DC Velocity - May 2013

Fleet management: Verizon has announced that it is rolling out the fleet management solution Networkfleet on its Verizon Wireless network. The Networkfleet solution is part of Hughes Telematics, which Verizon acquired last year.

Networkfleet allows fleet, operations, and risk managers to use technology to manage truck speed, fuel consumption, drivers, and vehicles. It also uses vehicle diagnostics to help managers optimize vehicle use and routes.

The Networkfleet telematics solution combines in-vehicle hardware and a Web-based application to store, view, and analyze data on specific vehicles as well as overall fleet performance. Vehicles are equipped with a GPS device that sends information to the Networkfleet Data Center over a secure wireless network. Key features include GPS fleet tracking, asset tracking, fleet maps, vehicle diagnostics with alerts, and roadside assistance. (Verizon Enterprise Solutions, verizon.com/enterprise)

Supplier management software: UPS has introduced a cloud-based technology platform that allows customers to collaborate more efficiently with international suppliers and better manage their inbound supply chains. The platform, UPS Order Watch, is part of UPS’s global ocean and airfreight forwarding product, UPS Supplier Management.

UPS Order Watch helps companies manage all of their inbound shipments via a single platform. “This can provide opportunities to consolidate ocean freight shipments and improve container usage to realize cost savings,” said Tom Boike, vice president of supplier management at UPS.

Order Watch can enable greater accuracy and timeliness of overseas vendor bookings, according to UPS. The improved UPS Order Watch vendor booking system will dispatch system-generated exception alerts to help ensure vendor adherence to customer requirements and provide an online system for approvals. It also provides enhanced monitoring of vendor bookings against purchase order details and ship windows. This func-tionality increases customer control, enabling intervention in early or late shipments or improper order quantities. The system also enables shipment planning and execution capabilities at the purchase order level. The solution enables visibility and control from order creation through shipment delivery, providing customers with a virtual view of incoming orders and merchandise.

As an added benefit, the improvements will eliminate time-consuming e-mail communication, UPS says. (UPS, www.UPS.com)

Goods-to-person picking: Opex Corp. has released “Perfect Pick,” an automated, high-speed goods-to-person picking solution. The solution uses “iBots,” which are intelligent wireless vehicles that have complete access to the inventory in a single aisle.

Unlike traditional shuttle systems that rely on lifts, conveyors, or transfers, the new solution features iBots that travel around inside the storage rack at rates of up to 1,000 dual cycles per hour picking and stocking inventory simultaneously. The devices deliver totes or trays directly to picking stations located at one or both ends of the aisle. (Opex Corp., www.opex.com)

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