april2022 - 31

Mitchell 1 enhances
TruckSeries with tools to boost
productivity and efficiency
At the TMC 2022 Annual Meeting,
Mitchell 1 explained how more
interactive wiring diagrams and
data-driven time management
tools can help prepare a shop
for growing repair complexity.
By John Hitch
Mitchell 1 updated its TruckSeries repair information
platform with two new digital tools to help
commercial vehicle technicians. A time management
tool designed to bolster shop productivity
and an improved wiring diagram tool to assist
with electrical diagnostics and repairs were
announced at the TMC 2022 Annual Meeting.
Both features work within the Manager SE
Truck Series software, which is used to help
service Classes 4-8 trucks, and were developed
to help technicians work smarter and more efficiently
as the transportation industry becomes
more complex and high tech, said Ben Johnson,
director of product management at Mitchell 1.
These advancements include more efficient
advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), diesel
engines, electric drivetrains, and autonomous
trucks. " With these new technologies, maintenance
technicians will experience a lot of 'first
time' events in the repair shop with no experience
to draw upon, " Johnson said. " What this means is
that techs on the front lines will need to adopt a
proven electronic diagnostics strategy to succeed
in repairing and maintaining fleets with these
advanced technologies. "
Time management
Mitchell 1 also provided a way to get technicians
to better use their time on the job. The Time
Management update is now available for Mitchell
1's Manager SE Truck Series software and provides
shop management new ways to measure technician
productivity they can use to enact change.
Accessible through smart devices, the software
automatically generates productivity statistics
as technicians clock in and out of labor operations,
and it also enables users to track and report
employee shift hours in real time on mobile devices.
" Once they log in, they can do the same things
I used to do with that old-time clock-they can
clock in when they get there, and they clock out
when they leave for lunch, " he said.
The sign-in feature is geofenced so a tech cannot
clock in or out from home or somewhere else.
Unlike a rusty punch clock on the wall, this digital
time management program lists all the repair
orders that are assigned, provides progress reports
on each, how much time was spent on the repair,
» The Advanced Interactive Wiring Diagrams
update to TruckSeries helps technicians
see how wires flow through the system, as
well as quickly access other relevant repair
information with a tap of a button.
Photo: Mitchell 1
and how much they will get paid. When a tech
steps away from a repair, they would pause the
job. If a technician billed 40 minutes, but the job
took an hour and 20 minutes to complete, the technician
knows they need to improve.
Managers can also run reports to identify
the most productive workers as well as training
opportunities.
Johnson explained that a manager can sit down
with a technician and show them " where they are
kicking butt " and areas they need to improve, such
as with electrical repairs.
Wired up
The Advanced Interactive Wiring Diagrams update
addresses a way to more quickly resolve issues
within the truck's electrical systems. Technicians
can search for and identify connectors, grounds,
and splices in a more interactive way.
Other improvements include a dropdown history
that shows the previous 10 diagrams viewed
in a session.
The exclusive feature allows a technician to
navigate via the diagram directly to repair information
for components. The component names
are hyperlinked to the information a tech needs,
such as location, connector views, and replacement
procedures.
Johnson demoed the display, where he went
through how to locate a fuel rail pressure sensor
wiring diagram on a Cummins X15 engine. The
wiring diagram for that part was highlighted in
yellow for better tracking.
" As a technician, I can very quickly focus in
on what I want to see. I can dim the rest of the
" With these new
technologies,
maintenance technicians
will experience a lot
of 'first time' events
in the repair shop
with no experience
to draw upon. "
Ben Johnson, director of product
management, Mitchell 1
wires so that I can focus even better, " Johnson
explained. " I can zoom in and see what I'm interested
in looking at. "
Prompts also give warnings, such as that the
fuel is under high pressure and that the fluid is
hot and could cause burns. Parts and repair information
are displayed. The feature also works in
conjunction with diagnostic tools such as a multimeter
or digital oscilloscope.
Johnson said this is vastly different than the
old days of Mitchell 1's thick brown books, where
a tech would bookmark a page, find additional
information about the sensor somewhere else, and
then continue on to the task. Digital diagrams of
old also had efficiency issues.
" I [would] exit the diagram, search for the
sensor, find out what I want to find out about it,
come back in to research the diagram, and then
go to the next step, " Johnson explained.
As a whole, Johnson concluded this interactive
tool will allow " not-so-awesome " techs to become
better and allow a shop's highly skilled technician
to reach even greater heights of efficiency.
April 2022 | FleetMaintenance.com
31
http://www.FleetMaintenance.com
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