A workshop or distributor that also invoices and sells parts needs an ERP with a workshop module, not just maintenance software, because each truck’s history has to stay tied to inventory, work orders, and invoicing. This guide shows what to record, when Excel stops being enough, what types of software exist, and how SITIC Software, the ERP for heavy equipment and trucks, solves it.
What should a truck’s maintenance history record?
It should record each service with its mileage or hours, the parts used, who did the work, what it cost, and what evidence remains. With that, you can answer in minutes what was done to a unit and how much it has cost to keep it running.
This is the minimum 10-field record per unit:
- Fleet number, license plates, and serial number.
- Make, model, and year.
- Mileage or hours at each service.
- Workshop entry and exit dates.
- Service type (preventive or corrective).
- Parts used, with part number and quantity.
- Responsible mechanic or technician.
- Labor and parts cost.
- Inspection photos and sign-off signature.
- Next scheduled service.
When is a spreadsheet enough, and when isn’t it?
A spreadsheet is enough with few units, a single workshop, and nobody else consulting the file. It stops being enough when errors start costing money.
These are the signs you’ve outgrown Excel:
- Duplicate units: the same truck appears under two names or with old plates.
- Overdue services: nobody finds out a preventive service is past due until the unit fails.
- Unreconciled costs: the part left the warehouse but never reached the invoice or the unit’s cost.
Fracttal acknowledges this transition in its guide on Excel versus maintenance software. If you also sell parts or service other companies’ fleets, the spreadsheet has no way to tie inventory to billing.
What types of software exist?
There are two families. The first is maintenance and monitoring software. The second is an ERP with a workshop module.
Maintenance and monitoring software
Tools like Fracttal One and Tractian focus on work orders, preventive plans, indicators, and asset monitoring with sensors or IoT. They’re a good answer to the problem of maintaining assets. They offer ERP integrations to connect with other systems, and they focus on the asset, not on selling the part or invoicing it.
ERP with a workshop module
An ERP handles the workshop, warehouse, sales, invoicing, and accounting in a single system. The maintenance history comes from the same work orders that deduct parts and generate the charge. For a business that sells and invoices, that avoids entering the same information in three places. A generic ERP has to be adapted to the industry. SITIC was built for heavy equipment, with floor plan, manufacturer warranties, and serial number traceability included.
What does the complete flow look like in SITIC?
In SITIC Software, the history builds itself from daily operations. There’s no separate data entry to “keep the history.”
- Unit registration: the unit is registered with its serial number, and traceability follows it from there.
- Work order: it opens with technician, time, labor, and parts, with a photo inspection and the customer’s digital signature at close.
- Parts issue: real-time inventory is connected to the workshop, so every part that leaves is charged to the order.
- Invoicing: when the order closes, the system generates the CFDI 4.0 (Mexico’s electronic invoice) with labor, parts, and additional services. It also handles Carta Porte.
- Accounting: administration and accounting work in the same system, with no re-entry.
Preventive maintenance is scheduled by mileage, operating hours, or date, with alerts. The log accumulates costs per unit.
A mileage-based preventive plan for a truck usually separates these services, each with the interval set in its engine manual:
- Oil and filters.
- Brake and suspension inspection.
- Transmission and differential.
What reports do you need?
You need four: cost per unit, upcoming maintenance, most consumed parts, and time in the workshop. With them, you decide when to repair, when to replace, and what to buy.
- Cost per unit: SITIC’s log accumulates labor and parts per truck, and the real cost of each order is visible before invoicing.
- Upcoming maintenance: alerts by mileage, hours, or date show which units are coming into the workshop this week.
- Most consumed parts: inventory suggests purchases based on each part’s turnover.
- Time in the workshop: orders record time and productivity per technician.
A hypothetical case: a distributor with a workshop that services truck fleets. At the end of the month, the owner sees which unit spent the most on parts, which mechanic took the longest, and which part ran out without being restocked, without putting together three files. The Power BI dashboards connected to the ERP are a complementary service contracted separately.
How much does it cost and how long does implementation take?
It depends on the number of users, modules, and branches. SITIC doesn’t have a price list: after a no-cost review call about your operation, you receive a personalized, no-commitment proposal. That’s the path for workshops and distributors that also invoice and sell parts. On the market, options range from per-user subscriptions for maintenance software to generic ERP projects with implementation quoted separately.
With SITIC, implementation averages 12 weeks and follows these steps:
- Review of the operation.
- Data migration.
- Module configuration.
- Team training.
- Adjustments and go-live with direct technical support.
Your company assigns a dedicated team and keeps to the schedule. You can also export your historical information to Excel, with no locks or data retention.
If you want to see what the history of the units you service would look like tied to workshop, warehouse, and invoicing, schedule a review call with SITIC Software or message us on WhatsApp.