Effective team and department leadership requires visibility, speed, and agility to support the associated personnel and fleet. Beyond having the necessary PPE to provide fire protection and emergency response services, it is key to have an effective fleet management system to offer insights on utilization, aid in standards compliance, lifecycle management, and operating efficiencies. Having insights on fleet utilization helps keep firefighters safe.
There are numerous benefits of digital fleet management for fire departments.
MSA FireGrid™ Inventory Management is a cloud-based application that aids in asset management and provides visibility into fleet utilization. This comprehensive application enables efficient and effective management of historical detail applicable to aspects of a fire department’s respiratory, connectivity, and PPE assets.
Digital Fleet Management Evaluation Considerations
When evaluating a potential solution, consider its capability to deliver on three main functions: lifecycle management, operating efficiencies, and standards compliance.
Lifecycle Management
Manually tracking inventory, assets, and associated information can be burdensome. With this benefit of digital fleet management, fire departments can quickly understand an asset’s status, and review historic data associated with it. With a digital solution, departments can easily and electronically assign personnel to assets and track history of ownership, assign location, assign condition, understand what incidents an SCBA has been at, determine hours under pressure for SCBA, record inspections and cleanings, and manage mixed fleets.
Tracking in-service and asset retirement dates, as well as monitoring utilization, allows departments to better prepare for equipment needs based on PPE retirements and serviceability. Whether planning purchases, upgrades, or grant applications, digital fleet management provides valuable data to help forecast future asset needs based on historical usage and condition data.
Operating Efficiencies
A digital fleet management solution provides visibility of assets for proactive servicing, maintenance, and improved utilization.
Departments can gain instant sight into past or future planned maintenance and testing associated with each asset and can receive notices of any upcoming testing requirements to help manage resources and scheduling. A digital solution can efficiently create, manage, and track work orders and associated resources, highlighting the ongoing cost of ownership.
In-depth parts inventory tracking can be set up with minimum stock quantities and alerts to ensure proper inventory thresholds are maintained and parts are there when needed. A digital solution can efficiently create, manage, and track purchase orders to understand current stock and incoming parts.
By proactively scheduling service and maintenance, including inspections and cleanings, departments can improve utilization and performance of the PPE required for firefighters to do their jobs safely.
Standards Compliance
NFPA standards set forth guidelines for PPE care and maintenance required to maintain compliance, including but not limited to regular inspections, cleanings, repairs, testing, and documentation.
NFPA 1851 is the Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting. NFPA 1852 is the Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA).
Record-keeping for maintenance and repairs, the dates they were performed, and the outcomes is especially important. Digital fleet management can allow departments to centralize asset tracking all in one secure location and create reports to demonstrate compliance.
Note: MSA encourages departments and users to obtain copies of NFPA standards and read through the details to ensure complete compliance.
MSA Fleet Management Solution
MSA FireGrid Inventory Management is a cloud-based application that that provides lifecycle management, operating efficiencies, and aids in standards compliance for a department’s PPE assets – today. Assets that are supported within the application are: cylinder, facepiece, SCBA, turnout jacket, turnout pants, boots, neck protection, gloves, and helmets. It features a customizable, color-coded dashboard with status indicators that provides actionable insights.
Part of the MSA Connected Firefighter Platform, FireGrid Inventory Management is available at no cost.
Sign up for your free FireGrid account today.
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