Savvy seals deal with CIMC

TANKS WITH BRAINS

TELEMATICS • THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED: NEW TANK CONTAINERS ARE ROLLING OFF THE PRODUCTION LINES ALREADY SET UP FOR INTELLIGENT OPERATION THANKS TO COLLABORATION BETWEEN CIMC AND SAVVY

THE UNUSUAL HEAt wave in June of this year is only one of the many extreme phenomena that has characterised the weather in the last few years. The increasingly dynamic changes in the weather situation and the rise in extreme conditions pose new challenges in sectors previously unaffected by the weather. One example is the transport of temperature-sensitive goods. To ensure product quality during shipping, real-time monitoring and temperature control are increasingly important.

Such a capability is already available. SAVVY Telematic Systems AG offers its customers remote temperature control and adjustment from any location at any time. Dispatchers at desktop computers or shipment staff on business trips can correct and/or adjust temperatures from a smartphone. Likewise, where temperature deviations or disturbances arise, designated persons are automatically notified. Two clicks suffice to configure the escalation workflow as needed.

Ongoing temperature monitoring ensures optimum quality and safety for temperaturecontrolled shipments. SAVVY’s solution enables operators, leasing firms, and chemical companies to offer their end customers new services that reduce costs and further increase transport productivity.

For example, shipments can be automatically and precisely pre-heated or cooled depending on the conditions the goods require to arrive in good condition. Exact protocolling means there is always a record of when and how long the tank container was pre-heated, and the temperature at which it was put into operation. This is not only a reliable basis for billing tank container heating costs. All of the record protocols are available retroactively as quality proofs, so taking manual – and error-prone - notes of product temperatures or pre-heating duration is no longer necessary.

A number of producers of speciality chemicals and food products are already using SAVVY’s solutions to monitor and control trace heating and cooling units remotely, including Repsol Resinas of Portugal and China-based Wanhua Chemical Group. In the event of any deviation from the target temperature or any other notable event, an automatic alarm is immediately triggered. This allows shipment personnel to intervene without delay.

JOINING THE DOTS The monitoring of temperature-controlled shipments is just one application for SAVVY’s telematics systems, a fact that has been recognised by the largest tank container manufacturer in the world, CIMC. David Wang, sales director for CIMC Tank, explains: “We have equipped our tank containers with the SAVVY® FleetTrac. This means we have taken the next step in further improving investment security for our customers.”

“Thanks to SAVVY’s state-of-the-art telematics technology, uninterrupted, digital temperature protocols are not the only thing we are getting. The sophisticated alarm, diagnosis and control options offered by the SAVVY® Synergy Portal (Chinese version www.tankmiles.com) enables unprecedented real-time management for temperaturecontrolled shipments,” Wang continues.

Aida Kaeser, SAVVY CEO, adds: “For tank container operators and leasing firms, collaboration with SAVVY is not only attractive because of SAVVYs market and technology leadership. SAVVY is the exclusive telematics provider of the worldwide largest tank container manufacturer, CIMC Tank. Our customers benefit from this twofold: they get intelligent tank containers from CIMC that are already equipped with SAVVY technology ex works. This way they do not have to worry about it any more and save both installation time and money.”

WHAT YOU GET SAVVY’s telematics units are built to be robust and, thanks to their very low power consumption, are also suited for long autonomous operation. The units are connected by interfaces to the container and tank wagon heating and/or cooling units. SAVVY’s intelligent interface architecture makes it possible to use the technology with a broad range of manufacturing systems.

Currently, there are SAVVY telematics units in operation with all established heating and cooling systems such as Dirac, Eltherm, Löbbe and Klinge. During operations, the unit records the current temperature and transmits the data via the SAVVY® Synergy Portal, which won the Telematic Award for the best tank container logistics solution in November 2016. This arrangement enables both real-time monitoring and, later on, seamless proof of quality. The cloud-based SAVVY Synergy Portal enables dispatchers to also have access to the individual units worldwide and maintain granular control over target values and unit parameters.

“Active, non-stop shipment monitoring, with transmission every five minutes, for example, is possible with our system but does not make sense technically and economically,” Kaeser says. She puts it this way: “I don’t eat constantly to prevent feeling hunger but eat when I am actually hungry.” Similarly, SAVVY’s telematics units do not need to be in constant communication.

“Our telematics systems are hybrid and equipped with self-learning software. Instead of bombarding users non-stop with data, we notify them when there are actual deviations which are of interest for their task,” Kaeser explains. “The software takes care of the rest because it is developed to automatically recognise certain patterns, learn from them, and adjust to them accordingly.

“We are very proud of the self-learning capacity of our software, resulting from long-standing experience in the development of highly complex algorithms. The advantage of digitisation is after all to automate flows to free employees from mindless, repetitive tasks. Valuable time is then available for tasks that truly add value.”

WHAT MORE IS THERE TO SAY? In addition to comprehensive transport safety and automated production of required documents, the SAVVY solution offers more cost optimisation potential. The portal provides extensive business intelligence functions to analyse the transport processes of chemical and transport companies with respect to individual indicators. These can be used to provide optimal support for capacity utilisation, asset management or to develop new business areas.

SAVVY® Telematic Systems AG, headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, is a leader in innovative telematics, sensor and software solutions that make an important contribution to digitisation in the chemical and logistics sectors. The objective is to increase added value in these companies by means of efficient work and logistics processes, the company says.

SAVVY combines high-tech telematics system solutions for use in rail freight wagons, tank and freight containers, IBCs, vehicles or machines with sophisticated telematics technology and a process-oriented state-ofthe-art portal.

As well as its hardware and systems, SAVVY, a subsidiary of INDUS Holding Group of Germany, also offers extensive process consulting and intelligent process design services for all telematics and sensor-based applications; it is also active in digitising business processes in the chemical, industrial and logistics sectors. HCB www.savvy-telematics.com

AIDA KAESER: “OUR CUSTOMERS GET INTELLIGENT TANK

CONTAINERS FROM CIMC THAT ARE ALREADY EQUIPPED