"AREALCONTROL Transforms Fleet Management with Cutting-Edge Telematics Solution for Precise Machine Hour Tracking"

In a groundbreaking move, AREALCONTROL introduces a telematics solution that transforms the way companies track and manage their machinery. In an exclusive interview with LECTURA Press, Ulric Rechtsteiner, CEO of AREALCONTROL, describes the product. Designed for versatility and precision, this new system allows businesses to accurately monitor machine hours, location, and performance in real-time, ensuring optimal efficiency and transparent billing. From construction to agriculture, and even industrial sectors, this solution caters to a wide range of industries, promising enhanced productivity and robust data security with unmatched uptime.

Advertisement

Patrik Eder: AREALCONTROL has recently introduced a telematics solution for precise recording of machine hours. Can you briefly describe the product?

Ulric Rechtsteiner: According to our industry knowledge, the recording of machine hours was not previously available in a satisfactory manner. Now you can know exactly how long and where the machines are actually in use from anywhere. This is exactly what our new telematics solution enables.

The housing is designed in protection class IP67. This means that weather conditions are practically irrelevant. The connection can simply be made to the vehicle battery. The voltage is automatically measured and documented and when it is first used, the device adjusts itself to detect that the engine is running. The voltage, low vibration and acceleration are detected.

The concept is designed like an electronic logbook, a digital diary for machines that records exactly when they are started and stopped. This is particularly helpful for efficient planning of maintenance and for transparent billing.

PE: What types of machinery are compatible with the tracking device?

UR: Actually, almost all of them! Whether it's an excavator, tractor, forklift or a very special machine - our system is very flexible. Many companies have a very mixed fleet of machines. That's why we made sure that our solution is suitable for as many machines as possible. In order to develop a so-called "generic solution", the electronics development must start at a deeper level.

Specifically: A logic for detecting machine hours must be implemented using generally available values, e.g. voltage when the engine is on/off, vibration and 3G acceleration values.

PE: Who would benefit from such a solution – who is your target group?

UR: Our solution is aimed at all companies that own a fleet of machines and want to use them more efficiently. These can be construction companies, farmers, forestry companies or even industrial companies. The solution will be particularly interesting on a broad basis for leasing and finance companies, for example to design new financing models and add-on services, but at the same time to be safe from manipulation.

Our experience in security applications for luxury vehicles and high-risk goods transport is reflected in the development. Or in short: anyone who has machines and wants to know how they are used.

PE: What additional features for the system do you offer?

UR: In addition to simply recording machine hours, we offer many other functions. For example, you can track where your machines are in real time, i.e. GPS location, GPS tracking and this with unlimited data storage. Or you can set virtual fences - called geofencing - and be notified immediately when a machine leaves this area. API - interfaces for third-party systems, e.g. billing systems (leasing, financing) or construction software, etc. are already included as standard.

These have been used in countless cases with high availability for over 15 years. Using additional connection options, auxiliary drives, user IDs or any attachments, tools and accessories can also be "co-tracked" via BLE tags or beacons (Bluetooth chips). The portal offers comprehensive, multi-dimensional fleet and machine management that predicts maintenance intervals by time or number of machine hours, monitors typical inspection dates and provides a complete history up to the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) analysis.

From 20 years of telematics, we know that IoT applications always whet your appetite. That's why we design any extensions right from the start. That makes everything easier, for us and the users. That leads to long-term customer relationships over decades!

PE: Where do you store the data and how do you approach the data security?

UR: That's my favourite topic, honestly! We host on our own servers in two mirrored data centres with Level Tier3 and DIN/EN/ISO 27001 certification. This is called a "private cloud". The user logs into the web portal via the Internet, but the data is not stored in data centres at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud, etc., but exclusively on our servers and databases.

All supply and disposal lines are available in multiple locations, we are directly connected to the Internet backbone, and alarm, video, entry and access control systems are standard anyway. We recently had to prove the actual availability in a tender from a critical infrastructure operator.

From January 1 to April 30, we were at 99.997%. To put it bluntly, there were five minutes of unplanned downtime in four months, out of a total of 172,800 minutes. In each case, it was not the software, but weak hardware that was simply replaced immediately. Someone has to try and copy that (laughs).

Read the DigiMessenger #17 for more content!