TELEMATICS

Eliminating downtime with data sharing and connectivity

Trackunit believe that the construction industry can eliminate downtime. Data sharing, connectivity and a commitment to sustainability are at the heart of that dynamic. Soeren Brogaard, CEO at Trackunit, talks to Construction Worx about its solution to prevent costly downtime.

At Trackunit, we’re interested in the big questions. In finding out whether the impossible might actually be possible. Discovering solutions that matter. That could make the world a better, more sustainable place.

While we may be just one cog within a vast and complex sector, we believe we can maximize our role and, with data and collaboration at the centre of our approach, connect stakeholders in construction to reclaim its position as a positive facilitator of future, sustainable development. That’s why we’re focused on eliminating downtime. For that to happen, telematics is the key.

At Trackunit we’re building the services that enable the industry to

work smarter and, through the ecosystem, become more connected. It means that our role in the ‘Eliminate Downtime’ movement is frequently reinvigorated with wave after wave of fresh innovation, making adoption the smart, business-savvy thing to do.

In practice, that’s reflected in the products we develop. In March 2021, we launched Internet-of-Things device Kin in the European and North American markets pulling the essential non-powered equipment of on-site machinery into the Trackunit ecosystem. In other words, we thought big and went small! That has not only meant that on-site operators are able to track their equipment up to a 400-meter range mitigating against theft risk,

they are also able to assess at all times whether a machine is being utilized effectively. To put that another way, it helps the battle against downtime. And with every new customer that process inevitably strengthens.

It’s a principle that underpins our other products like Trackunit Go, Trackunit Manager, Trackunit Raw, Trackunit On and Iris. In fact, we are excited by developments in the Iris platform that we will unveil in the first quarter of 2023.

The Iris platform is a set of software and surrounding ecosystem of resources that fosters growth. When we introduce software development kit tiles in 2023, we believe we will take connectivity to the next level as its value comes not only from its own features, but from its ability to connect to external tools, data and processes.

That may sound complicated and a vast amount of work does go into making that platform effective, but we have high hopes that this will be a game changer for the industry. That’s something we’ll discover in 2023.

Strategic moves

This evolution at Trackunit towards an ever stronger SaaS-product portfolio has also been a reflection of the strategic moves that Trackunit has made in the last 12 months. After five years of excellent partnership with Goldman Sachs and Gro Capital, we were delighted to welcome global software investors Hg on board in June 2021, in as clear a signal to the market as any that cloud-based services and applications are the effective way forward for Trackunit.

That dynamic was given further impetus in September 2021 when we announced the acquisition of the industrial IoT division of Canadian telematics provider ZTR. A strategic move that was long in the planning, it was a significant milestone for Trackunit as it was a departure from our organic growth model, but one we felt we had to do as it was emblematic of where we want to go.

It significantly boosted our presence in the North America market where we are excited to strengthen our go-to-market options and build our customer base while also welcoming 125 new employees

into Trackunit. That’s not been without challenges, but in the last nine months we have all adapted with great diligence to the coming together of two cultures with the aim of giving our people autonomy, ownership and the creative foundation to come up with great solutions to the big questions.

It’s also added in 450,000-plus telematics-enabled assets under contract, and ZTR integrated relationships with 150-plus OEMs, giving the Trackunit Group more than 1 million connected assets at the end of 2021.

That’s why there has never been a more judicious time to address downtime. We have the connectivity in place, we have the IoT tools to address it and those tools are in action today as we speak.

Walk the walk

For that very purpose, we’ve also been active in facilitating an industrywide approach to eliminating downtime creating a framework and structure for key partners among OEMs, contractors and rental fleet owners to bash out the big issues that impact on the industry.

For example, we stage regular Round Tables where we address the downtime dilemma and how we can use our data lakes to make it less of an issue. Simultaneously, we can help the industry move towards improving its record on CO2 emissions and help re-establish the sector as a force for good.

But we don’t just want to talk the talk. We want to walk the walk. It means using such talks to create real industry consensus, and perhaps even to develop over time some kind of power effectiveness unit metric that we can all use as a barometer by which to measure our fleet performance in sustainability terms and, this is the important bit, take real-time action to control waste and make efficiency paramount.

Through collaboration, we can facilitate that process. And that’s why our efforts are fully focused on incubating the ecosystem and an industry-wide approach to everything we do with the transparent sharing of data at the root of our vision. We believe that the impossible is happening. But we could make it happen faster. That’s our goal.