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performance while it’s in use and for the
first time, will be able to view and analyze
that information in concert with other lift
truck data as well as tie individual operators to battery performance.
More trucks will have factory-installed
systems. Previously, these systems were
strictly aftermarket add-ons, but that’s
starting to change. “Because technology is
an integral part of the solutions we provide for our customers, we are seeing high
demand for new trucks to be equipped
with telematics right off the line,” says Tim
Raper, telematics product and program
manager for Toyota Material Handling,
U.S.A. He expects to see a jump in orders
for trucks with the telematics capability
integrated into the vehicle’s “canbus,” or
electronic controller.
Dynamic routing and resource allocation will become feasible. Improvements
in wireless vehicle tracking and locating
technologies will allow software to monitor traffic flow and patterns, identifying
problems like congestion or an accident
and rerouting trucks around them, says
Rosenberger. He also foresees the ability to dynamically reallocate lift truck
capacity based on internal and external
data sources, including GPS tracking of
over-the-road trucks and dock scheduling
software. If, say, a delivery truck will be
delayed because of traffic, algorithms will
reorganize that day’s jobs in the WMS to
accommodate the delay and automatically
give drivers new instructions, he explains.
Telematics will play a greater role in
inventory tracking. There are two types of
telematics solutions for lift trucks: one is
for equipment and activity monitoring,
and the other, referred to as real-time
location systems (RTLS), tracks equipment, pallets, and people, says Sorenson.
The next logical step, he says, is to integrate data from both types to provide
visibility of inventory movements within
the warehouse. TotalTrax is working on
this via its Skytrax RTLS system, which
places unique bar-code location markers
in a facility’s ceiling and optical imaging
devices on top of forklifts. The devices
capture multiple images per second and
translate them into real-time data about
a vehicle’s location, direction, and speed.
Putting the same optical technology on
picking or putaway location; the
truck completes the activity and
sends a confirmation to the WMS.
Now, telematics systems are
reaching beyond the WMS to
work with other software, such as
labor management systems (LMS).
By integrating data from a wire-
less vehicle system and an LMS
through a single data portal, users
gain visibility into both materi-
al flow and labor utilization, says
John Rosenberger, manager of
iWarehouse Gateway and global
telematics for The Raymond Corp.,
developer of the iWarehouse suite
of fleet management products. This
allows fleet managers to identify
inefficiencies and unnecessary costs
associated with the interaction of
people, processes, and equipment.
And because this combination pro-
duces extremely accurate task-time
measurements through continuous
monitoring, it also has the poten-
tial to revolutionize labor stan-
dards. Now, Rosenberger says, “if
the job changes—say, to a different
slot and rack—we can measure
that automatically and can adjust
the labor standard accordingly.”
WHERE TO NEXT?
Lift truck telematics providers have
added many new products and
applications over the past two to
three years. The pace of development is likely to accelerate, according to the experts consulted for this
article. Here are some predictions
for where this technology is headed
in the near future:
Battery data will be integrated
with truck and operator information. Crown Equipment Corp. will
soon release an on-board battery
monitor that will wirelessly feed
data into its InfoLink fleet management system. Users will gain
real-time visibility of a battery’s
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