CPH=Cost-per-Hour)
  • "True" Comparison of Products and Applications

Data Collection

Data collection is all of the raw data that gets collected in an on-going basis, such as tire purchases, tire changes, tire inspections and so on, through the natural course of operating a fleet and its vehicles.

Most fleets already collect the data that is necessary for perfect tire management.  The data collection effort is normally distributed in the following tire transactions:

76 % of the data collection effort = Tires ON Vehicles / Tires OFF Vehicles / Tire Inspections
20 % of the data collection effort = Retreads and Repairs
4 % of the data collection effort = Other Data Collection such as Purchases, Scrapping, Disposal, etc.

For our practical analysis we can conclude that the data that gets collected is practically the same and it is as necessary for control as it is for management.  But in reality there is a difference in the degree of DISCIPLINE required in the data flow and data consistency.  When professionally managing tires all future analysis can be greatly affected due to slight flaws in the data collection and data flow process, thus management techniques are implemented in these areas.  In control the degree of analysis (converting data into trustworthy information) is much less or non-existent, thus errors are not as significant, which results in easier mistakes and decreased awareness of potential problems.  With management practices in place, as stated by definition, there is more direction, supervision and administrative effort involved, for the same data collected.

Cost Analysis

In tire terms, there is only one way to calculate the real cost of each tire:

CPK, CPM or CPH = Total Investment / Total casing mileage 

Total Investment is all of the money you have invested in each tire during its entire life, until it is scrapped, disposed or sold.  When this moment occurs you divide that investment by the total amount of miles, kilometers or hours that tire (casing) has accumulated.  This is the true unit of value for tires.

The total investment can be calculated in different ways, using Direct Costs only or including Indirect costs.  Our recommendation is to focus first on the direct costs, and as you improve with management and get used to this information in time you can add indirect costs to have a more accurate perspective.  Most fleets today have no perspective whatsoever, so it is important to start somewhere.

Direct Costs: Purchase Price, Price of Retread(s), Repair(s) and eventually a credit (Residual Value) if the casing is sold.

Indirect Costs: Labor, Inventory, Road Calls' Administrative Costs and Down Time.

More information about this subject is available in other documents found in this website.  In relation to the subject at hand it is at least important to state the following: 

The lowest price may not the best way to reduce tire costs!


For our practical analysis we can conclude that Control and Management are theoretically identical for the "calculation" of tire costs, but completely different for "analysis" of Cost.  Both Management and Control can calculate your cost, but only a true tire management can give you the analytical power to know WHY the costs are what they are and most importantly what you can do to reduce them!

It is very important to state that many vehicle maintenance systems don't treat each tire as the cost center, they treat vehicles as cost centers and tires are simply a part like any other on a vehicle.  In this approach, because tires go from one vehicle to another in its life it becomes more difficult to know the cost of individual tires and impossible to truly determine which are the best ones.

Comparison of Products and Applications

The most anticipated  answer fleets want to know about their tires is:

What is the best tire for my fleet?

Our answer is always the same:

It is the one that runs at the lowest possible cost without compromising safety. 

There is no one best tire for every vehicle and wheel position in a fleet.  A fleet is a complex environment, full of unique applications that affect tire wear differently.  In order to determine the best tire for your fleet you must learn from your own tires.  Fortunately Budini can help you with that.

The CPM, CPK or CPH are the true performance of a tire, and this value is a direct result from the many variations that comprise the different products used (Tires) and the applications where they are used (Vehicles).

There are 6 Main Product (Tire) Variables: Tire Size and Ply Capacity, Model (Original Tread Design - casing sculpture), Number of Retreads, Retreader and Retreading System, Retread Design and Retread Brand (Raw Materials)

There are 5 Main Application (Vehicle) Variables: Transport Industry, Vehicle Type, Route or Road Conditions, Wheel Position, Geographical Location or Climate.

Lets put this to practice: The performance of a tire in the Front Right and Front Left wheel positions are already different.  So it would be unfair to compare a tire brand that ran on a front-right position of a long-haul, three axle, twin drive power unit with another brand that spent most of its life on a inner city beverage delivery route.  Or mixing tire sizes in the comparison, or tires that are new versus retreaded, or tires that have 2 retreads against tires that have 1 retread and the list goes on and on and on...

To figure out the possibilities, one would have to imagine every product variation against every application variation for every tire.  AND these things change through the tire's life as it moves form one position to another or a vehicle to another and so on!

The result is a minimum of 7776 (seven thousand seven hundred seventy-six) possible variations of performance when comparing mileage, just using the variations above.  In other words... impossible to do it in your head, impossible to do it without powerful data structure and applications prepared for this.

In this aspect Control and Management are completely different.  Management gets down to the WHY and How, while control may only go as far as What.


BUDINI = TIRE MANAGEMENT

OTHERS = TIRE CONTROL, TIRE TRACKING, etc...

With Control...

You decide how to implement the tire program
You register the vehicles and its tires
You place tires ON and OFF
You repair and retread tires
You query tires
You print listings
You compare CPM, CPK CPH and performances (on a spreadsheet?)
You create graphs and spreadsheets (on a spreadsheet?)
You try to reduce costs

With the Budini Tire "Management" System...

Budini can implement the program (it is optional)
Budini maintains the program updated
Budini TMS allows for data transfer with external modules and other systems
Budini TMS is complete with parameters that are adaptable to all fleets
Budini TMS has all the necessary tools for complete data analysis
Budini TMS warns about irregularities with the data, with data flow and with results!
Budini TMS communicates with electronic hand-held devices specially designed for tires
Budini TMS analyzes air pressure
Budini TMS analyzes perfect tire matching
Budini TMS projects tire removal dates
Budini TMS compares CPM, CPK and CPH for all products and applications in the fleet
Budini TMS compares performances for all products and applications in the fleet
Budini TMS generates graphs and management reports
Budini TMS controls the services performed to vehicles
Budini TMS ranks the best tire matches
Budini TMS is backed up by a support team that is specialized in tire management
Budini TMS is used worldwide.
YOU see results and reduce your cost!

Conclusion


If we were to define the 27 years of the Budini Tire Management System in a single phrase, it would be the following:

The Budini Tire Management Systems is a rigorous, disciplined, advanced and constant process of data collection (manual or digital) and data analysis (manual or automatic), supported by a team of experienced tire management professionals, known for tire cost reduction, increase in safety and consequently the extension of the tire life in fleets around the world positively impacting fuel consumption and the environment.

Most of the other tire systems are simply a tire data collection (manual or digital) and storage process.