Fleets Get Smarter with Remote Monitoring and Operation Automation
Jürgen Hase, Vice President M2M Competence Center
By Jürgen Hase, Vice President M2M Competence Center
You have to manage a fleet of panel trucks and there is a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam in the city again this morning? There is no need to worry as long as M2M is around to lend a hand. In the world of connected vehicles, cars or trucks relay their location to the dispatcher automatically.
As a result, transport and distribution management can be improved. Examples of practical solutions such as this show that with the aid of M2M we can do more than just make workflows simpler and processes leaner. It also shows that the connected car and even connected fleets have long been a reality.
Within the next year, we can expect to see more advanced automotive technology on the road, including sophisticated remote monitoring and operation automation. According to ABI Research, North America could see more driverless vehicles shipping to dealerships and fleet purchasers as early as the beginning of the next decade, for example. It has taken time for expectations to become a reality, but it now looks like connected cars and fleets are increasingly becoming a part of our daily lives. The technology behind is M2M: machine-to-machine-communication.
One group that benefits from M2M is fleet managers. Thanks to special tracking boxes equipped with GPS modules, a vehicle’s current location can be determined. As some solutions are also outfitted with sensors, fleet managers can track the vehicle’s speed, idle times, rapid acceleration and abrupt movements, and even monitor the condition of the payload. That enables dispatchers to better schedule drivers, optimize loads and routes, and thereby reduce the fleet’s fuel consumption by cutting the distances travelled.
Additionally, consider intelligent solutions for car dealers. There are solutions that allow dealers to offer fleet managers cars with automated reminders for the next oil change, as well as remote diagnostic information and a wealth of other location-based services. This will be game-changing for the whole industry, as it allows dealers to maintain an active relationship with their clients on an ongoing basis.
The solutions have developed constantly, however. Above all, acquisition and running costs have fallen significantly in the meantime, making M2M solutions attractive for all kinds of vertical industries, from small and medium-sized businesses to big global players. Machina Research expects the total number of M2M connections worldwide in transportation and logistics alone to increase from 15 million to 80 million by 2022.
About the Author
Jürgen Hase is the vice president of the M2M Competence Center at Deutsche Telekom AG. He joined Deutsche Telekom AG in 2011 as head of the M2M Competence Center and has been in the telecommunications industry for more than 20 years. He is also Chairman of the M2M Alliance.
About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with 140 million mobile customers, more than 31 million fixed-network lines and over 17 million broadband lines (as of September 30, 2013). The Group provides fixed-network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in some 50 countries and has 230,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenue of € 58.2 billion in the 2012 financial year—over half of it outside Germany (as of December 31, 2012).
Category: Fleet Diagnostics & Software, General Update
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