EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — GE Capital Fleet Services is offering a free online seminar this week that will delve into how companies have utilized benchmarking to keep track of fleet performance and the benefits of doing so.

The Webinar — which falls under GE's Spotlight Series — is slated to begin at 1 p.m. EST on Tuesday and will run until 2 p.m.

Sharing their insight during the presentation will be Suzanne Gallagher, director of global fleet and WHQ Procurement at Johnson & Johnson, and Mark Smith, who is the general manager of strategic consulting services for GE Fleet.

The Webinar will explain Johnson & Johnson's integration of benchmarking into its strategic fleet planning process, while also touching how the ways in which other companies have enhanced their respective fleets' performances via benchmarking.

Not only will it discuss how commercial fleets monitor their performance through benchmarking, it aims to show how fleets can use benchmarking to find areas in which they can save money and figure out where their policies and processes can be strengthened. It will also go into some of the findings of GE Fleet's 2009 sales and services benchmarking studies.

The Webinar will allow for participants to submit questions to the speakers. For any questions, interested parties are encouraged to e-mail GE Fleet at fleetwebinar@ge.com. 

To register, visit here.

GE Fleet Finds Cost Savings

In other news from the company, GE Fleet said it helped customers find ways in which to trim more than $96 million in costs. Through end of June, GE Fleet said it has helped find more than $160 million in cost savings for customers. This has been done through the efforts of GE Fleet and its collaborating with customers to help them find ways to get the most out of their fleet investments.

Breaking the latest quarter down, the largest areas of savings were found to be in the following areas, as listed by GE Fleet:

—Company leased vehicles versus company owned vehicles ($35 million): Leasing a fleet instead of owning a fleet of vehicles for use by employees.

—Total-cost-of-ownership analysis ($19 million): Using cost analysis to evaluate and select OEMs and vehicles.

—Optimal replacement strategies ($19 million): Determining the optimal time to cycle vehicles in fleet given applicable costs.

—Negotiated maintenance savings ($9 million): Using technology and maintenance expertise to reduce maintenance spend.

—Company car programs versus reimbursement programs ($6 million): Moving to company car programs from mileage reimbursement plans.

"As companies continue to evaluate ways to increase efficiency while managing cost, GE's fleet management strategy helps provide the expertise and support to maximize their investments into fleet operations," shared Brad Hoffelt, senior vice president of analytics at GE Capital Fleet Services. 

"From maintenance costs to the decision to convert to a company car program, we work with our customers to identify ways to add to the bottom line," he added.