A key challenge for car rental companies is managing a flow of bookings while matching vehicles with constantly shifting demands. Mathematical algorithms are the key to automating such highly complex tasks to allow companies to make maximum use of their assets.

For THL Rentals Pty Ltd, which runs the Britz, Maui and Backpacker fleets of recreational vehicles, an efficient booking system is vital for smooth operations.

The challenge for the company is to ensure that the right types of vehicles are in the right places at the right times to meet demand. Its customers are mostly tourists, who usually rent a vehicle during an Australian holiday; they collect the vehicle from one location and return it to another.

The business is spread across a wide area geographically, and its staff need to be able to make on-the-spot decisions about vehicle availability, relocations and substitutions.

This is why THL Rentals sought a mathematical answer to the constant juggling required. It turned to CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences to develop a software portfolio that plugs into existing company systems to analyse problems and their variables.

THL Rental’s IT applications manager, Michael Moran, says the company outgrew its earlier vehicle-scheduling system, a less than optimal system that was probably causing it to refuse bookings it could have taken.

CSIRO’s software untangled these problems. “Booking decisions are now made in seconds, more bookings can be accepted and we can provide for those bookings with a smaller fleet,” Mr Moran says.

The software can be used in a range of applications including organising staff rosters, where cycles in demand and uncertainty about staff needs and skills required can make manual decisions difficult.

CSIRO research leader Andreas Ernst says: “Most decision making in these situations is done manually on whiteboards and spreadsheets, or using basic software, so can require highly skilled employees to manage it.

“A mathematical solution can give large improvements in efficiency, better use of resources and better customer service compared to a manual solution. This can mean huge dollar savings.”

THL Rentals Pty Ltd has now integrated the CSIRO software into its central booking system.

For further information contact:
CSIRO Enquiries
Email: Solve@csiro.au      Web: www.csiro.au
Freecall: 1300 363 400       International: +61 3 9545 2176

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Last Updated: February 8, 2006
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