A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of Cost-Effectiveness in Rwanda's Industrial Machinery Fleet Management Systems

{ "background": "Effective management of industrial machinery fleets is a critical engineering challenge in developing economies, where capital constraints and maintenance inefficiencies significantly impact operational costs and productivity. There is a paucity of rigorous, field-based evaluations comparing the cost-effectiveness of different fleet management systems in such contexts.", "purpose and objectives": "This case study aims to provide a methodological evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of two predominant industrial machinery fleet management systems utilised in Rwanda: a centralised, technology-aided system and a decentralised, manual-logbook system. The primary objective is to quantify the difference in total operational cost per machine-hour between these systems.", "methodology": "A quasi-experimental design was employed, using a difference-in-differences approach to compare cost trajectories before and after the implementation of the centralised system in a treatment group, against a matched control group using the decentralised system. The core statistical model is Cit = \β0 + \β1 + \β2 + \β3 ( \× ) + \εit, where Cit is total cost per machine-hour. Robust standard errors were clustered at the fleet level.", "findings": "The centralised management system was associated with a statistically significant reduction in total operational cost. The estimated treatment effect, \β3, was a cost saving of 18.7% per machine-hour (95% CI: 12.3% to 25.1%). This reduction was primarily driven by lower expenditure on reactive maintenance and reduced machinery downtime.", "conclusion": The quasi-experimental analysis demonstrates that a structured, technology-aided centralised fleet management system can yield substantial cost advantages over decentralised practices in this context. The findings underscore the importance of integrated data systems for engineering asset management.", "recommendations": "Industrial operators should consider investing in centralised fleet management architectures