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Cold Chain and Transportation management case study

Background

Scope Technologies, in collaboration with with it's solution partners, delivered a solution for one of the largest cold-chain warehousing and distribution operations in South Africa.

The problem

The client had a large fleet (in excess of 220 vehicles), and difficulty managing the operational compliance (as it related to temperature control, route adherence to plan, driver communications and driver protection of the asset) as well as productivity of the assets.

Furthermore, given the high value of the goods transported and the trucks themselves, the client had an additional risk relating to theft of products on the vehicles and theft of the vehicles.

The solution

A 3 pillared solution was implemented:

  • Planning pillar: Trucks were routed (using Roadshow) according to optimal drop-sequence to limit km's travelled and improve truck utilisation.
  • Tracking and route compliance pillar: Scope's technology was installed to ensure effective tracking of the vehicles and compliance to the planned routes. This included the Scope OBC devices, which reported centrally, as well as a gantt-chart route management that alerted, by exception, when vehicles were not adhering to route or were late. This integrated planning and tracking solution allowed for pro-active management of routes and orders
  • In-board compliance technolgoy: A comprehensive set of in-vehicle diagnostics were installed including:
    • 4 temperature sensors (multi-compartment vehicles carrying Frozen and Chilled goods required 2 sensors per compartment)
    • Driving style measurements including: Speeding, harsh-braking, excessive acceleration
    • Hands free voice communication to ensure easy contact with drivers
    • Panic buttons in case of emergency
    • Cargo door sensors to determine if doors were opened outside planned stops (thus controlling theft)

The result

  • 23% reduction in operating fleet
  • > 50% improvement in route adherence (drivers sticking to stop sequence)
  • > 75% reduction in theft and stock losses
  • Significant improvement in order fill and delivery service levels
  • Ability to report real-time to customer on order delivery status
  • Ability to report real-time on current in-vehicle temperatures and historical temperatures
  • >70% reduction in accidents measured over 2 years since project inception

 

Ready-mix case study

Background

Scope Technologies have recently been involved in developing a solution to effectively manage the logistics surrounding ready-mix delivery.

Due to the nature of ready-mix transportation, (on-time deliveries crucial as well as time from concrete plant to customer), accurate and real-time information is a necessity to avoid very costly mistakes.

The problem

The customer used a planning tool called Command Alkon to schedule ready-mix loads to site for each "pour". The challenge was in managing the delivery of ready-mix to the site at the exact time it was required. Too early and the site would not be ready and the standing time would change the chemical composition of the load resulting in cracking of the set concrete and potential removal and re-setting. Too late and the construction team was delayed, resulting in wasted labour costs.

Furthermore, the assets needed to be managed real-time to ensure rapid turn-around times at sites and depots to maximise on loads per day.

Finally, drum rotation and direction of rotation also needed to be monitored.

The solution

The solution developed starts with detecting that the transporter is being loaded with concrete (speed and direction of drum rotation) and determines the time taken to load. Then while being transported to the customer site, alerts will be sent if drum rotation stops or drum rotates in the wrong direction. Entry into the customer site is detected by geofence, and then quality test, unloading and washing cycles are detected and reported. Information that is gathered for monitoring and analysis includes the following:

  • Total Loading and Unloading time
  • Transit time and distance from plant to customer
  • Holding time (waiting time to unload) at customer site
  • Total trip duration
  • Total number of drum running hours
  • Number and duration of water additions.

The result

Using the solution, the concrete supplier is able to effectively manage and control the entire delivery phase, and to take quick action should any anomalies be detected, so as to ensure uninterrupted and timeous delivery of concrete to the customer.

 

Oil and Gas case study

Background

Scope Technologies, in collaboration with it's solution partners, delivered a global solution for a large multi-national gas company, with an eventual installation footprint of over 20 countries. This solution provided the ability to control and manage gas tankers, emergency health-care gas LCV's and specialist cylinder transport trucks.

The problem

The client had thousends of vehicles around the world, many of them in emerging markets, with the following operational challenges:

  • Accident rates were higher than deemed acceptible, and with the nature of goods tranported (some of them very dangerous gases) accidents presented a risk not only to those on the road but the broader community
  • Vehicle adherence to route plan was poor, as was real-time management of customer delays
  • Without standardisation in the technology and operating processes the client was unable to benchmark and more importantly drive down accidents and inefficiencies
  • Fleet operating costs were higher than targeted due to vehicle damage and abuse while driving, excessive idling (causing excessive fuel costs) and the like

The solution

The solution included the following:

  • Integration of Scope's tracking solution with the client's planning tools to provide integrated plan vs actual reporting, real-time alerting and route and order management.
  • Driver behaviour management through: Vehicle-measured speed/braking/excessive accereration/ over-revving and excessive idling which in turn provided information to a central driver scoring tool and thus ranked drivers against a benchmark. Drivers failing to meet standard could be re-trained or re-assigned.
  • Accident alerting and reconstruction: This allowed for real-time alerting of vehicle accidents as well as reconstruction of the accident as it happended.

The result

The following results were achieved:

  • Driver safety improved and with it a > 50% reduction in vehicle accidents.
  • Route compliance improved by > 30%
  • Improved driving style and reduced KM's lowered fuel consumption by >20%

 

Bus transport case study

Background

Scope Technologies has developed and deployed an effective solution for public transportation management in two major cities in Latin Americas with over 3,000 busses since 2009, and it is extended to the third city in 2011.

The problem

The clients had the challenge of managing a large operating fleet with limited ability to plan and control their assets and drivers. As a result, they experienced:

  • Poor capacity and fleet utilization
  • Ineffective driver management practices leading to poor time compliance and vehicle abuse
  • No visibility of the bus location resulting in delayed response to dynamic situations
  • Poor customer service experience due to late stop arrivals and reckless driving

The solution

The deployed technology feeds an innovative public transportation scheduling system, to provide total control over transportation costs including crew and fleet. The total solution also optimizes the timetable and number of vehicles required for the operation, whilst ensuring compliance to planned route and compliance with driver and passenger safety standards. The following were key components of the Scope solution:

  • Mhub tracking device with GPS tracking
  • Geofences used to determine entry and exit against planned times and thus report on route compliance, late arrivals/departure/driving out of route sequence
  • Door opening and closing measured against plan
  • Driver seat-belt check (confirmed of fastened)
  • Integration of passenger fare counters to Mhub (thus confirming what correct fare target should be)
  • Driver safety compliance by measuring speeding/over-revving/harsh braking etc.
  • Accident detection, alerting and response

The result

  • Improve crew schedules and asset utilization yielding lower costs.
  • Significant improvement of route compliance resulting in tax benefits from local governments.
  • Improve service level to passengers through better timetable and punctuality.
  • Improved driver and passenger safety and comfort through improved driving style.
  • Providing the tools for instant reaction capabilities for shipping additional busses in specific segments or pick hours.
  • Improved reconciliation of fare collection due per bus route.

 

Generator Solution case study

Background

Scope Telematics International Sales have been involved in developing a solution to assist in remotely managing all BTS sites for a major network service provider in Rwanda.

The problem

The generators are dispersed across a large geographic area providing power to GSM towers. As such, managing and controlling the fuel usage, replenishment, theft of fuel and maintenance of the generators was a challenge. Some of the typical problems were:

  • Fuel Theft from generator by onsite guards
  • Fuel theft by unauthorized personnel.
  • Generator maintenance not well managed
  • Generator damages due to tampering and theft

The Solution

A unique solution was developed by Scope technologies whereby no onsite guarding was needed anymore. A centralized control room was able to receive real-time alerts via the web-based Scope MZone application that indicated unauthorized access, fuel theft and the opening and closing of the main gate.

The solution was set up as follows:

  • Scope Mhub units were installed into the generator sites.
  • The Scope MHub inputs were then connected to access control devices, generator fuel flap, main gate sensors and access key
  • The Scope outputs were connected to an onsite siren (alarm), Pepper spray gas as well as a strobe light
  • A Scope fuel probe was inserted into the generator

The result

The Scope solution catered for remote managment requirements of sites around the country in the following way:

  • Real-time alerts were activated in a centralised control room when:
    • A person without an authorized access key would enter a specific site
    • A person opened and closed the fuel flap of the generator without authorisation
    • A person opened the main gate without authorisation
  • Automatic and remote actions were triggered by the Scope unit as follows:
    • The siren would sound when a person without an authorized access key would enter the site
    • A light would be activated if the main gate was opened
    • The control centre was then able to dispers pepper spray gas into the site via the click of a button from the control room
  • Generator Management
    • The control room would recieve the actual fuel level data from the asscoiated genrators on site
    • This assisted in the management and servicing of generators

 

The new Latvia offices will have a primary focus on development, operations and sales functions and will complement the company's existing offices and operations in South Africa, Singapore and Ireland. Scope is currently further expanding it's partner and client base that currently exists in over 40 countries around the world.  |  Scope Technologies further enhances its portfolio into China, announces a new hardware manufacturing facility. The facility is equipped to handle substantially large production volumes and is a result of the growth we continue to experience in different geographies including China.  |  British Petroleum selects Scope's technology solutions in Colombia to realize full benefits of Scope's integrated vehicle tracking, driver management and personnel safety monitoring applications. The project includes all vehicles assigned to field and operations.  |  Scope Technologies commences distribution and sale of its technology offerings into Malaysia with a strong local partner company. First sales have been made to 3 large local entities in Malaysia.  |  Jaya Ready Mix Indonesia chooses Scope solutions. The Scope products have been selected after an in depth evaluation process. The solution has been adopted to increase the fleet utilization and safety, and reduce operating costs.