Hire and Rental News - Access in Action - August 2018

40 ACCESS IN ACTION • AUGUST 2018 ACCESS in ACTION The biggest product Skyjack has introduced recently is its Elevate telematics package which is based on a partnership with TrackUnit out of Denmark who have tuned the technology to Skyjack machines. “While it was originally developed specifically to the Skyjack SJ series, we have now fine-tuned the tech to provide data on machine use and operation like battery management and machine technology. We’ve used our own expertise to develop the best management tool for our own machines,” Malcolm said. “Telematics has been around for 10–15 years; it is not new technology but until quite recently it hadn’t taken off in the off-highway sector. “Telematics was originally set up for the transport and distribution sector to monitor driver safety, speed and fuel economy but because fuel economy is not really a factor for our industry it didn’t cross over to the off-highway sector until recently. “Theft has always been a big issue for the rental industry so there is definitely a benefit in telematics from an insurance Telematics opens up a world of opportunities During HIRE18 Allison Leo met Malcolm Early, Vice President of Marketing at Skyjack to discuss how Skyjack is developing telematics in its machines to provide customer benefits far removed from its early transport industry origins of measuring fuel economy and driver safety, to being an enormously useful technology tuned to meet the specific needs of the access industry. perspective which is where early interest in the telematics tech focused for the access and rental market. “But our interest in telematics is very different to the on-highway market. We are not interested in getting the most data out of the machine; we, like rental companies, want specific data, not the most data. “Price wise, telematics was developed on the transport model or on-highway model but we can’t apply the same factors to our industry telematics requirements. For telematics to work across an entire fleet it has to be as economical for the smallest machine as it would for the biggest machine. “At Skyjack we package Elevate at the point of manufacture so customers pay for it with the machine purchase. Plus, we looked at it from a customer’s perspective, to ensure we covered other data elements that are ongoing for the customer. “We don’t perceive telematics as a revenue gaining point-of-sale. It’s really about improving utilisation and about rental companies servicing and maintaining their equipment. It’s a value- add proposition; it makes the product more sexy for the customer. “The next step once you’re involved in telematics, is to open up the possibilities. Telematics opens up options like; predictive maintenance or the possibility of the machine ordering its own components, along with things like virtual reality and mixed realities. “As we collect data from the machines, with the customer’s permission, we can use that data to design tests specific to the customer’s and market’s needs. “We can review test cycles based on customer feedback. We understand customers have pain points with the product; telematics might help us to understand those pain points, investigate them and then address them. “Telematics allows us to improve as an organisation and further develop our equipment to the customer’s benefit. “The rental industry is a mobile industry in its own right and we are developing a series of apps like GO where service techs can look at data from specific machines so they don’t have to be in the office or work shop to diagnose problems or machine specifics. “From an operator perspective we have introduced a product called ON which guides the operator through a series of pre-use checks before every use complete with a list of specific tasks including a checklist with graphics to keep the process simple. “Using the GO app, if an operator sees a problem they can send that information back to the rental company immediately; and produce a digital record that can also be sent back to the office digitally, eliminating the need to deal with sheafs of paper. “Moving forward we want to talk to rental companies about their issues that are also common within the industry so we can develop a ‘play book’ (a guide of strategies and plans) for the access industry. We’re looking at these apps now and how we can develop them further for customer benefit and the whole of the industry’s benefit. “With telematics there is no start or end point. This technology opens up a whole new world of opportunities.” Visit: www.skyjack.com Skyjack packages its telematics – Elevate – at the point of manufacture Malcolm Early, Vice President of Marketing at Skyjack