Client story Creating the Future of Goods Mobility With Great Dane and FleetPulse

The opportunity

In the past, the term “supply chain visibility” has been tied mainly to GPS and cargo tracking. However, with the advancement of telematics technologies, supply chain visibility now encompasses things like equipment performance information, fleet utilization data, and mileage and activity reporting. Until today, trailers have lagged the truck in data collection and analytics, resulting in a supply chain blind spot. Great Dane saw a need in the marketplace for a “smart trailer” that would not only provide location tracking of the cargo it held, but also rich data about the trailer asset needed to streamline maintenance, reduce downtime, improve safety, and increase utilization.

Why Insight?

Building the right product often means finding the right partnership. With more than 100 years of trailer-building experience and keen insight into the needs of its customers, Great Dane is well-positioned to deliver reliable, efficient trailers that move your business forward. When it came time to infuse its trailers with the power of today’s digital data-driven innovations, Great Dane turned to digital innovation experts, Insight. The goal of the strategic partnership was to turn Great Dane’s trailer product knowledge into actionable business intelligence through thoughtful technical architecture, data management, application development, and user-focused design.

FleetPulse

The result of our efforts was FleetPulse, a data-driven solution that uses proprietary information on trailer specifications and design. With FleetPulse, the trailer and technology are one. Beyond simply a GPS system, FleetPulse has been carefully designed from end-to-end to meet high and sophisticated industry standards. The solution combines a network of smart devices in the field, an AWS platform for collecting and analyzing the data and a set of end-user applications and APIs to access the platform.

• The system’s built-in sensors collect precise measurements directly from the trailer’s components, keeping watch over key indicators like tire inflation systems, open doors, cargo weight, burned-out lights, ABS fault codes, and actual mileage.
• The data is collected and reported via a 4G LTE network to a robust, powerful AWS platform. Here, analysis and predictive analytics is completed to provide deep insights.
• Using the FleetPulse web portal, mobile app, or Open API, fleets are alerted to potential issues and receive reports on what maintenance needs to occur and when.

This totally integrated telematics system helps fleets to solve problems faster and increase uptime by leveraging each trailer’s usage and health data.

Impact and outcomes

Smarter maintenance scheduling

Telematics data gathered from sensors strategically placed around a trailer can help fleets gain better insight into the true maintenance needs of their equipment. For instance, sensors in tires and ABS systems can provide true mileage and activity reporting that help fleets gauge maintenance requirements based on actual need rather than simply on timed maintenance intervals.

Improved forecasting

In the past, companies have had to rely on historical records to predict future trends, forecast demand, and plant manufacturing schedules. This often proved to be inaccurate and resulted in costly surpluses or shortages of inventory. Thanks to new technology, however, companies now have access to supply chain analytics, real-time information, and a wealth of data to help make more accurate predictions and cut unnecessary costs.

Enhanced agility

The ability to track where cargo is at any point in the supply chain also allows companies to quickly identify disruptors. By being able to see when cargo will be held up, companies can be more agile in their response by re-routing cargo and/or informing customers of any delays.

Better customer insight

With more visibility into the supply chain comes more insight into customer wants and needs. By analyzing the data collected through various IoT devices, companies can improve their products and services to provide their customers with what they want, when and where they want it.

Unlock more value from your data. Insight helps organizations build connected, intelligent solutions that improve efficiency, agility, and business performance.