The management of heavy equipment is an essential aspect of many businesses.
Construction, mining, utilities, and other industries require a fleet of large vehicles - from trucks to excavators - to get the job done.
Managing fixed and mobile equipment in the field presents its own unique set of challenges. Mapping and monitoring the location of assets on site and checking equipment metrics, such as the engine hours used, load weights carried, fluid levels, and security can be a major burden. Non-working drills and excavators can slow operations and even stop work in its tracks, requiring additional truck rolls to keep assets up and running. Effective field maintenance is crucial in delivering working equipment and meeting project deadlines.
IoT smart devices that map and monitor the location, condition, and movement of fixed and mobile assets in real-time can help with the task of managing heavy equipment in the work environment. At the heart is Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) monitoring capabilities. The GPS-enabled devices track assets at every step of the supply chain. They can determine the arrival and departure of heavy gear at a site, as well as monitor the equipment in location. Along with GPS, the FI platform supports Iridium or ORBCOMM satellite connectivity. Just as GPS tracking is vital for monitoring heavy equipment arriving and leaving work sites, it plays an equally important role in synchronizing transportation and mitigating risk from lost assets.
Equipment health is key when managing overall operations of a work area. IoT smart devices offer Over-The-Air (OTA) maintenance and alerts to reduce the number of truck rolls needed at a site, thereby streamlining the distribution logistics and reducing operating costs.
Cloud analytics working in concert with distributed computing technologies, such as the IoT, can help maintain equipment through OTA predictive maintenance. High-priority exception alerts derived from devices integrated with the heavy equipment are able to detect problems and send automated alerts related to the status of the systems and parts. Staff can manage trouble-shooting, configurations, and updates wirelessly via purpose-built desktop or smartphone apps. They can also compile and analyze maintenance and usage data.
Maintaining equipment uptime is vitally important on worksites, as unexpected breakdowns can be a massive drag on productivity. It’s important to know which specific equipment will be necessary for a job, how often it will be in use at the worksite, and how long it will run efficiently. Preventative and predictive maintenance analytics are especially crucial for crew are using cranes and other potentially hazardous machinery, as condition-based upkeep can highlight possible faults months before problems occur.
IoT devices also help by regularly monitoring oil and other fluids in equipment, so as to ensure smooth running. Continuous, accurate monitoring of both parts and fuel not only increases productivity and profitability, it also allows for optimum efficiency, which in turn can help lower the environmental impact of earth moving and construction operations.
GPS tracking and geofencing can also help protect asset safety onsite and offsite. In fact, heavy equipment, like fork-lifts and earth movers, can be more safely stored across large construction sites because GPS-enabled IoT devices can monitor their position securely even when staff are not around. This is key in reducing theft of high-value heavy equipment and components from a jobsite. With GPS technology you can precisely track and locate equipment in near real-time and in the event that machinery goes missing, you can provide local authorities with its location for faster recovery.
Industrial-grade IoT devices offer data connectivity via a satellite or a cellular link. This is key, especially on remote sites that cannot guarantee a steady cellular connection. Optimized dual-mode connectivity ensures that equipment can remain linked to monitoring and maintenance systems, connecting with whichever data network provides the most reliable and cost-effective link.
FieldIntell, a Network Innovations company, offers connection from the edge to the cloud. Our smart monitoring solutions allow users to control their heavy equipment from a desktop or a mobile device. Inbound data from work sites is meticulously scrubbed, normalized and stored in federated databases for use by ERP, SCM, EAM and other back-office systems. Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms draw from large data-lakes of information to help customers uncover trends, new opportunities, and deep insights. The Solution also delivers a compelling and relevant user-experience (UX), purpose-built to provide operators with the KPIs, reports, and metrics used in the industry everyday.
FieldIntell smart IoT monitoring solutions offer GPS connectivity and IoT data collection direct from heavy vehicles in remote industrial and construction sites right to the cloud. The Solutions covers the whole gamut of needs for Heavy equipment, from security, to catering for everyday technical requirements, to delivering IoT insights to the cloud.
