Taking control of trucks
March 1st 2010 Simon Duddy talks to ID Systems founder
and president Ken Ehrman to hear how
PowerFleet promises savings on
maintenance costs and other benefits
US technology firm ID Systems recently boosted its UK
business through acquisition (see box) and offers its
PowerFleet vehicle management system in a bid to help
warehouse managers boost fleet visibility.
The manufacturer counts a number of blue chip US firms
among its clients, such as Wal-Mart, Xerox, OSRAM Sylvania and
Continental Tire.
PowerFleet has a host of useful features from the ability to
restrict access to lift trucks to authorised operators and monitor
how the trucks are being used, for example logging impacts, speed
and when trucks are carrying a load.Managers can also interact
remotely with trucks to change their behaviour.
The firm claims this increased visibility has a number of
benefits for the warehouse manager, such as optimising truck
maintenance schedules.
ID Systems founder and president Kern Ehrman explains:
"Most manufacturers say carry out preventative maintenance after
every 300 hours of the hour meter, but this assumes the vehicle is
in use for the full 300 hours.
"With PowerFleet, managers can track actual truck usage.
Typically we find this is half of the hour meter which means if
you are using the hour meter you're doing about double the
preventative maintenance you need to."
The technology also offers zonal control. This option allows
managers to locate trucks via triangulation. For instance, it can
spot when a driver has strayed into an area where he has not been
authorised, say, a high value pharmaceutical area.
Safety is a key consideration with Ehrman claiming that in the
US the second most significant cause of accidents for Fortune 500
companies is the forklift, behind road incidents.
"It is a high risk, big companies can have a few hundred
forklifts and thousands of pedestrians on premises," continues
Ehrman.
ID Systems attempts to counter these risks by imposing policies
on truck use and monitoring actual usage, with supervisors able
to be notified by email if trucks don't behave as they should.
Use of the truck can also incorporate a safety routine, whereby
operators must inspect equipment and ensure it is safe before
being authorised to start using the truck.
The system has been installed with Continental Tires in the
US, which previously used paper checklists to complete its
vehicle safety inspections. Operators were not actively evaluating
the vehicles and just blindly completing the form. Additionally, it
took extensive administrative effort from the Production and
Safety Departments to collect and manage the checklist
paperwork.
Now, the on-vehicle PowerFleet device prompts each operator
to complete a safety checklist prior to each shift or vehicle use;
failure to do so can disable that vehicle. This not only increases
operator accountability, but also alerts management if operators
are not inspecting their vehicles.
Continental Tire also forecast a 33% improvement in vehiclerelated
damage in the warehouse.
The system can also be used to measure truck and operator
utilisation, giving managers an accurate picture of how assets are
being used.
"We know how many hours operators are using trucks," says
Ehrman. "If you're paying someone to drive a forklift for 8 hours,
you'll want to know how long they are logged in. It's the same
with the trucks themselves. It gives managers the opportunity to
see what the resources they are
paying for are actually doing." More articles from I.D. Systems (UK) Ltd: | 
