Caterpillar recently released an upgraded version of its VisionLink product, which is the user interface which links with Product Link
We live in a world where advancements in computing technology – especially mobile – are a given, and no-one thinks twice about checking their emails while out of the office. Yet despite advancements in communication technology, not all construction companies are taking advantage of IT tools to improve their fleet management.
Knowing where machines are located on a jobsite, how they are being used and whether operators are efficient, is an important part of any construction manager’s job. Most managers visit a jobsite everyday to check progress, and in the process will often need to dispense advice about technique and efficiencies for machinery operators.
And though there may never be a replacement for having a physical presence on the jobsite, machine telematics are providing an extra set of eyes for plant and construction managers, as well as providing tools for longer-range analysis of individual machine and operator functioning.
Telematics had its birth in the trucking industry, with GPS used to track vehicle location over long trips, as well as monitor fuel usage, a critical component for the industry’s profitability. In the construction machinery industry, telematic products are offered by all of the major manufacturers, and there are also third-party product offerings available.
Most telematic systems have a chip that collects information from the machine, which is then transmitted either via cellular network, GPS satelite or else cable, to the site manager’s computer. Increasingly monitoring updates are also available directly to smart phone or tablet applications.
The main areas of machine operation that are monitored include idle time, machine position, fuel levels and consumption, payload information and cycle times, as well as fault codes.
Telematics also allow plant managers to create schedules for maintenance and receive reminder alerts in advance, and the systems will also send alerts if fault codes are detected on-board.
Managers can also geofence their machines, setting up parameters around the job site, and will receive an alert if one of the geofenced machines leaves the site or is in the wrong area. This can be useful in extreme cases such as theft or use of the machine by employees outside of hours, but more often it will be used when a construction site is adjacent a critical area such as a gas pipeline or railway track, and the machines are forbidden to enter the area.
In Europe, telematic systems were been developed to improve fuel costs, as well as combat machinery theft. Machinery theft is less of an issue in the Middle East, but despite significantly lower fuel costs, diesel still contributes a significant percentage to a job’s overall cost.
And one of the main contributors to fuel usage in the Middle East is idle time. Idling also generates extra wear and tear on the components and increases maintenance costs with respect to the amount of work carried out.
Machine idle time can occur due to poorly organised job site: for example, if there are not enough trucks and the loader operators are forced to wait a long period between fills. Or it can simply be a case of employees sitting in the cabin with the engine running to take advantage of the cabin air-conditioning. With telematics, managers can analyse and compare the idling time of various operators, and target those who have the lowest utilisation rates.
The amount of money that can be saved by operators is illustrated by a recent case study from Qatar, where Al Jaber Engineering (JEC) in Qatar approached the local Caterpillar dealer Mohamed Abdul Rahman Al Bahar, with an interest in using CAT’s Product Link telematics on their fleet. JEC was established as a part of Al Jaber Group in 1995, and has around 1700 pieces of equipment in its fleet.
Before investing on the product across their fleet, they agreed on a demonstration on one of their Cat 345D excavators. Over a demonstration period encompassing 758 hours, the monitoring detected two problems – unnecessarily high idling time, and a specific sensor fault.
Of the 758 hours the machine had been in operation, 270 of these had been spent idle, equating to 36% idling. As a result the operator was provided with additional training, which over the next section of the trial resulted in idling time being reduced to 5%.
Over 1000 hours of use, this equates to saving of some 300 hours, a huge reduction fuel usage and unnecessary wear on parts, as well as a much improved machine utilisation.
The monitoring product also detected than an engine sensor was behaving abnormally, and the machine sent alerts to Al Jaber Engineering, and Al Bahar. Al Bahar was able to send a technician to replace the sensor with the correct part the first time, planning the component replacement into the Al Jaber engineering schedule. The early intervention meant that it did not evolve into a potential downtime issue for the machine at a later time.
JEC consequently decided to further invest in the product, asking Al Bahar to install Product Link on 51 machines as a phase 1 roll out, said Al Jaber’s engineering director, Hisham Hadid.
“We were very impressed with the amount of quality information available on Vision Link like machine utilisation, fuel consumption, machine location, fault codes etc, which definitely benefits us on the project completion with the most efficient utilization of high value equipment,” he explained.
In the case of Caterpillar, Product Link can be installed on older machines, as well as equipment built by other manufacturers.
Monitoring tools can be especially important in highly repetitious applications such as quarrying and aggregate, where operators are repeating the same movement over and over. In this context, managers can easily see the results from training.
South of Doha, at the Qatar Primary Material Co. (QPMC) sand cleaning plant, Volvo Construction Equipment loaders are working long hours on site, often up to 22-24 hours per day. Three machines are working on site, and one of these, the newer 26.4 tonne L180G, is equipped with Volvo CE’s CareTrack monitoring product.
The product allows the site manager to monitor to assess fuel consumption, engine speed and the range of other performance metrics, allowing for greater fleet control.
As the use of telematics have grown, manufacturers have continued to make improvements to both the hardware components, for example using more robust and lower cost on-board chips, and improving the software programmes and available analysis.
But unlike introducing an improved product – for example a new wheel loader with a larger engine or lower fuel consumption – where the customer will eventually need to upgrade, many fleet operators are not using telematics at all, and the requirement is for manufacturers to convince construction companies that telematics will save them time and money in the long run.
Testimonials from successful companies include using fuel usage monitoring when bidding for a job, by downloading data fuel consumption and comparing how much fuel each machine is burning. This is then used as a tool to calculate the fuel usage across a job. Other advantages are minimisation of downtime through accurate planning of maintenance schedules, coupled with fault code alerts for technical problems; and improved servicing can result in a longer overall life for the machine.
Ultimately telematics are not a magic bullet that will solve all fleet problems, but rather an information tool that provides fleet managers with more information and better oversight, allowing their machines and the company to work smarter.