Utilising Today’s Technology for Tomorrow’s Success

Technology today, has taken a fast leap into a place that was previously unknown to many, not too long ago. With the advance of the digital age of computing on our doorstep, it has allowed industry leaders and businesses to move into areas of artificial intelligence and automation. This, no doubt, has had a tremendous impact on the industry as a whole and in this present age, there are numerous different devices that offer quite remarkable features and benefits, that it has shaken up the entire business world as we know it.

Over the last 30 odd years of having traversed the planet in search of the next best system, I have come across many systems, many software solutions and been amazed at what I have found out there. People have some wonderful technology solutions that deliver everything imaginable under the planet and has transformed the industry into something absolutely remarkable.

The pioneering systems of yesterday, such as the iconic tachograph, served as the cornerstone of the industry for many years. The cumbersome mechanical device that gave signals to the transport manager to act on, with information pertaining to Speed, RPM, Distance and Time. These signals represented the entire knowledge base of what was known as fleet management, and allowed the manager to determine if there were any transgressions, unauthorised stops, or bad driving on the routes that had been traveled during the journey.

This archaic device gained major ground among trained operators and was completely accepted as evidence in a court of law. The results from the analysis could then be used to either prosecute or prove innocence in the case of an infringement by a driver in a vehicle.

After the OBC - On Board Computer arrived on the scene, it challenged the effectiveness of the Tachograph to such a degree, that it gained ground far faster than anything that had been seen before. After clients were convinced that this methodology was far better, more accurate and less troublesome, they were more likely to ditch the Tachograph in favour of the new digital OBC system. The industry was on the verge of transformation.

This transformation led manufacturers to the obvious choice of adding communication to the OBC via GSM and again, transformation grew from there on into live real time tracking systems that could monitor any asset on a screen in a control room. This connectivity option became wide-spread and numerous different products emerged to take advantage of this new found science.

Tracking became mainstream in the mid to late 1990 period where interest was shown in the ability to be able to reduce losses by recovering stolen vehicles with technology known as stolen vehicle recovery systems that came in different forms such as terrestrial RF tracking, directional finding systems and obviously GSM based systems that would offer similar end results.

Conventional vehicle tracking involves two pieces of vital technology that make the system provide useful and meaningful data, namely: - The hardware component or (Black Box) and the software component or (GUI) Graphical User Interface that allows the operator to interact with the technology to perform the functions of vehicle tracking with location determination, communication, graphical display and vehicle interaction.

The results from utilising collected data became paramount to the execution of duties by drivers and fleet managers and have certainly changed the way drivers perform on the road. Fleet management information and big data have almost become the entire standard by which transport and logistics providers base there business methods on and quite frankly, could not manage without these aids to help them.

Fleet management or Telematic systems of today, allow for the monitoring and management of a company's vehicle fleet which can include a range of diverse functions, such as financing, maintenance, tracking and diagnostics, driver health and safety management and fuel monitoring to name a few.

Telematics on the other hand, is the combined use of the Internet protocol, collected information and telecommunications technologies to enhance the functionality, productivity and security for vehicles, drivers and additional external devices

Telematics uses this combination of technology to produce a very wide bundled solution. Telematics is not only a tracking device but also a communication platform capable of handling voice, internet data and packet data streams from the internet into the vehicle.

Telematics is quite a holistic technology solution as it caters for everything mentioned previously in a single box.  Telematics forms the convergence of all technologies by introducing newer functionalities into the automotive environment. Some of the more common uses are: Fleet Tracking and Management, Turn by Turn Navigation, Engine Diagnostics, Information Assistance, Entertainment, Communication, Safety and ultimately leading to the rise of Autonomous Electrical Vehicle Technology.

After all this time, most of what I do on a daily basis, is build businesses that promote safety on the road utilising our aftermarket technology products to achieve these results.

A perfect example of this type of technology is our MDAS Movon Driver Assistance System that measures and monitors conditions on the road, like : FCW - Forward Collision Warning or LDW - Lane Departure Warning. These are some of the conditions that translate into lives being saved on the road. When information relating to conditions on the road are accumulated into an ever learning algorithm, it can detect the early presence of a hazard or impending collision long before the driver might see it.

This is one example of artificial intelligence having gained traction in an age old and well developed industry. An industry which is undergoing major change in the way people are now interacting with automotive technology on a daily regular basis. Change that is still in its infancy with so much more to come in the future.

Unless we use the tools at our disposal and rely on the gathered information to guide us as we embrace the change, we will be left behind wondering what happened to the world of vehicle tracking and fleet management, we once knew so well.

Thank you for reading my article... My name is Eddie Kartun - please call me on 0861 393 966 or message me on [email protected] for any assistance. My website is www.itssa.co.za