Charlie Urquhart, Rokbak product manager
In response to market demand for higher levels of connectivity and automated functionality, Rokbak has enhanced its Haul Track telematics system. The articulated hauler manufacturer presented the improved system as part of its four product focus areas — innovation, sustainability, connected services and efficiencies — at ConExpo.
Greatly simplifying fleet management, it offers a range of features that provide even-higher levels of machine protection against operator misuse and unexpected downtime.
"Haul Track puts machine owners back in the operator's seat, figuratively speaking, reassuring them that their valuable investment is in safe hands," said Charlie Urquhart, Rokbak product manager.
"Accompanied by a new website that provides an easily customizable dashboard to simplify and speed up how they view and retrieve operating information from afar, it offers a much more accurate and cost-effective insight into a whole host of factors that have the capacity to make or break their bottom line."
Location, Location, Location
Utilizing GPS technology to transmit detailed real-time machine location and tracking information in the form of easy-to-read, full-color PDF reports to the customer's mobile device or PC, Haul Track removes the complexity of keeping tabs on even the largest hauler fleets.
Haul Track now meets the Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP) Telematics Standard 2.0 Application Programming Interface. This allows owners of mixed fleets to manage their telematics data in one place.
Data is presented in a standard format, which means the output from Haul Track can be easily integrated with customers' own systems.
By providing managers with a deeper understanding of how much fuel is consumed per payload, and how to optimize it, TCO can easily be calculated and improved with Rokbak's optional on-board weighing (OBW) system. And in highlighting key metrics such as sub-optimal travel speed, dump counts and load cycles, for example, this performance history also can be used as an asset management tool to improve efficiency and plan future maintenance schedules.
With the power to pinpoint any one of their machines anywhere in the world, owners can not only quickly isolate a specific hauler's data but even see exactly where it's been working and track all accumulative loads.
By taking a deep dive into a variety of software parameters — such as travel speed, fuel consumption, temperatures and pressures — at any time, owners also can quickly pull up historical data to look for patterns and identify operator training needs.
Rokbak presented its improved Haul Track telematics system at ConExpo.
Weight and See
For instance, with Haul Track connecting to the Rokbak OBW system, any habitual underloading or overloading can be easily identified.
Aside from curtailing misuse, the Haul Track and OBW combination offers huge potential to monitor production management and costs for higher product efficiency.
"Now it's easy to work out how many tons you've moved each day," said Urquhart. "Likewise, once you have visibility of the unit and its operations, long idle times and underloading can be monitored and mitigated."
No More Eleventh-Hour Servicing
Rather than forgetting maintenance work, or passively waiting until the scheduled hour arrives before changing fluids, etc., owners can proactively monitor the health of a variety of machine systems via easily understandable diagnostic and preventative maintenance data. They also can view critical information whenever system fault codes are triggered.
With this crucial data at their fingertips, they can anticipate and plan interventions at a time that will minimize disruption to productivity while prolonging component lifecycles, or, in the unlikely worst-case scenario, remove the machine from duty to prevent the problem from escalating further. The system can even be set to email technicians when a hauler is within a set number of hours of its next scheduled service.
The new maintenance package gives customers access to important service information like service kit part numbers and required actions at the specified service interval.
"When you've spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on your machines, you need to protect that investment from misuse, whether deliberate or unintentional," said Urquhart.
"Rokbak's Haul Track telematics system is designed to take a load off our customers' minds so they can keep their haulers secure, monitor their health, manage machine performance and productivity, and improve site safety. Once plant owners start using Haul Track, they don't know what they'd do without it."
Haul Track hardware is fitted as standard on all Rokbak EU Stage V and Tier IV Final articulated haulers.
For more information, visit www.rokbak.com.
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