Status Automator
Job Process Automation
Demonstration
and Presentation
Status Automation Summary
Dispatch knows what the truck is doing by tracking the job (not the truck)
Job Statuses are fully automated
– Driver doesn’t press any status buttons
– Fully Integrated with Command Concrete
– Tracking and scheduling times are accurate and reliable
– Time is saved or recovered, productivity and all asset’s utilisation increased
How it works?
– Geofenced Locations
– Bowl Sensor
– Other vehicle activity
Messages to the truck using voice
Order
Concrete order is received and entered
Order Location – Address
Address is located
Order Location – Address Not Found
Query returns nearest possible options
Order Location – On Map
Location is displayed on the map
Radius displays where truck will go to the “on job”
status
Print Map
Map is optionally printed for attachment to job ticket
for driver directions
Ticket
Truck is selected and “ticketed” ready to load
The job location is now sent to the truck
Loading
When the trucks bowl speed goes over 15 rpm it
moves to “Loading”
15 rpm is the certified mix speed
To Job
When the truck exits the plant geofence it moves to
“To job”
Slow to Job
If the truck stops or is moving too slowly to the job a
status 13 is sent
The message is displayed and the truck changes
colour
The speed threshold is typically set a less then
5kmph average for 5 minutes
Where’s my truck?
At any time the trucks current location can be
displayed by right clicking the truck and selecting
“Truck Location”
Here
The trucks last know location is displayed
immediately
As soon a the truck responds (5-10 seconds) the
trucks current position is displayed
Where’s the job or where’s my Concrete?
The driver may not be able to find the job
Directions are given by dispatch by displaying the
truck and job on the map
If the truck is delayed and the customer calls for an
ETA it is good to tell them exactly where the truck is.
On Job
When the truck arrives at the job location it moves to
“On job”
Mix
Often the concrete is mixed, slumped, additive,
colour or water added before pouring.
This indicates the truck is waiting or about to pour.
Pouring
When the bowl starts discharging the truck moves to
“Pouring”
The “Poll on Pour” function updates the order with
the actual pour location
Based on the truck spacing this will let dispatch
know when to ticket the next truck for that order
Washing
The “Washing” status indicates the truck should
have finished pouring and will return soon
This is estimated based on counting the number of
revolutions of the bowl
Returning
When the truck leaves the job location (or moves
Xmetres from where it poured) it moves to “To plant”
or “Returning”
The truck is then available to be ticketed for another
job
Call truck
Any message can be sent to the truck and driver via
the optional Status Automator speaker
The text to voice function audibly says the message
to the driver and repeats it until the ACK button is
pressed
Messages are also able to be displayed on the radios
display head if available
In Yard
When the truck arrives back in yard it moves to
“Trucks in Yard”
Standard Automatic Statuses
1 Ignition ON
2 Loading, in yard & bowl mixing > 15rpm
3 To Job
4 On Job
5 Pour
6 Wash/Finished pour
7 Returning
8 In Yard
9 Ignition OFF
10 Mixing
13 Slow to job
14 Moving
21 In Service
22 SOS – Manual
23 Discharge Warning
24 Bowl OverSpeed
25 Low Battery
26 Water Added
27 Over Rev
28 Cab Tilted
29 Seatbelt Unfastened
30 Driver Acknowledgement
31 Harsh Acceleration
32 Harsh Braking
33 Tilt Detected
34 SOS – Auto
35 Speeding
36 Speed Finished
Xx Getting diesel
Xx At dump
Reports
Web based – Intranet – Customer hosted
Driver performance
Status Automator Performance
Idle Times
Service schedule
Status Automator
The vehicle computer that is fitted to the truck
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–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
GPS Antenna on the trucks roof
Ignition input
RPM Input
Integrated G-Force Sensor
Bowl sensor inputs
Water flow meter input
Connects to data port on radio / modem
Speaker & ACK button
Software / logic on the truck
Bowl Sensor Assembly
Designed to fit any bowl, motor, gearbox
configuration
Robust, reliable and simple to fit
Detects bowl speed, direction and counts revolutions
2 sensors are activated by a magnet fitted to the bowl
Vehicle Communications Server (Radio Gateway)
• Non-Stop MS Windows service
• Microsoft SQL Server database
• Command Signal integration
Status Automator Management System (SAMS)
• System configuration and diagnostics
Communications
Status (Event) based data
Assumes real-time with offline cache
Trunk radio
– Voice and data on same connection
– Reduction in voice traffic
– Coverage
or Cellular / TCPIP
Integration
Industry Standard
Command Concrete
– Command Signal
– Generic Maps
Enables Command Signal and Microsoft MapPoint
functions in Command Series not available in New
Zealand and Australia
Manual Statuses
(Voice only or press the button)
Industry Standard Performance is 50% of statuses pressed, 50% of this 50% are on time = 25%
Human error –often forgotten and missed
Intentional misuse – theft of time
Unreliable – dispatcher cannot rely on tracking and scheduling status
Observations & Most Important Statuses
Pour
– May be used to schedule the next load to that job
– Often pressed when the driver gets out of or back in the truck
– May not “actually” start pouring for some time
– Next load may be scheduled and 2 or more trucks held up by one job!
Returning To Plant
– The Status can reliably be used by despacthers to ticket the next job to that truck
– Load is batched and ready for loading when the truck is back in yard, No downtime.
In Yard
– The most unproductive example, most regularly not pressed or late.
– Driver wants to knock-off or have a coffee.
– The truck IS available for the next job.
– Driver breaks can be scheduled.
Charts – Industry examples
Average missed statuses (quantity), Time Difference (hours:minutes) and time per job for 3 trucks over 7 days.
Av Missed Status per day
Av time per job
Av Total Time Difference per
day
16
02:09:36
01:04
14
02:08:10
00:57
12
02:06:43
00:50
02:05:17
10
00:43
8
02:03:50
00:36
6
00:28
4
00:21
2
00:14
02:02:24
02:00:58
01:59:31
01:58:05
00:07
0
412
453
486
01:56:38
00:00
412
453
486
412
453
486
Driver Safety
• Preventative Voice Alerts
– Speeding
– Over Revving
– Over Bowl Speed
– Tilt Detected
– Harsh braking
– Discharge (on road) warning
– SOS – Rollover and collision
Potential Improvement
The sum of the missing time and statuses
equals up to 2 hours on average.
Trucks average 2 hours per job.
Trucks average 4-5 jobs per day.
If each truck can do 1 more job per day that’s a
20% productivity increase.
> 20%
Return on Investment
•Asset Utilisation
– Around 1% of the cost of a truck, investment returns a utilisation increase >20%
Or
– A plant with 12 trucks may deliver the same volume with 10 trucks
•Dispatcher can manage more trucks and jobs
•HR freed for other tasks, sales, QA, maintenance, etc.
•Wages saved
Driver Benefits
•No buttons to press
•Accuracy
•No disputes
•Health & Safety
•Healthy Employer – Healthy Income
•“The day goes faster”
•NOT GPS (big brother), we are tracking the job, not the truck.
Business Benefits
More jobs per day per truck or less trucks
Customer satisfaction
– On time everytime or customer advised
– Truck tracking – new customers
Command Concrete functions and reports can be used and relied upon
Pricing & Billing
– Waiting time (on job – pour- to plant)
Cost of ownership
– One antenna
– Remote Configuration, a technician doesn’t need to go to the truck reconfigure
More deliveries – more sales
Market share
Increased top & bottom line, profit
Customers
Sunmix
Metromix
Hanson VIC Aggregate
Hanson STT
Works Infrastructure/Emoleum
Holcim NZ
Firth
Allied
Atlas
Hytec
ReadyMix/Cemex
Stevenson