HomeNews September 2021 FordLIIVE Reducing Time Off the Road

FordLIIVE Reducing Time Off the Road


23 September 2021

FordLIIVE Reducing Time Off the Road

• Ford commercial vehicle customers see immediate benefits from FORDLiive connected uptime system as Europe’s first FORDLiive Centre opens in Essex
• FORDLiive agents have delivered over 15,000 additional days of vehicle availability in the UK, through proactive interventions from March through August
• Live data feeds from the Transit Centre network to new FORDLiive Centre track every repair and respond to any emerging issues

New data released today by Ford reveals the productivity‑boosting benefits that the FORDLiive connected uptime system is delivering for the company’s commercial vehicle customers.

A dedicated new FORDLiive Centre at Ford’s European commercial vehicle research and development HQ in Dunton, Essex, supports the Transit Centre dealer network, helping to minimise the time spent off road for customer vehicles.

FORDLiive agents have delivered over 15,000 additional days of vehicle availability in the UK alone since the free-of-charge service was announced in March this year, using new UptimePro software to proactively manage repair and maintenance cases on behalf of customers.

These FORDLiive uptime specialists utilise a constant feed of live data from Ford’s dealer and roadside assistance network to track each vehicle’s repair progress and respond to emerging issues – advising on the best solutions for optimum uptime.

The team’s new UK FORDLiive Centre, together with another in Spain, will be linked to 80 per cent of Ford connected commercial vehicle customers in Europe by the end of 2021.

“Our FORDLiive Centres are already demonstrating their value and proving that using data to unlock productivity delivers tangible benefits for customers – and this is just the start,” said Nathan Sanders, manager, customer relations, Ford of Europe. “We will keep enhancing our FORDLiive services in pursuit of delivering 100 per cent operating uptime so customers can focus on looking after their business rather than their vehicles.”

FORDLiive is a complimentary service being rolled out for all operators of Ford connected commercial vehicles, designed to reduce the number of breakdowns, enable fewer visits to dealer workshops, and achieve quicker servicing and repair times. The system is a key offering from Ford Pro, the company’s new worldwide sales and servicing business centred around improving commercial vehicle customers’ productivity with cutting-edge products and services.

FORDLiive increasing uptime

FORDLiive’s ambition is to deliver 100 per cent operating uptime for customers – however, unpredictable events from accidents to intermittent faults can still put a vehicle out of service. FORDLiive Centres are designed to help keep the resultant downtime to a minimum.

Data from the first five full months of FORDLiive operation in the UK shows that where vehicles were off the road for repair, proactive management by FORDLiive agents using UptimePro helped return vehicles to service sooner. More and more customers felt the benefit of FORDLiive too; from April through August, the proportion of repairs accelerated by agents increased almost fivefold.

By harnessing proactive case recognition and empowering FORDLiive agents with real-time data from the Transit Centre network, Ford delivered over 15,000 days of additional vehicle availability in the UK during FORDLiive’s first five months.

New FORDLiive Centre at Ford Dunton

The new UK FORDLiive Centre at Ford Dunton provides agents with access to latest‑generation technology – including an advanced power-wall display – and proximity to Transit engineers for faster issue resolution.

Inside the control room, the 9-metre by 2-metre screen displays real-time data on repair and maintenance cases requiring parts or technical support, as well as total fleet uptime, total number of open cases, cases resolved daily and average case duration, helping the team to optimise support for customers.

In total, there are now more than 100 FORDLiive agents in Europe working with dealers and customers, with further team members being added as the FORDLiive system is expanded across all European markets.