Epyx’s 1link Service Network service, maintenance and repair platform has recorded its 100 millionth fleet transaction today.

Launched in 2000 and rapidly became the de facto method for major fleets to handle all transactions with franchise dealers, independent garages and fast-fits, it usually processes around 14,000 jobs every day.

There are currently more than four million company cars and commercial vehicles registered on the platform and the 1link family of products has grown to include vehicle acquisition, vehicle remarketing and short term hire.

Aditya Varadpande, managing director at Epyx, said: “1link can lay claim to being the first e-commerce platform to become widely used not just in the fleet sector but the motor industry as a whole.

“When it was launched, we quite often had to introduce fleets and garages not just to the platform but to the whole idea of using the internet at work. For some, we even helped to get them online.

“Its impact cannot be understated. Before 1link, booking and authorising a service or maintenance transaction between a major fleet and its suppliers involved endless phone calls and faxing and, even then, the rejection rate for the final invoice was very high.

“Instead, our technology allowed the transaction to be agreed and authorised online in moments. Within a few years, it was in use by virtually every major vehicle leasing company as well as many other major fleets – and that situation continues to this day.”

Varadpande said that 1link Service Network had been continually developed over time to take account of changing fleet and garage needs, as well as developments in technology.

“Today’s 1link Service Network fulfils essentially the same role as the launch product but has been continually refined and evolved to the point where it provides a degree of control that is unrivalled by any other method of handling service and maintenance,2 he said.

“Looking to the future, there are a range of developments underway that will see us develop the platform still further - from the arrival of electric vehicles through to the connected car. We very much intend to stay at the heart of fleet service and maintenance and be around to celebrate our 200 millionth transaction in a few years.”

Photo caption: Aditya Varadpande with members of the Epyx team.

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