If you find “tele” on the front of a word, it usually means control of something or someone from a distance. Telescopes may be the first reported “teles” in history. You could make something distant come very close—and bigger—like a star or the moon. You could see what the enemy cavalry were preparing on the hill over there. You could see the admiral’s signal from his ship across the bay (as long as you didn’t put the telescope to your blind eye). With television you can see something happening on another continent. A teleconference links people as if they were in the same room when they are actually miles apart. A telegraph started as a system to send messages quickly over a long distance, much faster than a horse or carrier pigeon. With a telephone you talk to somebody who is nowhere near you. Telepathy acts used to be popular, where somebody on the stage of a theater would appear to communicate silently with people in the audience. So what is telematics? Distance must be involved in it somehow.
Telematics started as the name for the technique of sending, receiving, and storing information via telecommunication systems. Information and communications technology (ICT) meant the same thing at that stage. In recent years, telematics has been spoken of specifically in a relationship with GPS, and it is partnered with computers and other communications technologies, especially for vehicles. Today, telematics may be defined as a system for the long-distance sending of computer-based information. It would be incorrect to assume that telematics concerns only vehicles. Today, with telematics installed, a machine can tell you so much about itself (even a machine as static as a printing press or turbine). You can monitor the engine hours or warning lights. You can learn in advance if the machine is going to fail or need specific maintenance. You can see where the machine is and if it is secure. If somebody does steal your machine or vehicle, you can recover it quickly and, often, undamaged. Telematics lets you do all that when you are nowhere near the machine or vehicle. Yes, it brings long-distance control of your assets.
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Photo: Topcon/John Deere
The information from the Topcon system on this dozer can be sent to all of the company’s appropriate offices and personnel. |
“I wish I’d had that in my vehicle when I bought it” is a comment made about telematics by contractors who understand the benefits but did not acquire them with new vehicles and machinery. That situation has changed for the better this year. At the beginning of 2009, Hughes Telematics announced in-Drive, its aftermarket product line offering telematics services and hardware for vehicles. In-Drive is a small device (about the size of a deck of cards) that offers services previously only available from factory-installed equipment. It can give you the ability to locate a stolen vehicle. It can report diagnostics. It can monitor and locate your vehicles. “As the telematics industry continues to grow, Hughes has recognized the need for an aftermarket solution like in-Drive,” comments Erik Goldman, president of Hughes Telematics. “Our advantage has been the ability to leverage our existing next-generation telematics architecture and patented technologies to package a solution specifically designed to meet the needs of certain market segments.”
No Need To Be a Scientist to Reap the Benefits
The technologies and engineering that have propelled telematics to their present status may baffle you and me. Wireless technology is involved, and often GPS. We don’t have to understand how the system works, just if it works to our benefit. I don’t understand how my television or computer works, I couldn’t make one for myself, but I use it for information and entertainment I want. When I get annoyed because the programs on television do not please me, I don’t get angry at the technologies that make the television work. Similarly, the telematics you use should give you the information and help you need, and you don’t have to know all the vocabulary associated with the telematics technology itself. Like anything engineered, telematics can throw dozens of new words and phrases (and those inevitable initials!) at you. They may make you feel uneducated. Ignore that feeling. Does the suggested program work? Can it help me? That’s what matters. When you discover that your vehicle is not just a wheeled box running around town, that it has become a vital component in your connected world of business, you will appreciate the advantages of telematics.
Here’s a program that takes about 10 minutes for workers and managers to learn, and five minutes to implement. OEM Data Delivery makes electronic systems that allow owners and managers to monitor job-site costs. The company has introduced the RFID Portable Asset Tracking Cube. It lets users track and control activity on all equipment, attachments, and tools (RFID stands for “radio frequency identification”). All that manual paperwork generated from the service and fuel truck, fuel station, and delivery people is eliminated. This portable asset-tracking cube is wireless, paperless, and hands-free. It was designed and engineered specifically for construction and other severe service environments. Its program memory is 256K bytes and its enclosed battery has a three-year service life.
This RFID Portable Asset Tracking Cube will work on its own or in conjunction with other OEM Data Delivery fleet management tools (such as the Radio Service Tracker, Cellular Service Tracker, Pump Tracker, and GoPOD). The user can customize the tracking devices to suit particular needs and priorities. You could use the RFID Cube, for example, to manage short-term rental equipment, subcontractors, attachments, light towers and other peripheral but essential parts of your resources at a job site. Basically, then, it is a time-saving tool to help managers maximize their people and material resources, and minimize administrative paperwork. It can help develop more accurate job costing and invoicing, as well as simplify documentation for complying with regulations.
In a recent article in Grading & Excavation Contractor there was emphasis on connectivity for as much as possible at your job sites. That’s what telematics can do. It lets you connect objects that used to be considered standalone components of your business—the pickup, the excavator, the dump truck, the office. At a large local construction project in my own community, it was the excavation company (considered originally only for the obvious digging and hauling) that also provided security, roofing, and much of the general construction. In other words, the grading and excavation contractor discovered that his efficiency and acceptable pricing were attractive to his customer, the owner of what could have been simply an earthmoving project. It was the history and good reputation of connectivity of the contractor’s machinery and people at the job site that impressed the customer. Local contractors objected to the award of the contracts to out-of-town companies, but those out-of-town companies were willing to give the site owner what was required, and affordable. It was described to me as “not so much a victory of the big company over the small but of the willing over the unwilling.” In today’s economy and market, it’s not simply growth that rules our business decisions; it’s survival, too. The fittest will, indeed, survive.
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Photo: Michael Peters
Telematics can tell you where this expensive machine is and if it should be there. |
In a white paper by Glen Allmendinger, president of Harbor Research Inc., there were some excellent points made concerning the importance and usefulness of having devices connected. While his research and conclusions are concerned mostly with manufacturers and their products, you can see how the same strategies could be applied to those businesses whose prime offerings have always been considered services, such as earthmoving. He talks about “smart services,” services that go beyond traditional ways of seeing services and using them in establishing growth and profits. “Smart services are a wholly different animal from the service offerings of the past,” advises Allmendinger. “To begin with, they are fundamentally preemptive rather than reactive or even proactive. Preemptive means your actions are based upon hard field intelligence.” Smart services are based upon actual evidence, for example, that a machine is about to fail, that a customer’s supply of consumables is about to be depleted, that a shipment of materials has been delayed. “For customers, smart services create an entirely new kind of value, the value of removing unpleasant surprises from their lives.”
“Because it is impractical to deploy humans to gather and analyze the real-time field data required, smart services depend on machine intelligence,” notes Allmendinger. “Reliable and blindingly fast microprocessors do what they are very good at doing: digesting billions of data points, talking to one another about the data, controlling one another based upon the state of the data, all in a matter on nanoseconds. Humans cannot do this, nor should they. This incessant stream of business information should be invisible to people. At the same time, all this background activity gives managers and decision makers much more visibility into a business’s assets, costs, and liabilities, precisely when they need or want it.” This expert points out that such words are not simply dazzling futurespeak! Today, virtually all products that use electricity (which could include toys, coffeemakers, cars, or medical diagnostic machines) have inherent data-processing capabilities. Each has a wealth of information to offer about its current status, usage, history, and performance. “If a manufacturing machine, consumer product, or building is not presently monitoring every detail that its creator might wish to extract, it can easily and cheaply be made to do so,” asserts Allmendinger. We don’t have to know how such intelligence is engineered. We should understand that it can help us make our business more efficient, more profitable, and more respected by potential customers.
Practical Applications Every Contractor Can Understand
What if somebody stole your excavator? The most common reaction to this is that “It wouldn’t happen here” and that ignores all the evidence that theft of equipment like loaders, excavators, skid steers, and even dozers is a national, growing problem. The worst aspect of these thefts may be that some of them were engineered by employees in collaboration with professional thieves. Knowing where your equipment is and where it should be is a powerful first step to keeping control.
An equipment rental company on the East Coast managed to prevent the loss of multiple pieces of expensive equipment because it had outfitted the equipment with a monitoring and tracking system from DPL America. The system is powered by Kore Telematics digital wireless network. (Kore is the world’s leading provider of such equipment specializing in machine-to-machine—or M2M—communications.) The potential thieves rented equipment simultaneously from several of the rental company’s branches. A shrewd employee became suspicious of the supposed-to-look-normal transactions and quickly located one piece 100 miles from where it was supposed to be. The rental company ran locations for all equipment rented the previous day (when the multiple order was placed) and discovered one piece in Texas, where it had been transported through the night to a wrecking yard near the Mexican border. With the help of the Kore digital GSM network that covers North America, the rental company mapped the exact location of stolen equipment for authorities (in one case to the very tree under which the machine was waiting). The rental company locked down the engine remotely from North Carolina and authorities discovered on their arrival that there were almost a dozen other pieces of equipment being staged for transport over the border.
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Photo: John Francis
If somebody removes your equipment over the weekend, where will it go? |
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Photo: John Francis
There are laptop computers in several of these vehicles. Are they secure? |
“A mere two years ago, this positive outcome might not have been possible, because of two main factors,” explains Alex Brisbourne, president and chief operating officer of Kore Telematics. “First, dedicated wireless networks simply did not cover the amount of terrain that was necessary to track equipment so closely across such great distances. Secondly, because of where the vehicle was, it required both GPS and cell-signal transmission to locate it. This was not a realistic option before Kore brought these technologies together under one network offering.” It’s quite incredible, isn’t it? Property is stolen in North Carolina, transported quickly by the thieves right across the country (these thieves are professional businessmen, not teenagers having fun) but located hundreds or even thousands of miles away from its home. The message comes from the machine or vehicle itself. It’s inside. It’s telematics at work.
For most new technologies the objections are that “they are irrelevant to my business.” Contractors have used GPS tracking capabilities for their personal vehicles, and they see other businesses that use telematics because they work mostly with delivery and distribution. The key to success with any technology is to determine how it can benefit any specific applications. Think of telematics and similar technologies as Mobile Resource Management (MRM). That’s what leading producer Intergis does. This company offers the construction industry services it describes as “end-to-end visibility into their operations,” noting that the construction industry is all about deadlines, valuable equipment on the move, and a distributed workforce that includes skilled specialists. Some of the advantages that solutions like those offered by Intergis offer are:
- Reducing losses by locating equipment accurately at job sites
- Monitoring the scheduling for crews/work forces with remote timecard management
- Providing real-time (not after-the-fact) attention to performance
- Eliminating unauthorized use of equipment
- Finding instant access to vehicle, machine, and driver activity
- Increasing preventative maintenance on days with lighter work schedules
- Monitoring engine hours for automated equipment maintenance
- Managing employee schedules by the better anticipation of maintenance
Are any of those relevant to your business? “Schedule” is a word that appears often in good planning. In today’s competitive bidding and performance of earthmoving projects, anything that gives you good control of your schedules seems to be a significant plus.
How Could Such a System Help Me?
Let’s be honest: Many of us are somewhat intimidated by any new technology. An established, successful program that uses telematics is REDIview, from Remote Dynamics, headquartered in Plano, TX. I asked Chief Executive Officer Gary Hallgren to give me some down-to-earth words about the system. “REDIview provides data to manage a wide variety of construction assets,” advises Hallgren. “Unlike specialized systems that can read in-depth detail on specific equipment, our approach is to get basic data from all construction company assets. REDIview gives access to usage data, operational data (such as temperature, pressure and alarms), environmental data (like wind), and location data. It is deployed on large and small construction equipment, mobile and tower cranes, generators, service vehicles, tractors used in transport, and a variety of unpowered assets like trailers, job boxes, and containers. We offer options so that these assets can be tracked throughout the country, in remote areas, and in most countries throughout the world.”
How do I get that information? I asked Remote Dynamics. It is available on the Internet by logging into REDIview. No special software is required and alerts can be also be sent by text message or e-mail. Reports are scheduled to run daily, weekly or monthly and are delivered via e-mail. Various hardware options are offered, depending on the asset type and location. GSM solutions provide real-time data. “In remote areas, we use satellite communications,” explains Hallgren. “That provides data daily (or more frequently). With just one system, our customers can get access to the status of all construction equipment vehicles and unpowered assets.”
Maintenance is another area that benefits from programs like REDIview. “Knowing actual hours of operation helps to plan and schedule preventative maintenance,” says Hallgren. “With engines this is pretty straightforward but we also tie into other systems to get actual hours on these systems, too. This is critical data that can be used in maintenance management and could be quite different from an hour meter. REDIview uses a predictive algorithm that helps equipment owners know when the maintenance window is expected to arrive. They can plan accordingly. And, since most companies have a variety of OEM equipment that spans many years, we have not focused on integrating into the computer bus. We use a variety of sensors to enable us to notify our customers of high temperatures, pressures, or other faults and failures that trigger alarms, regardless of the make or age of the equipment.”
What if Somebody Steals Your Keys to Good Asset Management?
How often do you hear colleagues and employees say they have all the information you need on their laptops? How often do you see a foreman sitting in his pickup working on his laptop to make sure the project is on schedule? How often does the efficiency of your job-site connectivity depend on a laptop? A not-too-offbeat question thrust itself into my research about the wonders of telematics. What if somebody steals a laptop, or two, or more? Absolute Software has a solution for that problem, too. It’s a problem that is more prevalent than I ever imagined! Suffolk Construction provides its employees with mobile computers and many of them are used at remote sites, out on the job. Warned that laptop computer theft was a real threat, and the cost of theft was more than just the cost of the equipment, the company sought a reliable computer theft recovery solution. Suffolk invested in Computrace by Absolute Software to manage and secure its computer fleet.
Suffolk Construction’s traditional IT asset management system monitors those computers connected to the company LAN, but a good number of the notebooks (or laptops) are used onsite and nowhere near the office. “Computrace is a tremendous aid when keeping tabs on remote computers,” advises Robert Umenhofer, Suffolk’s Desktop Support Team Lead. “The product provides a nearly 100% accurate picture of where our computers are located and who is using them. Investing in it was a no-brainer.”
Many of the Suffolk computers are housed in onsite trailers; some have been the targets of theft. Although the computers are secured physically by locks, Umenhofer comments that lock cords can be cut or removed. But Computrace theft recovery tools have been useful when the locks have failed to do their job. Interestingly, some computers that had been identified as “missing” by the traditional asset management system have since been located. “Computrace has really helped us to get a handle on our inventory and definitely saves a lot of time. You can’t really compare the nominal investment to implement Computrace with the high costs of replacing stolen notebooks.” Computer theft can represent a tremendous loss. Programs that deter it or recover such stolen property must be of significant value to contractor. Some of that value must be in the fact the very best program for tracking your equipment and knowing what’s happening at every project could be of little use if the laptops so useful to a successful program were stolen and out of your control. “That’s all very interesting, but are telematics just another fancy new technology that some body is trying to sell me?” asks a contractor friend of mine. “Will telematics go away like the Hula Hoop?” (He’s no spring chicken, my friend.) No, telematics is not a fancy new technology. It’s not especially new. Think of it as a science rather than a technology. Think of it in the same way as the science that makes your television, cell phone, and car work.
Perhaps the most significant facts concerning the future of telematics that I uncovered were the acquisition by Trimble of Accutest Engineering Solutions and the alliance between Topcon and Qualcomm Inc. Trimble’s role and influence in the efficient development of good job-site/office programs need no introduction. The acquisition expands Trimble’s ability to offer comprehensive solutions for several mobile resource management (MRM) applications. Accutest has worked with leading vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers on vehicle CANbus development and is considered to have a unique knowledge of current and future specifications virtually all vehicle types as well as in other industrial sectors like aero space, marine, industrial plant and machinery. The Qualcomm/Topcon alliance reflects the commitment of Qualcomm to transition its direct sales for the construction market through Topcon Tierra. The latter is assuming responsibility for sales, customer service, and other direct support. “This alliance with Qualcomm will provide our new customers the opportunity to take advantages of the Topcon family of advanced positioning machine control solutions,” comments Ray O’Connor, Topcon Positioning Systems president and chief executive officer. “Those solutions include the 3D-MC2for dozers, X63 for excavators, Millimeter GPS for other construction equipment, including graders, pavers and profilers.”
No, telematics is not a passing fancy of technology fans. Telematics will help contractors control their equipment, people, and businesses in more efficient ways. If we wish to be profiting survivors we should ask our suppliers about the telematics available in equipment we purchase for tomorrow’s better world.