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SMART FORKS
Page 48
Page 49
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Forklift trucks don't generally tend to change much — so why is 2aterpillar starting to fit the latest GPRS-based telematics technology in its new products? Robin Meczes finds out.
In the past few years the growth in telematics has revolutionised the way many road vehicle operators manage their fleets.Now that same technology is set to revolutionise the way forklift fleet managers work.
Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe (MCFE) is among the first forklift producers to take up the new technology and is planning to offer it as an option on Caterpillar lift trucks within the next few months.
The system, currently undergoing final tests, will comprise an onboard 'black box' which will incorporate Bluetooth wireless technology and GPRS-based communications. Key forklift activities and performance criteria will be monitored and recorded by the black box, which will automatically transmit information to a central database at Cat's headquarters in Almere, in the Netherlands. From there, it will be available to fleet managers via a website, allowing them to access a range of information about any truck in any location from any internet-enabled computer worldwide.
The idea, says Pedro Tabrizi, manager of operational services at Cat Lift Trucks' product support department in Almere, is to give fleet managers a much better handle on truck utilisation The system will be able to monitor things such as how much time a truck spends being driven around, raising or lowering loads, or simply idle. Fleet managers will also be able to remotely access hourmeter information or get damage alerts based on onboard impact sensors.
Much of this information has long been available via traditional data-logger type devices, but to transmit their information these have historically had to rely on wired links or radio frequency networks. Even then, they have typically only supplied data to a single computer at the user's site. Using GPRS, the information is transmitted as it happens without users having to take trucks out of action and, because it's sent to a website,it can be accessed from anywhere.
Reduce damage
Apart from giving fleet managers a much clearer idea of how trucks and drivers are earning their keep, the system should also help reduce damage, says Tabrizi."Basically if people know there is someone watching them they're likely to be more careful," he says. "And the system will also show how much time people are spending lifting and driving. If they're only driving all the time, there's obviously something wrong —perhaps they should be walking, instead."There may even be knock-on benefits in terms of damage insurance premiums.
"There will be a huge ew wee
GPS (satellite) tracking,probably the core application for road vehicle telematics systems,is not currently included in the new system, but may be incorporated if customers want it, says Tabrizi for example to help locate a single forklift that requires attention on a large site where trucks work outdoors.
ten to move every
The system will also be of use to Cat distributors, Remote diagnostics in the system will enable engineers going out to fix trucks to be certain what the problem is, ensure they take the appropriate spares and thus raise the percentage of first-time fixes for customers.
"We can now tap into a truck and interrogate it to see what it's doing," says Trevor Clifton, technical manager at Cat's exclusive UK distributor,Finning."So if we see, for example, that the battery voltage has dropped suddenly but the engine revs are normal, we can assume there's a good chance of a broken fan belt. We can sense that remotely, ring up the customer and say 'hang on, we've got a problem on this unit'."
There will also be a huge benefit in the shortterm rental sector, where trucks tend to move to new locations every few weeks. "The ability to remotely interrogate a track to find out where it is and how many hours it's been since the last service, for instance, would be a very real benefit," says Clifton.
The new system could even help customers keep their fleet sizes to a miniialum."A customer renting trucks might think he's using one for 80 hours a week.but we'll find he's only using it for 25 hours. So in the future if we're storing the data we might find that someone with 20 trucks, say, might actually get away with just 18," says Clifton.
Measuring loads
The capabilities already planned for the new black box system could soon be extended still further, says Tabrizi at Caterpillar.
For one thing, it could potentially be used to measure the loads carried by individual trucks. -Often, end users aren't using the trucks correctly and there would certainly be a benefit in contract hire terms for the customer. If they're using five fork-lifts with 5-tonne capacity each, we might find from measuring those loads over a period of time that they only really need 3.5-tonne trucks."
Other truck parameters such as pneumatic tyre pressures, brake wear, hydraulic pressurE or engine oil quality could also be used to heti speed up daily driver defect checks, reduce unnecessary servicing and raise safety levels. Uttimately,saysTabrizi,it would even be possible for the system to stimulate automatii dispatch of spare parts, if it detected that a forklift was in need of them.
And, as more pallets and individual items become radio frequency identification (RF1D) tagged, there might soon be an optio to record and remotely access information about exactly which pallets or products have been handled by which trucks and drivers providing ultimate traceability and helping resolve any disputes about how and when damage occurred.
"We'll certainly be monitoring RF1D developments closely," says Tabrizi.
Tests on the new system's ability to remote retrieve hourmeter information.fault codes and engine performance have been carried out successfully and Cat is scheduling further tests at customer sites on the impact detectioi system (which needs to be set up differently for every model of truck). If these go as expected, the new system will be rolled out during the second quarter of 2005.