Intelligent systems for
optimizing transport and logistics processes
Without telematics it would be impossible these days to carry out virtually all transport and logistics processes. The term telematics refers to the navigation and control of vehicles, taxis and buses in local transport, of container trucks, freight trains and most other forms of transport, but in a broader sense it is also an overarching and essential management tool in transport logistics. It is used to support efficient use of transport carriers, accurate timing, route-planning and the cost-effective control, grouping and monitoring of the flow of goods and materials, all in the interests of maintaining transparent and highly productive logistics networks that are always available.
The importance of telematics in logistics is also being reflected in the broad spectrum of suppliers of hardware and software exhibiting in this area at transport logistic 2013. Several hundred companies will be showcasing their products and innovations in IT, telematics, e-business and telecommunication, for data-processing systems in logistics and transport, transport control and computing centers, route-planning and integrated transport management systems.
A glance at the exhibits and services of a selection of these exhibitors shows just how broad the field of telematics is and above all how important its contribution is to the cost-efficiency, availability and productivity of transport operations across the logistics sector.
Daimler FleetBoard, for example, is showcasing new-style telematics solutions for optimizing the control of transport processes and also practical transport management solutions. For the first time FleetBoard will be presenting a new consulting package which includes ongoing analysis and consultation services to accompany the customer-specific introduction of a telematics system, as well as trouble-free integration into the customer´s own IT landscape.
Salt Mobile Systems will also be putting the emphasis on practicality in the solutions they present at transport logistic 2013: "Low margins are giving the transport sector a tough time: For every 100 euros of turnover, firms are lucky if they make even one euro. That´s too little, in our view," say the representatives of this Würzburg-based company. "What we are doing to help is launching two new systems in June 2013." One of these systems - the new Cloud-based haulage management system - covers a range of functions, for example order management with notification of hauliers and recipients, job scheduling, transfer to telematics, tracking & tracing, working times and fees, handling and hall processes, billing and transfer of data to Datev.
Inform of Aachen, a specialist in materials-handling and transport logistics, offers solutions for optimizing logistics processes in road haulage, in intermodal terminals and hubs and in intralogistics. Its "SyncroTESS" product is a software solution that optimizes complex logistics processes in real time through intelligent planning and scheduling decisions. This software program is supplemented by SyncroSupply for optimum time-planning and scheduling of incoming and outgoing deliveries in industry and retail: the system calculates the actual arrival time, provides support in ensuring the resources arrive on time and enables the users to react in real time to unplanned events. Inform points out: "What we offer is not just a software solution for telematics, because we are already one step further down the road: We use data that telematics delivers to us, in order to calculate from those data the optimum route for the individual case - all in real time, and within just a few seconds."
An extensive program is being covered by GVB, a transport management and logistics organization (Gesellschaft für Verkehrsbetriebswirtschaft und Logistik e.V.) in its forum on June 6 (13:00 to 14:30, Conference Room B11) entitled "Telematics systems - New Products and Markets". In this event, chaired by Professor Claus C. Berg, GVB President, the focus will be on practical themes with relevance for the future: for example, supplier-independent, open and flexible telematics platforms, calculation of actual CO2 emissions, and how the expansion of the existing fleet management interface protocol is impacting on the development of telematics systems to improve the integration capability of different transport systems.
Jens Uwe Tonne, Chairman of Couplink Group AG, will be presenting a state-of-the-art telematics solution. Christian Neupert of ght GmbH, Nuremberg, explains how "data management and centralized services can point out new ways of using the latest vehicle technologies in a resource-saving and process-optimizing way."
And Heiko Janssen from Openmatics in Pilsen will be talking about a "supplier-independent, open and flexible telematics platform that in terms of hardware and software, is available for telematics solutions of every kind". It is suitable for companies that need to use a range of services and operate vehicles from different manufacturers. The goal is to reduce the software programs that have to be handled and the number of hardware components.
Currently, a team at GVB - under Professor Claus C. Berg - is working on a telematics guide, "Telematics systems in transport logistics". For this a survey will be conducted among suppliers in the telematics sector, to gather information about their products and services.
As Professor Berg points out: "For the companies, there is no charge for publication in this guide. What we are aiming for is a factual presentation of what it is that the individual companies can offer." This is all the more relevant, he says, because "the market for telematics solutions in transport and logistics is a very fast-moving and dynamic one". And potential users find it hard, amidst the many different offers, to find the one best suited to them. The aim of the report is to produce a directory in which suppliers of telematics solutions and exemplary solutions are presented, so as to provide users with useful and practical orientation in their decision-making."
Images: R. Eberhard, messekompakt, EBERHARD print & medien agentur gmbh
Source: Messe München