The importance of Triage & Engineering in Fleet Accident Management
Triage and engineering are two of the most integral elements of any accident management strategy.
For fleets, your approach to triaging vehicle damage, and engineering its repair, is key to minimising claims costs, and reducing vehicle downtime.
sopp+sopp work with some of the UK’s best-known fleets to deliver complete, end-to-end accident management services - encompassing everything from incident reporting to repair completion.
Here we discuss the core elements of triage and engineering, including what they are, how they work, and their importance within fleet accident management.
What is ‘Triage’ in fleet accident management?
In accident management, triage is the process of identifying a vehicle’s damage severity, repair requirements, and deploying the most appropriate repair solution after an incident occurs.
Some of the core elements include:
Vehicle damage assessment
The triage stage is when vehicle damage is assessed for its severity. This assessment is usually based on either the driver’s description of the damage, images they provide of the vehicle, or a combination of the two.
The claims handler conducting the triage will consider whether it’s feasible to repair the vehicle, or whether it’s a ‘total loss’ (write-off), and needs to be replaced.
They will also consider whether the vehicle is roadworthy in its current condition, and can continue to be driven while it awaits repair - or whether it’s unsafe to drive. This is key for identifying opportunities for solutions like mobile/roadside repair, which can provide quicker turnaround than dispatching to a bodyshop, but are usually reserved for roadworthy vehicles.
Some minor damage can even be repaired at the roadside, allowing your drivers to continue safely with their onward journey - drastically reducing unnecessary vehicle downtime.
Identifying repair requirements
Once damage has been assessed, if repair is an option, the claims handler will identify the vehicle’s requirements.
This includes identifying which areas of the vehicle need repairing, and considering any unique or additional repair requirements. It also means identifying the presence of any onboard technologies like ADAS, or whether the vehicle is EV/Hybrid - and therefore needs expert attention & specialist recovery.
Deploying the appropriate repair solution
Based on the vehicle’s unique repair requirements, the claims handler will deploy the most appropriate repair solution. This could mean dispatching the vehicle to a bodyshop, or making use of mobile/roadside repair - depending on the scale of the damage, and vehicle requirements.
A right-first-time approach to this deployment is key to promoting fast, efficient, cost-effective repairs - and reducing vehicle downtime for your fleet.
That’s why it’s so crucial to ensure the data used to inform triage decisions is accurate, accessible, and comprehensive - ensuring the correct repair solution is deployed the first time around.
What is ‘engineering’ in fleet accident repair?
Repair engineering is another critical part of the accident repair process, helping fleets maximise the quality of repairs, while also ensuring cost and time efficiency.
Engineers make suggestions to repairers to maximise efficiency, including suggesting which parts are used, which parts are repaired vs replaced, and where any replacements are sourced.
All of this is conducted in-line with fleet-specific policies, ensuring that repairs meet their set quality requirements, while also remaining swift and cost-effective.
Controlling costs in-line with fleets’ policies
A strong engineering process is vital for controlling the cost of vehicle repairs. Engineers look at repair estimates to ensure work is being completed at a fair value, in-line with fleets’ own cost control measures.
If they find a more cost-effective solution, engineers can suggest these alternatives to repairers - maximising cost efficiency. This might include a cheaper or quicker source for a certain part/compontent, or a more cost effective repair technique - such as a SMART repair.
Alternative methods/parts will only be suggested if they meet stringent industry quality standards, and fall within the fleets’ repair policies. Vehicle safety is always engineering’s ultimate priority, and all methods are checked against industry best practice.
Assessing the efficiency of repair methods
Another responsibility of repair engineers is to ensure repairs are conducted efficiently, with a focus on minimising vehicle downtime.
This might include looking at estimated lead times on parts/components repairers are using, and suggesting quicker, alternative sources if they’re available.
Again, this is conducted in-line with fleets’ existing policies around repair methodology and parts sourcing.
Achieving best-quality, right-first-time repair
Engineering ensures that repairs are completed in full, correctly, the first time around. Engineers will assess the estimates provided by repairers to ensure they account for all the work necessary to make the vehicle roadworthy.
This helps to reduce the risk of delays later on in the repair process, which can lead to lengthened vehicle downtime for fleets - and inflated vehicle hire costs.
What are ‘Intelligent’ Triage & Engineering?
Intelligent triage & engineering utilise tech solutions to simplify some of the core elements of these processes.
This can help fleets to achieve faster, more accurate decision making, and more effective cost control strategies for fleets.
Intelligent Triage & Deployment
Intelligent triage applies technological automations to damage analysis, decision-making, and workflows within the triage process.
AI Damage Analysis
AI-powered Visual Intelligence (VI) software can be implemented within image/video capture to speed up the identification of vehicle damage, and assist with total-loss decisions.
In more advanced applications, AI damage analysis could even provide an initial estimate of the cost to repair the vehicle - using live parts and repairer data.
Automated workflows
Triage workflows can be automated to improve efficiency throughout the process.
This may include automated tasks within the claims management system, which, once completed, immediately trigger the next stage of the process.
‘Smart Deployment’ decisions
Intelligent triage can apply insights & automations to your deployment decisions, helping you to identify the best repair solution the first time around.
This includes automatically suggesting appropriate repairers to the claims handler - based on vehicle requirements, location, and the availability of repair capacity.
Intelligent Repair Engineering
Intelligent engineering focuses on using data-driven technology to inform cost control processes, parts purchasing strategies, and decisions on repair methods used.
This might involve integrating with insights platforms which monitor parts availability, costs, and lead times, and using these to promote data-driven engineering decisions.
Automated cost control assistance
By utilising parts cost/availability insights, intelligent engineering technology can automatically suggest cheaper or better value alternatives.
This makes it easier for engineers to identify cost-saving opportunities, and recommend these to repairers quickly.
Parts availability & lead times
Tracking parts availability allows you to improve lead times by utilising alternative suppliers when delays arise. This helps to reduce the number of parts on back-order by diversifying your supplier network.
Minimising credit hire periods
Intelligent engineering takes into account all factors influencing the cost of claims - including the duration of credit vehicle hire periods.
The longer your drivers spend in a temporary hire vehicle, the more costs are incurred for your business, and the less effectively they can complete their jobs. Both of these factors result in direct loss of revenue for fleets, making them a vital consideration for informing repair decisions.
This especially important when weighing up the cost vs delivery times of parts. Some cheaper parts may take longer to arrive, meaning it may be more cost-effective to pay a premium if it will reduce vehicle downtime, and minimise credit hire costs.
Intelligent engineering solutions consider this automatically, helping to inform more proactive repair decisions.
sopp+sopp - Fleet Accident Management Specialists
sopp+sopp work with some of the UK’s most well-known fleets, delivering high-quality accident & repair management solutions - including intelligent triage & engineering.
Our triage process is supported by our self-developed damage assessment solution, Activate Assess, which provides qualitative visual data to support triage decisions, and identify total loss.
Our claims team prioritise cost-effective, right-first-time repair deployment - ensuring the most appropriate solutions are delivered the first time around.
In-House Engineering
Through our in-house engineering team, we ensure our customers always receive best quality, best value, and best possible turnaround on their repairs. Our engineers use live parts & repair insights to inform data-led engineering decisions - including where parts are sourced, and which repair methods are used.
UK-Wide Repair Capacity
Through our parent company, Activate Group, we have access to the UK-wide Activate Accident Repair network, as well as our dedicated parts supplier & aggregator, Activate Parts.
This allows us to deliver a complete, end-to-end accident management solution - encompassing everything from incident reporting to repair completion.
Get in touch to learn more about sopp+sopp, and our award-winning fleet accident management services:
