Michelin’s market launch of Michelin Solutions in May 2013 was the result of a prolonged process underpinned by two deep-seated trends:
• Business customers – vehicle fleet managers – are confronted with a highly competitive environment and are looking for practical, reliable, long-term solutions to improve the efficiency of their day-to-day operations and their profit margins.
• To derive maximum benefit from the quality of Michelin tires, it’s important that they be supported by high-quality service.
“The purpose of Michelin Solutions is to design, develop and market innovative models and value creators in all areas that impact mobility, for the benefit of business customers who manage fleets of vans, trucks and earthmover equipment”, says Mr. Philippe Miret, Managing Director, Michelin solutions.
In July this year, Michelin Solutions launched EFFIFUEL, an initial solution that pledges to reduce fuel consumption for truck fleet managers in Europe. EFFIFUEL integrates the main factors that influence vehicle fuel consumption with driver training and support, the deployment of a dedicated team of fuel analysts to design actions that improve fuel efficiency and implementation of systems to ensure real-time traceability of vehicle data. Other solutions to improve mobility for our business customers are being developed and will help to enrich the Michelin solutions portfolio in the years ahead.
By creating Michelin Solutions, Michelin is providing its customers with the full extent of its expertise to support their transition to a world of safer, cleaner, more efficient mobility. At the same time, Michelin solutions is addressing powerful societal expectations for sustainable progress and the constant search for greater efficiency.
Better fuel efficiency
Since the beginning, Michelin has been a global player in mobility, designing the best possible tires and offering a wide array of services. Created in 2012, Michelin Solutions is wholly dedicated to improving the efficiency of vehicle fleets and increasing their profit margins.
In France, the trucking business is in a recession that saw an 8% decline in tonnes per kilometer in 2012. At the same time, diesel fuel has become truckers’ biggest expense item. The initial Michelin solutions offer, called EFFIFUEL, represents a breakthrough innovation in the world of trucking and considerably extends Michelin’s traditional business model.
EFFIFUEL is distributed under the MICHELIN solutions brand and is a “satisfaction or your money back” type of offer that is risk-free for truckers. It illustrates Michelin’s firm pledge to wholeheartedly support more efficient mobility.
Since its founding, Michelin has taken a holistic approach to enhancing mobility. In addition to designing the best possible tires for all kinds of vehicles – from bicycles to wide-body jets – the group has also developed services to facilitate mobility. Its history has seen many significant examples of these services, including maps, guides, road signs and an itinerary office.
Michelin also pioneered more efficient mobility with the invention of the radial tire in 1946 and was the first to develop fuel-efficient tires, in 1992. It has always supported the sale of its tires with a service offer that has gradually expanded to become, in some cases, a key selling point for its tires. Today, Michelin is committed to moving up to the next level by developing new product-service solutions.
This is how Michelin’s newest company, Michelin Solutions, came about. Intended to serve the needs of truck, bus, car, van and earthmover fleets, it was specially created to design, develop and market innovative solutions involving more than just tires. Practically speaking, the new company develops solutions in a wide range of areas, such as outsourced tire management, vehicle productivity and fuel-savings.
Michelin Solutions’ objective is to become the committed partner that resolves the main mobility-related problems faced by fleet managers while supporting their growth and sharing the value created with them. The result is a contractual agreement between the customer and Michelin solutions that specifies the resources to be deployed and the objectives to be met.
The originality of these solutions is based on several key components of the offer:
• Performance objectives that are contractually guaranteed, with gains shared with the customer.
• The integration of an array of action drivers that include more than just the tire.
• The support of an ecosystem of partners that are experts in a variety of fields – such as training, telematics and electronics – to deliver an integrated solution that is unique in the market.
• A money-back guarantee if the objectives are not met.
This agreement is made possible, thanks to:
• Michelin’s experience in fleet management. For more than 70 years, Michelin has supported fleet managers and enabled over 500,000 vehicles to benefit from its services. A dedicated unit, Michelin Fleet solutions, was created in 2001.
• A unique ecosystem of experts supported by partners carefully selected for their expertise and technological leadership in such areas as cloud computing, telematics, electronics, driver training and fleet management. This role as a systems integrator enables Michelin solutions to shorten time-to-market by leveraging a range of recent market innovations that involve more than just tires. Accenture, Atos Worldline and TyreCheck are three of the selected partners with whom Michelin has developed a unique, networked, global platform of solutions to more effectively serve its customers.
• A partnership designed to work closely with customers through expert Key Account Managers, fleet operators and auditors, business support teams and the Michelin solutions solutions center.
• A global presence. Michelin solutions has been operational in Europe since May 2013 and will be deployed in North America, South America and China in 2014 and 2015. Michelin solutions can rely on a network of service partners that extends around the world.