A series of standards which will manage service, maintenance and repair (SMR) transactions completed electronically between fleets and dealers has been proposed.

The guidelines have been designed to improve service and efficiency and will help fleets when dealing with SMR requests.

George Reid, chairman of the 1link Customer Forum, which has proposed the move, explained: “The standards will help fleets, dealers and drivers to book and confirm SMR work more quickly and to process payment more rapidly.”

If the standards are adopted, fleets should see a more efficient electronic system.

This includes receiving information on work bookings within an agreed time frame, job sheets should be completed much faster and if fleets request information on work authorisation, a response would be issued within 15 minutes.

Mr Reid said: “There are still some areas where the human element in the supply chain means processes are slower than they could be. This is why we have proposed these standards.

“We have already met with most of the major fleet manufacturers and they believe these standards should be adopted over the franchise networks. We are also taking soundings from major dealer groups and fast-fit networks.

“Major fleets are also keen to adopt these standards for their own operations.”

The 1link Customer Forum was formed two years ago and is independent of epyx, the company behind 1link.

What the standards mean

Suppliers should respond to work bookings within an average 20 minutes.

Online job sheets should be completed on the same day as SMR work is completed.

Completed job sheets should be invoiced by suppliers within five days.

Fleets will respond to requests for work authorisation within an average of 15 minutes.