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Automating the Fleet Management Sector: Cameras, Tachograph Downloads, and More

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Companies with road vehicle fleets are prime targets for automation. Fleet managers often have to control many processes, from dispatching drivers to overseeing fuel consumption patterns.

To take care of it all, they’re utilising fleet management software, which has evolved to do more than just store data or track vehicle locations.

Fleet camera systems, remote tachograph downloads, and driver behaviour analysis are just some of the automation innovations that are transforming different vehicle-related industries. Let’s discover how!

Cameras that filter footage

These days, many companies install cameras on their vehicles for a variety of reasons, such as to get accident footage, help drivers check blindspots or for live monitoring in general.

As you can imagine, if a camera records the full journey of a long-haul truck, there’s going to be a whole lot of material to go through to find that one relevant moment.

That’s where automation kicks in – modern fleet cameras have sensors that can detect noteworthy events, such as collisions. With proper fleet management software, you can remotely view that specific moment, complete with metadata, like who was the driver, when it happened, and where.

To save even more time, fleet managers can set up and receive notifications when cameras detect relevant events. Humans are left with the most important part of the process – deciding what to do about it.

In some cases, that would mean quickly jumping to the camera’s livestream to find out more, while in other situations the material would be stored for future reference.

Automated tachograph downloads

The tachograph is an essential part of the long-haul transportation industry. It records the duration of drivers’ work and rest periods, among other things.

Where things get complicated, however, is that the data generated by a tachograph needs to be downloaded to an external storage every once in a while. Imagine having to visit hundreds of trucks and manually connect to every tachograph, then keeping the data on a specific computer in an office!

Here automation can provide a huge benefit to trucking companies. If a vehicle is equipped with a compatible telematics device, it can receive the data from the tachograph and then upload it to fleet management software.

The process is completely automatic, the download intervals can be customised, and data can be easily presented to authorities. This process is called remote tachograph download and is a no-brainer for larger fleets.

Targeted performance analysis

For the time being, most fleets still employ drivers behind the wheel. To improve their performance in terms of efficiency and safety, managers need information on what exactly to improve.

How to get it? You can, of course, sit next to them during daily routes and make notes, but what if there are hundreds of drivers? Time for automation!

Like tachograph downloads, driver behaviour analysis utilises an advanced telematics device installed on a vehicle, and a fleet management platform. The device can detect various driving actions and events, such as the usage of cruise control, sudden braking, aggressive manoeuvring, and more.

This data gets sent to the fleet management platform where it’s analysed and presented in an easy-to-understand way. Depending on the configuration, the system will assign a better or worse score for each driver. Then it’s up to the fleet manager to act on this data – provide coaching, award a bonus, and so on.

What’s more, driving behaviour analysis can be supplemented with data from other systems. Commonly, companies track fuel consumption of a vehicle and check how it fluctuates depending on who’s behind the wheel.

Another option is to use the previously mentioned fleet cameras in conjunction with a telematics device, giving fleet managers a full picture – video events plus practical driving parameters.

Automation is here to stay

These three areas – cameras, tachograph downloads, and driving performance analysis – are not the only ones when it comes to automation in the fleet management sector.

There’s an automated alert for just about any situation that’s worth alerting about; there’s automated working time tracking so drivers don’t need to worry about clocking in and out; there are even systems that can automatically assign drivers and plan the best routes for them based on a variety of factors.

All that is to say – to stay competitive, you need to start automating your fleet management!

Mytra unveils ‘breakthrough’ robotics and AI to transform warehouses and boost economic productivity

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Mytra, the company supercharging industrial productivity with first-of-its-kind three-dimensional robotics, has launched with $78 million in total financing through the Series B stage and several commercial partners, including Albertsons Companies.

Founded by ex-Tesla and Rivian robotics and manufacturing leaders, the company will automate the most common industrial task: moving and storing material.

85 percent of global GDP is attributed to physical goods according to analysis from Eclipse, and more than half of all the work in making and delivering those goods to customers involves moving material. [Read more…] about Mytra unveils ‘breakthrough’ robotics and AI to transform warehouses and boost economic productivity

How to Automate the Mechanical Tasks in Your Company Better

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Most contemporary businesses can benefit from task automation. People have been automating processes since the water wheel, but we can achieve groundbreaking levels only with computer systems.

Task automation can help your business grow and compete with larger establishments. You will save money on routine manual labor and avoid human error simultaneously. [Read more…] about How to Automate the Mechanical Tasks in Your Company Better

Ottonomy unveils new delivery robot

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Ottonomy has unveiled Yeti, which it describes as “the first fully autonomous unattended delivery robot on the market”.

Ottonomy adds that the robot as ideal for curbside, first mile and last mile deliveries, locker integration and automating the return process for retailers.

Ottonomy is focused on innovating and paving the way for efficient and sustainable delivery logistics. With its global pilots throughout 2022, Ottonomy successfully demonstrated autonomous deliveries across a range of terrain and in varying inclement weather conditions, in order to provide sustainable solutions for automating deliveries for multiple use cases at scale. [Read more…] about Ottonomy unveils new delivery robot

Automating Your Office Security With Blink Wireless Camera

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Automation of Smart gadgets has become the norm to sync seamlessly with our blazing hot lifestyle. And what better way to automate your Office security than with Blink Cams?

Blink, ever since its pompous acquisition by Amazon back in 2017, has come a long way both in terms of technology and extensibility. And one of the most welcoming integrations Blink has come out as of yet is none other than IFTTT compatibility, which undoubtedly furthers its contours of Automation.

Prior to this facilitation, Blink users were left with Blink’s proprietary app as the only means of automating their cameras, and that too, solely for scheduling the Cams to arm and/or disarm at a preset time. [Read more…] about Automating Your Office Security With Blink Wireless Camera

What Are the Advantages of Automating Business Processes?

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There was a time when certain things and technologies seemed impossible but those things and technologies are a reality in today’s world. Technology is evolving so fast and new advancements are made so rapidly that what was considered impossible a few years ago is a reality now.

The latest technologies are used by businesses to perform various things to increase their efficiency. Out of various uses of technologies, one of the most common uses is for automation of various processes.

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of businesses that are using technology to automate their processes. [Read more…] about What Are the Advantages of Automating Business Processes?

5 Ways Automating the Manufacturing Process can Save you Money

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When technological advancements began, the global population worried that it would eliminate the need for employees. That being true, it also brought along easy ways of production and reduction of operational costs.

Manufacturing is an industry that is growing fast and becoming more competitive. Manufacturers keep an eye out for methods that accelerate production, lower costs, and maintain quality.

Automating the manufacturing process can save you business funds in the following ways. [Read more…] about 5 Ways Automating the Manufacturing Process can Save you Money

Automating Performance Metrics: Start with Demand and Inventory Forecasting

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By Mike Mills, Director, Business Consulting, Blue Ridge

2021 is the year when companies need earlier insights into new market opportunities, including what items consumers want, on what channel, how much they should stock, and how much they will pay for these products.

The ability to compete in new areas with this level of agility will be the key to unraveling chaos. As e-commerce continues to threaten the market with competitive products that are available nearly instantly, shifting consumer trends can make stocking shelves even more challenging.

Two-thirds of distributors, retailers, and manufacturers report that transportation, labor, and goods were rising more quickly than in previous years. Automation has become a full imperative; Covid has magnified the need. [Read more…] about Automating Performance Metrics: Start with Demand and Inventory Forecasting

Automating the Costly RFQ Process

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By Scott Heide, Founder and CEO, Engineering Intent

ETO automation success starts with clear communication of a customer’s requirements. Proposed solutions must meet those requirements. Automating engineering and design steps means simplified management of modifications and nuances to documents.

The automation must similarly extend to the customer. Disputes and disagreements arise when prospects fail to understand fully what is being proposed.

After a configuration is fully (and automatically) configured based on customer inputs, a realistically rendered 3D model, ready for inclusion in detailed proposal documents, eliminates costly mistakes attributable to poor communication. [Read more…] about Automating the Costly RFQ Process

Automation Drives COGS Reduction for Small and Mid-sized Manufacturers

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By Mike Franz, founder and creator of the WorkCenter from ManufacturingPower

Automated access to summary cost and margin information for each SKU delivers light SaaS “MRO/tail-spend” price transparency, returning a minimum 11-14 COGS (cost of goods sold) reduction to the bottom line.

Every manufacturer must pay attention to costs and competitors’ pricing. For better or worse, purchasing professionals are rewarded for capturing the lowest price; few have the time to scour the internet for ever RFQ to see if the bid offered is indeed competitive. Measuring value with price experiments is not realistic.

Full-time competitive pricing professionals could work 24/7 to generate statistically valid and accurate data. For the small and mid-sized manufacturer, the solution is to automate price comparison functionality. Until recently this was prohibitively expensive and often too complex. Automating costs and competitive prices can be achieved in a $5,000 per year SaaS solution. [Read more…] about Automation Drives COGS Reduction for Small and Mid-sized Manufacturers