Securing new Potential
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How can logistics be made more secure?
It all started with an informal conversation about the challenges that confront hauliers. But it proved to be a discussion that gave rise to a development partnership and some pioneering innovations.
Security is the number-one issue for every forwarder.
Expressed statistically, a truck break-in occurs somewhere in Germany every 20 minutes. An annual total of 26,000 cargo thefts imposes a huge burden on the economy because it’s not only the valuable freight that is lost. In view of the impact of late deliveries, repair costs, loss of turnover and production downtimes, the entire supply chain is affected. The forwarder Emons of Cologne and idem telematics are now fighting back with an invisible digital seal that not only protects cargoes, but also saves time. And this is not the only innovation to arise from the two companies’ collaboration.
It all started with an informal conversation about the challenges that confront hauliers. But it proved to be a discussion that gave rise to a development partnership. Emons CEO Ralf Wieland teamed up with BPW Group’s telematics spcialists to produce digital solutions – conceived by and for practitioners – that are now being made available throughout the industry. The digital seal is one of these products. “The customary way of sealing the cargo manually is laborious and time-consuming,” explains Ralf Wieland. “It was time for a completely new approach, which we have now devised together. The digital seal simplifies and accelerates the process, and facilitates seamless monitoring and documentation.” Ralf Wieland was personally involved in the individual development stages.
“I was very impressed by the way in which idem telematics managed the project. It was a well organised, constructive and efficient exercise. While the product was still taking shape, everyone was steering towards the same goal and we had every opportunity to make concrete proposals. From my perspective, the quality and intensity of the teamwork was unprecedented.”
Ralf Wieland, Chief Executive of Emons
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Established in 1928, Emons is a partner for national and international transport and logistics, and operates 98 facilities worldwide. Its large number of branches was the springboard for another joint innovation. The new digital management system for swap bodies monitors and controls the entire fleet online, while at the same time displaying the resources available across all facilities. A service provider that inspects, records and repairs damage to the bodies has also been digitally integrated in the system. Managing the countless vehicle combinations, diverse locations, and a fleet of more than one thousand swap bodies is enormously complex in theory, but in practice has now become astonishingly simple and transparent.
The signpost that leads from complexity to simplicity is a special telematics platform that interconnects every aspect of the solution. Cargofleet 3 is an open system that collects data from the various sources in the transport chain and makes them available as required, to the dispatcher, driver, fleet manager, recipient and third-party systems. Its adoption of open system architecture has enabled idem telematics to emerge as the market leader. As illustrated by the example of Emons, its success is also attributable to an openness to new ideas spawned by everyday transport operations.
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