Using Machine-to-Machine, or M2M, communications devices can capture and transmit all kinds of “events”. It may be a change in temperature, the activation of a driver’s airbag, or movement of a goods pallet off a truck. This is then relayed through the telco network to an application, such as a software programme, which will translate the captured event into meaningful information — such as a weather warning, a road traffic incident notification, or a delayed delivery note.
As the truck leaves the Abu Dhabi logistics depot fully laden with AC and refrigeration units destined for a Doha white goods retailer, unbeknownst to the driver his lorry is also packed with around 25 computers. These are not normal desktop PCs or familiar laptops, but tiny computer chips each tasked with monitoring a specific aspect of the heavy goods vehicle’s journey.
One chip logs the truck’s precise location, another one monitors the onboard fuel and temperature sensors, while others are used to tag the progress of the onboard goods pallets, and to track the driver’s speed and the number of hours spent at the wheel.
Hundreds of miles away, another computer at the logistics’ firms headquarters will quietly and automatically capture all of this data as it is beamed from the truck over the wireless telco network.
Come the 2012 Olympic Games in London, M2M deployments will mean visitors will be able to receive real-time bus arrival information at all 19,000 bus stops across the city sent via the Web and SMS.
It’s in transportation where the early successes are been seen. Haulage trucks and passenger taxis, freight planes and intercity trains can now be set up to use M2M to communicate directly and automatically with warehouses, control centers, maintenance units or depots. There is absolutely no reliance or intervention needed by human operators, dispatchers or goods handlers.
The tracking of vehicles or assets, automated toll collection and fleet management are among the best examples of M2M transportation applications, but Teleccomm companies and specialist suppliers have started to launch broad portfolios of machine-to-machine services. Forecasts of anything up to one trillion potential M2M connections globally are widely cited.
Applications involve the automated text-messaging of mobile transport workers, constantly updated driver logs, machine-based vehicle recognition and the remote management and control of vehicle maintenance. Mobile embedded M2M systems can also be used to manage traffic light working patterns, so fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles reach people caught in accidents as quickly as possible.
Interestingly, M2M has been around for many years and to date has been one of the slowest-burning markets in the industry. It is hot again today because of the confluence of three key drivers. The impact of scale has finally made the economics of M2M practicable. There is a rising importance given to connectivity across a full spectrum of consumer electronics devices. And finally, we have seen the advent of the device management software, which makes it possible for solutions to be deployed on an industrial scale.
This is particularly true in the transportation and distribution sectors, with the vertical already responsible for over 30 per cent of all M2M systems usage. The business case is easy to make, with obvious and easy-to-calculate gains in route planning and fuel efficiency, more effective fleet management through preventative maintenance, more on-time deliveries and better customer service.
What do you say, do you think M2M can help logistics ?
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