Learning from real-world practice

To build the right solution, the team needed to fully understand the problem. They went directly into the workshops, joined drivers on the road, spoke with workshop managers and analyzed hundreds of maintenance processes.

The findings were clear. Fleet managers spent large amounts of time on calls and emails, while most workshops were hardly digitized. Gmail, phones and a heavy dose of improvisation were the main tools. Add to this the frustration caused by late cost approvals, payments and often unclear agreements.

Working toward clarity

Viamanta focuses on creating transparent communication, clear planning and reliable status updates. By planning digitally and centralizing all communication around maintenance, every stakeholder knows what to expect. The result is fewer surprises, shorter downtime and much less noise in the process.  Most importantly, fleet operators have a tool on hand; they can see future uptime in one location, critical to managing a fleet proactively.

IG&H played a key role in bringing the platform to life. Together with the managing director, the team defined the goal: applying a Consumer Goods–style approach to a B2B environment. IG&H refined the proposition, designed the customer journey, delivered the UX and UI design, ran the pilot and developed the technology solution.

For large fleets with multiple locations, having one shared overview is essential. If a trailer is in Maastricht, who should schedule it: the local fleet manager or the one in Rotterdam? Viamanta provides clarity and collaboration. Smaller workshops can also join easily without needing advanced IT systems.

From pilot to scalable platform

Viamanta began with pilots at several customers. Thanks to a strong network, including a customer like DHL, a prototype was created in a few weeks and testing could start quickly. From day one, the goal was clear: build a solution that creates value far beyond the first pilot customers.

Workshop managers played a major role in designing a tool that is intuitive and user-friendly, even for those who did not grow up with digital tools. With an ageing workforce in workshops, accessibility was a top priority. Although design is often an afterthought in B2B software, Viamanta deliberately invested in it. The chat-based communication concept was adopted quickly, even by people who had relied on phone calls for years.

Adoption did not happen automatically. New technology always raises questions. Does this fit the way we work? What if something goes wrong? Why should we change at all? In these moments, a familiar face makes all the difference. The team combined technology with face-to-face meetings for the first workshops to guide users through the transition.  When entering Germany as a new market, it was critical to have native speakers with industry experience from the start. Bringing a cake to welcome new users and build relationships has also helped. Small human gestures lowered the barrier to trying something new.

Scale, trust and international growth

The maintenance and planning market is still highly fragmented. Workshops often rely on their own offline systems and have little time for new tools unless the benefits are immediate. The same applies to fleet managers. A platform only becomes valuable once enough workshops are connected. Scale and trust are essential.

Today, more than ten thousand assets are active on the platform, mainly across the Benelux and Germany. Expansion into France and Poland is already underway. Success in Rotterdam encouraged independent locations to follow quickly. Europe offers tremendous potential because digitalization in maintenance often lags behind.

The future: turning data into dynamic solutions

The ambitions extend far beyond planning and communication. As a first step, telematics providers have been integrated onto the platform, allowing fleets to track when vehicles have arrived/departed at workshops – critical for uptime calculation.  However, combining geodata with capacity and demand could support dynamic pricing or even give drivers real-time insight into workshop availability while they are on the road.

Looking even further ahead, Max says: “Maybe in ten years we won’t need a front-end anymore. A digital agent could handle everything for you, from booking maintenance to choosing the right workshop. We are not there yet, but we already have traction, a working product and a team ready to scale.”