When I rode home from school on top of the 93 double-decker bus, one of the stops was always just in front of a funeral home. It was a dreary, mostly black site, with nothing fancy, just like any other shopkeeper’s window, and the only writing told us the name of the company (in gold) and the message “Distance No Object.” It was some time before I deduced that the message meant that the funeral people would go anywhere to pick up the body. A year or so later, when I started learning Latin and Greek, I learned that anything with “tele” on the front meant it concerned long-distance capabilities, like telescopes for watching the moon and stars, then television for watching programs made thousands of miles away, and telephones for listening to somebody who was also miles away. I tried recently to get an accurate definition for telematics but it seems to be a science that is constantly changing and being used for whatever product one is promoting. We have telematic vehicle insurance these days and that is concerned with how well (or not) you drive your car. Underneath all these definitions and uses for telematics is the ability of one machine to talk with another, however far apart they are, and the ability of people to understand, interpret, and take advantage of those machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
“How does all this new technology help me?” has been the sensible question asked by contractors large and small since we were bombarded with the new inventions of clever engineers. And, yes, the technologies invented and marketed have been clever. But they must also be appropriate to our needs. Companies like Leica, Trimble, and Topcon have led the way in using M2M communications to help the owners and operators of graders, excavators, dozers, and loaders get the best from their efforts. Some of today’s inventors snicker at those “early contraptions,” but consider how well they managed to make dozing and digging more effective and profitable. Today’s telematics seem to address broader problems; they try to make the whole operation better, rather than just individual equipment or workers. The goal is commendable, but please do your homework before leaping in to get the “latest.” The product that somebody is trying to sell you must work to your advantage and not be just another plaudit for inventors. This is a time when products from well-established companies who have shown their commitment to the construction industry should be considered most seriously.
No company can surely claim more commitment to our industry’s success than Topcon; it is one of a few technology providers (like Trimble and Leica) that can boast of success in helping contractors onsite nationwide. Magnet Enterprise is a Topcon entity. At the center of the enterprise is a web browser environment, running with individual windows or Widgets to allow a complete configuration of how you like to work. It gives you what you need, when you need it. Magnet Enterprise is telematics because it uses a Web browser to communicate, collaborate, and exchange data.
There are good points about Topcon’s Magnet Enterprise that struck me as especially useful to construction contractors:
- The projects involved allow for practical collaboration between teams.
- The exchange of data between office and field is in real time.
- You have secure Cloud storage (with 500 Mb standard, but more available).
- You can track as many projects as you like (depending on your storage).
- You can have live chat with multiple members at once.
- Help for your field crews can come directly from your desk.
- For critical information, you can set automated e-mail alerts.
This is a dozer equipped with Topcon instrumentation. Topcon and John Deere are representative of today’s technologically integrated systems.
Those are all practical, everyday benefits, and you really don’t have to know how they can work (any more than can understand how a plane, car, television, or computer works). They work for you and achieve results you want. That’s what is important.
In the Magnet system, there are aspects of projects that you should understand. The four aspects mentioned by Magnet are permission, location, containers, and real time. Concerning permission, not everybody in a company account sees everything. Throughout a project, the managers can choose which of their co-workers will be included to receive information and which colleagues will not. Those included will be able to work together from anywhere and those excluded will be unable to see anything. The location defined in the system could start as Main Street, then be refined to a much narrower presence, such as a certain building, or even an open field where the project will begin. Projects are also considered to be containers, very much like the folders in a computer’s system, where files can be stored and shared with the right people. Cloud storage is safe and secure; everybody in your team is served. Real-time speaks for itself, I suppose. Relevant data can be collected at the project site and then streamed to any approved co-worker or manager, anywhere in the country or world. Managers and technicians in the office can see three-dimensional linework, and the point signals appear instantly. In real time, as it is happening. You can see how leading providers like Topcon have expanded their own capabilities to enhance those of their customers.
Heavy Equipment Advances
It would surprise everybody if the leading construction equipment manufacturers were not also moving forward with their technological help for customers, manufacturers like Case, Volvo, Caterpillar, Doosan, John Deere, and Komatsu, You are familiar with them already, and expect growth and assistance from them.
In mid-April, Case Construction Equipment announced SiteWatch, a remote monitoring and data reporting solution (based on the science of telematics) that provides its customers with actionable information to help manage their fleets and optimize performance. “We developed SiteWatch to empower our customers, especially small- to mid-size operations that may not be so familiar with the technology,” explains Jim Hasler, vice president, Case Construction-North America. Using a control module integrated with the machine, SiteWatch sends real-time data to a user Web portal accessible from almost anywhere in the world. The interface allows customers and dealers to review and analyze information from up to the last 18 months. At each Case dealership, SiteWatch experts are available to discuss situations with customers and provide specific assistance, from setup to detailed data analysis.
“SiteWatch provides critical data that our customers and their dealers can analyze to maximize machine utilization,” adds Hasler. “SiteWatch empowers our customers to increase productivity, efficiency, and, ultimately, profitability.” The program keeps users and their dealers informed with performance metrics, scheduled maintenance intervals, machine health reporting, idle time analytics, and (programmable) security alerts. This helps customers to identify trends in performance, operator efficiencies, and training requirements. “We look at SiteWatch as an essential business tool for today’s customers,” notes Brad Stemper, solutions marketing manager for Case Construction. “SiteWatch comes preprogrammed to monitor up to 12 parameters, many of them customizable, so the output can be as simple or comprehensive as our customers need.” You can get fast, accurate job costing with this program. For security, it can also protect your fleet with curfew, geofencing, and motion detection, even when the machine is turned off. A most practical side of all this Case SiteWatch is that you choose the subscription you want, depending on how much information you need, and how often.
Let’s visit another leading manufacturer and see what Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) is doing with sciences like telematics. Recognizing that fuel efficiency is a top priority for construction companies, Volvo has many engineers working on intelligent innovations to make equipment as efficient as possible. It won’t surprise you to learn that the efficiency depends not only on the piece of equipment but also on the operator and how the machine is used. Volvo uses M2M and M2I communications to help; M2I is machine-to-infrastructure communication.
“Wireless machine communication is one of the advanced engineering projects on which we’re working,” observes Peter Wallin, research coordinator at Volvo CE. “By increasing machine intelligence and making it possible for machines to talk to each other, we can reduce operational costs through improved fuel efficiency while also increasing safety and maintaining productivity. So far, we have looked at aggregates and quarry segments, and road construction, but the technology can be used in all the applications where Volvo machines work.”
Volvo CE has run tests to calculate potential fuel savings that M2M communication could bring to, say, articulated haulers. The project monitored a hauler, loaded with rocks from an excavator, traveling to a crushing site. An internal measurement system was fitted to verify fuel consumption. The hauler was operated by different drivers, at both constant and varied speeds, with different minutes of idle time, with and without stops along the way. The tests showed that when the hauler traveled faster than necessary to its destination (and had to wait there before unloading) the fuel consumption was as much as 30% higher compared with when the hauler traveled at a constant speed and arrived at the right moment.
“In conjunction with the tests carried out in Sweden, we have visited customer sites and monitored how the machines are used,” says Wallin. “Today’s sites are not optimized and usually there isn’t a structure stating when the haulers should arrive at the crusher. Often the machines are driven at maximum speed but, when you look at the amount of idle time, it’s clear that this isn’t always necessary. When the machines are stationary, waiting to unload, they are wasting time and money. By using M2M communication, the operator/driver would know exactly when to arrive at the crusher (or other site destination) and what speed to travel at to get there. Through reducing machine speed and idle time, we are reducing fuel consumption and wear-and-tear on the machine, as well as facilitating an efficient flow of equipment.”
The next stage of Volvo’s project is to provide the operator with information such as target speed and arrival time inside the cab. “This live information will support and guide operators to the most fuel-efficient operation and could be presented in future concepts like heads-up displays and other innovative approaches. If all the equipment on a job site was fitted with this technology, the machines could be linked to a central control point, such as a tablet device used by the site manager, to optimize the efficiency of the fleet. The results of this Volvo project will determine if, when, and how this technology will reach the market.”
What is Volvo CE showing here? One advantage of increased machine intelligence is the ability to introduce active safety. Volvo has set itself the task of reducing accidents relating to its equipment to zero. Future technologies like M2M communications will play an important role in achieving this. If, for example, we combined M2M communication technology with an automatic braking system, it would prevent the possibility of a collision between two Volvo machines. By equipping site workers with a wireless beamer or transmitter, machines could also detect and avoid people in the vicinity. Well done, Volvo! You are demonstrating the practical uses of new technologies and not just the cleverness of the technologies themselves.
In office or at the site, today’s programs are bound to enhance productivity.
What Are You Doing With my Equipment?
One of the earliest, and still popular, uses for telematics was to find out who was using equipment, where, and… and now, we can find out how operators and drivers are using that equipment. Some drivers are better than others. Some drivers are more trustworthy than others. Some drivers seem to take better care of your equipment. The telematic car insurance I mentioned earlier addresses this issue and will change rates of insurance according to the results of telematic inspections of driving habits. In the world of heavier equipment, one of the best known providers of long-distance driving knowledge is Navman Wireless. Earlier this year, Navman Wireless USA announced the addition of a new Driver Behavior feature set to its OnlineAVL2 fleet tracking system. This system enables fleet operators to identify drivers (or operators, if you wish) who are compromising safety and fuel efficiency by their behavior. Navman Wireless says its driver performance features are the most comprehensive and configurable in the industry, with four new reports and two new dashboard KPIs (key performance indicators) that pinpoint trouble quickly while also allowing drilldown (= focus) to a specific driver directly from the system’s Dynamic Dashboard, regardless of the size of your fleet.
Volvo has started perfecting telematic strategies for fuel savings for all its equipment.
An interesting aspect of the Online AVL2 is that users have the ability to view fleet performance data by vehicle type to help in usage and cost analysis. A construction contractor, for example, can use this new report to determine whether the usage of a skid-steer loader aligns with the budget for that type of asset. The Navman Wireless Online AVL2 platform gives location, plus operations and performance data for both on-highway vehicles and heavy-construction equipment, from a single interface. The new Driver Scorecards measure the drivers/operators’ behavior in such areas as speeding, idling, harsh braking, high RPMs or other integrated, user-defined driving habits. The data supplied by these telematic devices give reports that can instantly identify drivers with below-average performance, show the impact of their behavior on fuel consumption, and permit focus on trip details when needed.
Developments on Machines Themselves
It used to be (and not long ago) that technological advances were things you acquired after you bought the machine. Let’s say it’s a dozer you’re looking at. If you decide to go with a Komatsu D61i-23 there is an integrated 3D GNSS intelligent machine control system already installed as standard equipment. In start-to-finish grading tests, this has made dozer operation up to 13% more efficient than comparable aftermarket machine-control systems. The Komatsu machine-control system uses common industry design data file norms and supports your typical base station communication. And it’s there, already in the machine. While components have been added to this Komatsu dozer, other bits have been omitted. You don’t need the traditional blade-mounted sensors, because the sensor package and intelligent logic give finish grade accuracy in an integrated system. With the cab top GNSS antenna, you need no blade-mounted GPS antennas or cables.
For me, one of the negative sides of the rapid advances in technology is that earlier achievements that are still most valuable today tend to be overlooked. Perhaps we spend too much time trying to be fashionable? The latest may not be the best for us. I was reminded of this when I remembered Komtrax, Komatsu’s intelligent equipment monitoring system. It is standard on all Komatsu construction products. It continuously monitors and records the health of a machine and its operational data, such as the fuel consumption and usage details, all of which helps the owner in making replacement and repair decisions. Komtrax tells you when a machine is running or idling, when it is moved, and what maintenance has been done. You can access the information through your computer, the web, or your smart phone, so fleet managers can keep up-to-date on their machines’ status from just about anywhere. Komtrax isn’t new, but that does not make it obsolete, does it? Let’s not forget the well-established technologies that have helped us so well in our attempts to appear fashionable in our equipment.
In that same line of thinking about already established technologies, this is what Caterpillar says about Cat ProductLink: “It helps you take the guesswork out of equipment management. When you know where your equipment is, what it’s doing, and how it’s performing, you can maximize your efficiency and lower your operating costs. ProductLink helps you get that information to the right people at the right time, to improve your bottom-line results.” ProductLink offers you an option for satellite or cellular network coverage based on your regional requirements, and gives you asset tracking, remote monitoring, maintenance management, and more. The hardware is integrated into the equipment, interacting with system electronic control modules so that everything on your equipment is communicating with you.
The maintenance management of these programs is most significant. You can plan (and then track) your equipment maintenance. The Caterpillar program has recommended service intervals built in and you can adjust your schedule to suit your activity. You will miss those annoying and costly overdue maintenance events-easy to get involved in when your equipment is busy. With today’s most efficient parts-ordering services, your equipment maintenance could be so much better than yesterday’s. And there is little need for me to emphasize the advantages of knowing where any single piece of equipment is located at any minute, knowing the fuel status, the idle time versus working time, and knowing if the equipment moves from where it is supposed to be. On an easily read screen you can see which of your assets is not working to capacity, and you ask yourself “Why?” By monitoring and controlling the use of your assets, with a program like ProductLink, you will almost certainly reduce your owning and operating costs. That is the whole idea of these technological innovations. The systems that concern complete management of all operations (from people like Maxwell Systems, Dexter + Chaney, HCSS, and Meridian ) are usually separate from the equipment itself, but those that make the operation of the machines more perfect can be found today already built into the machines. Look for solutions in both areas.
Future Trends?
If there is one thought that has continued to nag me through all my reading (many, many pages) about telematics, it is that most of the publicity and enthusiasm for telematics seems to be for “infotainment” in personal vehicles. I came across few pieces about the usefulness of telematics specifically for the construction industry. That bothers me. The technologies are brilliant, but what are their uses? What benefits do the “infotainment” devices bring to job site? The GPS part of telematics would seem to be particularly useful in the rental segment of our industry, especially as the original GPS location information can be enhanced with facts about such items as operating hours, loading times, and battery condition. Such data can benefit rental company and customer alike. Look for a program that can describe the condition and location of all rented equipment, so that anybody using it can also see how the rental contract has achieved good or poor results because of the usage of machines and vehicles.
The most appealing advantages of telematic technologies seem to be concerned with those of us who have delivery as a prime service or expense. It’s not basically a question of trusting or not trusting drivers and operators! It’s a matter of planning a schedule for deliveries that will make all projects more efficient and profitable. You can time deliveries to your job site or yard to match your particular needs or, in the opposite direction, you can time your deliveries to customers to suit their schedules and consolidate your reputation with them for efficiency and reliability.
Yes, there are probably new telematic discoveries every week. As with the selection of every piece of equipment we own, it comes down to our doing our homework, to our deciding what will be useful and what will be just a keeping-up-with-the-Jones-contractor-family. Professionals in the construction field have a reputation for cautious evaluation of new, exciting products and telematic devices are in this category. Decide what will help you be a better business, what will help to win contracts and complete them profitably, then go ahead and invest.
