The Situation: Lease vs. Reimbursement
Wheels client, Healthpoint Biotherapeutics, was acquired by Smith & Nephew Advanced Wound Management (AWM) in 2012. The two companies approached its fleet programs very differently. Healthpoint Biotherapeutics utilized a leasing program and Smith & Nephew AWM operated a Fixed and Variable Rate (FAVR) reimbursement program managed by a third party.
Faced with combining the two programs, Smith & Nephew AWM wanted to retain the positive attributes of both. With a lease program, the company was able to track maintenance costs, monitor fuel consumption and manage driver and vehicle safety. The reimbursement plan offered employees vehicle choice based on their needs and situation. However, the reimbursement program lacked safety and legal insights required in a world where negligent entrustment is a major concern.
With safety, risk mitigation and driver satisfaction all priorities for Smith & Nephew AWM along with better program control, Wheels offered a new and different solution—lease and reimbursement from a single provider.
The Solution: Lease and Reimbursement
The timing was perfect. The Wheels Innovation Team had recently released a new solution, one offering the flexibility to move between reimbursement and leasing programs, all managed by one fleet management company. Two years in the making, the Wheels Reimbursement Program offers the benefits of a single-source provider, control, high driver satisfaction, and administrative ease. Smith & Nephew AWM’s fleet team, Erika Romada and Robb Wagner, championed the new program concept within the organization and pushed it to completion.
Read the Case Study to learn how the program was implemented, accepted by the drivers and has offered substantial cost savings to the client.