CEMA BELT CONVEYORS
FOR BULK MATERIALS,
7th edition
In this publication, CEMA
provides basic data and
fundamentals of design for
application to ordinary belt
conveyor problems.
CEMA’s objective
in producing these
editions is to make the
experience and technical
knowledge of its members
a contributing factor
towards the design and
construction of conveyors
of superior performance.
Buy a hard copy or download direct from:
www.cemanet.org/beltbook/
Conveyor Equipment
Manufacturers Association
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controls, and motion sensors to prevent
unwanted pedestrians from wandering
around the yard and DC, he said.
STAYING A STEP AHEAD OF THE
CROOKS
Another area where sensors can provide
a big payoff is in the tracking and reporting of inventory—a task that’s becoming
increasingly critical for shippers across all
industries, according to Maynard, Mass.-based logistics software vendor Kuebix,
which specializes in transportation management systems (TMS). In a recent blog
post on its website, the company warned
that thieves are changing their tactics in
ways that often catch shippers off guard.
Rather than stealing entire loads or multiple pallets, they’re “lifting” small amounts
of product at a time, according to the
blog post, “Cargo thieves’ new strategy
hitting shippers hard.” This allows thieves
to quickly escape, often leaving victims
unaware anything was taken, Kuebix said.
To protect against that threat, companies can collect data from sensors,
radio-frequency identification (RFID)
tags, and global positioning system (GPS)
tracking units, tying those inputs together
with Internet of Things (IoT) platforms
in the yard, Kuebix said. They can then
analyze the data and use it for applications
like locating trucks and drivers in real
time, reviewing how long a truck stayed at
a particular checkpoint, and tracking and
tracing individual pallets as well as identifying any unusual patterns of activity.
Integrating RFID and GPS data into
a yard management system is a crucial
tool for improving security measures,
according to Ed Moran, managing director and senior vice president for sales
and marketing, Americas, at Transporeon
Group, a German company that develops
cloud-based logistics platforms. Whether
that data is generated by a driver’s smart-phone app, an electronic logging device
(ELD), or a hovering drone, users can use
it to improve yard security and reduce the
risk of lost shipments or trucks as well as
cargo theft or damage, he said.
Collecting that data may be cumber-
some at first, but users can streamline
the process by coupling their dock sched-
uling and yard management solutions
with tracking systems and sen-
sor technology, Moran said. That
approach can automate the process
of performing security checks like
locating lost trailers, ensuring that
all the trucks in a yard are supposed
to be there, and detecting when a
certain truck has remained in the
yard longer than expected.
Regardless of which types of tools
are used, deploying monitoring
technologies can improve a facility’s
ability to keep track of both inventory and personnel on site. And that
capability will always be important
at bustling docks and busy yards.
