Linamar Corp owned powered access manufacturer, Skyjack, has launched a digital product called ELEVATE Live, which the company says is designed to directly link equipment operators to the machines they’re working on.
According to Skyjack, ELEVATE Live provides access to critical machine information for operators, including the machine’s current state of health, pre-use inspection guides and familiarisation materials through a simple QR code. Putting this information into the operators’ hands gives them more resources than ever before and reduces the workload for rental companies.
“Until now, when operators needed information about the machine’s current state of health, they have limited options,” said David Swan, product manager of technology and innovation at Skyjack. “We’re providing instant access to data for the operator to help them better understand proper battery care, which ultimately saves rental companies money.”
Providing operators live data on machine health has always been a difficult task due to the complexity of providing login credentials to all the personnel on an often-changing job-site. ELEVATE Live provides immediate access to that data for the operator right at the machine and without the burden of passwords, says Skyjack.
“A machine is on rent as much as 70-80% of the time,” Swan explained. “That means that giving operators the data and information at the machine to properly maintain it is key to rental companies achieving a lower cost of ownership.”
ELEVATE Live is available on all Skyjack equipment, whether or not ELEVATE telematics is installed. If a machine has ELEVATE telematics installed, the operator will see the machine’s state of health including a simple percentage of battery life, last charge date, and recommended charging action. This information is made available through ELEVATE’s new Battery Management System (BMS). On a combustion machine engine faults and daily usage metrics are displayed.
If a machine doesn’t have ELEVATE telematics installed, the operator still has access to several features such as digital copies of operator manuals complete with a search function to save time searching for specific text; familiarisation videos with brief visual overviews of the machine; serialised machine information with specifics of the machine, including parts manuals and specification sheets; emergency lowering procedures and how-to guides in case the operator or occupant is unable to bring the lift safely to ground level; a checklist with visual guides for pre-use inspection; a symbol-based, non-language specific Quickstart guide, which is an overview of how to get started and best practices for use.
Skyjack says it included these materials into ELEVATE Live as a way to help rental companies and operators meet their obligations under the new ANSI standards.
“Making our support material more readily available to operators increases the probability that they’ll interact with our machines as recommended, thus supporting our safety initiatives, and our customers’ cost of ownership goals,” added Swan.
Skyjack’s statement concludes: “This technology promotes improved battery behaviour and provides operators with the power to make even more informed and safe decisions on job sites. ELEVATE Live breaks the barriers for operator engagement as there’s no app to download, no username or password to enter, and goes well beyond Skyjack’s website.”