Fleetmonitor offers problem solving

BUSINESS VALUE

SENSORS • TELEMATICS SOLUTIONS ONLY SOLVE PROBLEMS WHEN USED IN THE RIGHT WAY. YELLOWFISHOWNED FLEETMONITOR DISCUSSES THE ELEMENTS THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED

AN INCREASINGLY LARGE number of tank containers and rail freight wagons are being equipped with telematics devices and sensors for monitoring. Once a rare sight, it’s only a matter of time before the majority of all freight assets will have some form of monitoring hardware installed. Most of these devices provide the same basic information (location, speed, direction, ambient temperature etc) and quite often they offer the possibility of additional data collection via external sensors, such as product temperature, pressure and loading status.

Traditionally, if a company wanted a monitoring solution for its assets, it would shortlist different suppliers and choose the solution that best suited its specific needs. Today, many asset leasing companies and freight operators offer some kind of GPS/ telematics solution in addition to their normal services. In theory, this should make operations better, easier and cheaper.

MAGIC FORMULA But monitoring devices and sensors are not in themselves magic boxes. Of course, hardware must be reasonably priced, but even more important is quality, reliability and certification. Devices and sensors can be designed in different ways, but they still provide distinctive sets of basic data that somehow need to be transformed into valuable information. Flexibility with data is required: what is valuable to one organisation might be irrelevant information for another.

If there is any magic involved in ‘smart’ or ‘intelligent’ freight assets it is in how a business creates and realises business value from basic data. There are several steps to achieve the path to value.

Firstly, basic data needs to be refined and turned into relevant information. Then, userfriendly tools and systems are necessary to work with the information, turning it into business intelligence, both on an operational and a strategic level. The next step is to add reporting and analytical tools and methods that can support decision making, process re-engineering and concrete actions. Ultimately, this will create real business value for an organisation and customers. The key to success is not in the hardware’s technical details and specifications, but in value creation and a client’s ability to adapt and reengineer their systems and processes.

To successfully embrace the steps on the path to value, it is important to conduct a thorough analysis of what the purposes of »

having a telematics-based monitoring solution are and what is required to achieve them. No matter if the drive is a contractual customer requirement or if it’s to achieve 15 per cent more transports with the same fleet, the analysis can help define what is truly needed.

INFORMATION SHOWCASE After analysis, businesses know what information and tools are needed, but how are they acquired? Should a business turn to a supplier that can provide an end-to-end solution, or maybe use the pre-installed devices, sensors and data provided by different leasing companies and freight operators? Should the systems and portals they offer be used, or an alternative from a third party? What if a business wants to integrate the information into its own environment, portals and business systems? It could also be any combination of the above.

Not only do decision-makers have to specify what information is needed, they also need to think about how the business wants this information to be made available within the organisation. If a client is looking to optimise its fleet usage, logging into several different systems with different capabilities and purposes will most likely not help with reaching the final goal. Likewise, wanting to analyse transport and turnaround times or estimated time of arrivals at destinations across Europe, having 500 dots on a map is not readily beneficial.

Another aspect that needs careful consideration is data security and who controls the information. If a business wishes to share content, tools and services with customers, suppliers or partners, how can they achieve this in a controlled and secure way with all these alternatives at hand? All communication and data handling throughout the entire system must be encrypted and secured. Regardless of whether the customer is a shipper, operator or other logistics service provider, the monitoring solution often contains highly valuable, sensitive and even confidential information. For example, sensitive details can include customer identities, their destinations and sales volumes and the exact locations of assets carrying hazardous cargo. Furthermore, as data integration between systems becomes far more commonplace, other internal data such as contract details and financial data could also be populating the system.

SUCCESSFUL INSTALLATION When the information and tools required have been defined and how they will be incorporated into operations agreed, a business will be in a good place to start working with a monitoring solution. However, even if this is handled well, the most crucial part remains: adjusting and improving processes and ways of working based on the new tools and information.

This challenge will vary between organisations, but it is crucial to involve the right people and highlight the possibilities available through the new level of asset visibility. Organisations need to anchor the purpose, goals and usage of the new information and tools throughout, making sure that the entire monitoring solution is set up in a way that supports the purpose and the goals defined. They should prioritise training, support and coaching of users and continuously measure progress towards defined KPIs. An organisation needs to constantly develop both the monitoring solution and usage of it.

For more than ten years, Fleetmonitor has helped companies to implement and successfully use telematics-based monitoring to improve asset visibility. Its focus is to provide quality information and business value, rather than long technical specifications. Fleetmonitor can help companies fulfil goals whether that company is looking to begin monitoring freight assets or to improve already existing customs.

As the market develops, there are companies who are unhappy with their current solution or getting their GPS information from a variety of sources. Until recently, Fleetmonitor was packaged solely as a complete end-to-end solution, mainly for companies without a monitoring solution. Fleetmonitor has now been made available as a truly independent platform, allowing these customers to combine data from any sources they select. Success is achieved by combining powerful business intelligence tools with a user-friendly interface in a safe environment and continuous support from the Fleetmonitor team.

Fleetmonitor is a system developed by Sweden-based Yellowfish; it numbers among its clients Swedish railfreight operator Green Cargo and Sinochem International’s Albatross Tank Leasing. HCB www.fleetmonitor.com

SMART OPERATORS KNOW THAT THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN HAVING ACCESS TO DATA AND KNOWING HOW

TO USE THAT DATA TO IMPROVE THEIR OPERATIONS AND