Asset Tracking – Forget it

Asset Tracking – Forget it

Ajit Jere
Head – Business Solution group
Magnasoft Consulting India Pvt. Ltd.
Bangalore

Introduction
“Wherever you are, we will track you” said one company. “An eye on your mobile asset” said another. System vendors are coming with catchy slogans to draw the attention of many logistic and transportation companies who are in dire need of an affordable yet practical logistic management solution. There are more than 50 companies in India who claim to have an Indianised tracking and logistic solution but none seems to be successful in implementing one. Though there is a definite market and the logistic companies have expressed their desire to deploy such solutions but there seems to be some problem somewhere which needs to be examined.

The Need
For effective fleet and logistic management, timely arrival and dispatch is essential. Further it is important to ensure that the mobile asset (vehicle or consignment) touches the en-route points as per schedule. In the conventional system, mobile asset tracking is brought about manually by posting traffic controllers/timekeepers at important points. This does not provide 100% coverage, since it is dependent on human alertness and prone to errors. It also proves to be expensive, can be tampered, and the data generated in the form of entries in the registers do not lend themselves easily for computer processing.

The process of delivering goods and services is changing as corporations restructure distribution channels and re-engineer inefficient practices. To remain competitive, it is essential to reduce expenditure and build up capacities of "just-in-time" inventory management.

Efficient operations require accurate, timely decision-making. Knowledge of the location of vehicles, pickup schedules and delivery schedules at any given point of time, leverages assets for optimum deployment and cost savings.

Spatial Data Management and Information System (earlier called Geographical Information System) helps in providing this critical information to improve customer satisfaction, competitive position, timely response, effective deployment and profitability.

The Technology

A Mobile Asset Tracking System (MATS) may be defined as a system, which enables the fleet operator to determine the location of a vehicle or a consignment, from the point of dispatch to the destination point, against time. The data generated by MATS helps in vehicle scheduling and provides important inputs for decision-making.

Basically the solution consists of the following four components;

Digital map of the area of operation
GPS box to capture the locational information
A communication protocol to transmit the information to the control center
And finally customized software utility to read the locational information and plot it on the digital map at the control center

The GPS system, which is mounted on the vehicle, would keep sending the locational information thru the communication network (GSM/CDMA/satellite) to the control center and the utility at the control center will plot the information. Once the locational information is captured, information such as speed of the vehicle, stop time, duration of trip and petrol consumption and consignment details can all be captured.

There are companies, which are also providing other services like two-way communication, in-vehicle navigation system, smart card interface, and simulator to capture vehicle health information.

The technology seems very simple provided we have accurate and updated digital maps of the area of tracking. Otherwise the vehicle would start seeing in the field or in a nearby lake though the vehicle is very much running on the road giving false alarm to the transport owner.

These solutions are found wanting in state run transport companies, private logistic companies, transport houses, BPO and Call center companies and also for tracking of school buses/ambulances/police vehicles/city cabs etc.

With such a simple technology and a demanding market, the solution providers should have had a real good business and should have given a practical solution. But the reality seems to be quite different.

The concern
The system integrators who are claiming to have the logistic management solution are still wondering on how to position this solution. There are companies, which did start selling these solution very aggressively seeing the large potential, but have burnt their hands, and some have already closed down their shops. This decade old technology needs to be addressed more humanly not just as one of IT solutions.

There seems to be a distinct mismatch between the end user expectations and the solution provider. Most of the solution providers are positioning these solution as end-to-end application where-in the end user require to have the complete infrastructure including the GPS units on vehicles which need to be tracked, the communication network, the complete system at the control room. This system in the first phase would cost the logistic company to invest anywhere around 30 to 40 lakhs and the return on investment is either not known or it is beyond 10 years. Hence no logistic company would dare to invest in such a solution. Only large transport companies or profit making road Transport Corporation can think of investing in such a solution. But in reality none of these companies have the requisite infrastructure. Hence opting for such solution is a huge risk.

The solution
The solution lies in changing the business model and being more practical and providing affordable solution. The system integrator can start thinking of out-of-the-box options rather than the traditional business model of one-time-sale.

Now look at this requirement, if a transport company would like to track only one vehicle, which is carrying an important consignment, and need the vehicle to be tracked on a regular interval of time. For this why should the transport company go for a full-fledged tracking solution? Can it not log on to a website where this solution of tracking is available and just get registered to get a username and password and just keep tracking the vehicle. Once the tracking is complete the company can generate a report and pay the usage charges thru the credit card and complete the transaction the transport company does not require to own the complete solution.

Or look at another requirement; Govt. of India would like to track all the heavy vehicles, which are using the national highway in a very high security zone. Now who should deploy the tracking application? Is this the govt. organizations such as the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) or the transport companies who are running their vehicles on such highways?

The solution lies in providing custom made offering to the end user who can choose from the basket of services available and pay accordingly. For this the system integrator should have a bandwidth to setup the complete offering and sell the services in an ASP model.

Alternatively agencies like National Authority of India who own, maintain the national highways should host these services and collect toll taxes via GPS integrated smart cards and provide value added services such as in-vehicle navigation services, on-line consignment tracking etc.

The Summary

The logistic management solution is here to stay. We also see a definite market segment requiring such a solution. The only issue seems to be the affordable business model from the system integrators who are ready to blend the need and technology and provide the practical solution.