With so many different telematics systems to choose from, it’s difficult to know which one is the best for your fleet. Each has its own benefits, and some are specific to certain applications. So, which should you choose? Eitan Kirshenboim, CMO at ERM Telematics and leader of the company’s global marketing activity and business development, breaks down even more aspects of ERM in the second part of his Industry Insights piece.
MWS: HOW DOES TELEMATICS PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE REALIZATION OF THE CONNECTED CAR VISION?
KIRSHENBOIM:
Connected car is a general term that describes a car equipped with internet access. Telematics technologies are the features that bring “life” to the connected car, enabling it to send and receive information, communicate with other vehicles or objects, store and analyze data from various sensors and the vehicle’s controllers (ECUs), monitor the vehicle and the driver’s behavior in real time, and more.
We can already witness the focus of the global automotive telematics market in technologies for connected cars, moving forward through fully active autonomous vehicles that will communicate with each other and with infrastructures in order to predict and respond to obstacles and hazards during the trip, increasing the safety of the vehicle and the driver.
MWS: WHAT IS YOUR VISION/WHAT DO YOU SEE ON THE HORIZON FOR ERM?
KIRSHENBOIM:
ERM has provided solutions and technologies to the global automotive market for more than 30 years. We are constantly looking at the future, thinking ahead in order to maintain our leading position in the global automotive technology industry.
ERM already has several innovative solutions for specific segments. For example, we have a solution for cement mixer trucks that enables the remote monitoring of the rotation of a cement mixer drum and its quality; a solution for monitoring garbage trucks and garbage bin handling; a solution for cold chain monitoring designed especially for refrigerated vehicles; a solution for monitoring assets; solutions for insurance companies allowing them to offer better price models with less risk exposure; a solution for vehicle financing companies to reduce risk of car theft; stolen vehicle recovery solutions, and more. ERM continues to invent and develop breakthrough solutions to other niches in various industries.
We continue to deepen our cooperation with OEMs. Eventually all vehicle manufacturers will incorporate telematics solutions in the assembly line. We will offer them our vast experience and knowledge in advanced solutions, helping them gain valuable information regarding the vehicle’s diagnostics, location, and overall connected car features.
MWS: WHAT DO YOU SEE ON THE HORIZON FOR THE TELEMATICS INDUSTRY?
KIRSHENBOIM:
The global telematics market is moving fast to support the autonomous vehicle vision and to provide solutions for the connected car. Driver and passenger safety will continue to be the focus in all future implementations and will gain much more significance in the connected car.
Vehicle to Vehicle and Vehicle to Infrastructure based on finalized standards such as Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) will soon cover many countries and road infrastructures, allowing smart city implementation and better government monitoring on traffic, population, and post-event analysis. We foresee that ride-share services will gain more popularity, relying on Bluetooth technology for driver identification and usage profile to better control and monitor risks.
As IoT penetrates more and more fields, it doesn’t skip the automotive world. Communication for IoT is enabled by the telematics foundation in the vehicle, just as it enables autonomous cars, ride-sharing, fleet management, and many other applications. IoT will continue to drive more communication protocols and rely less on cellular communications. We will use various IoT-related communication technologies such as 4G, 5G, LORA, BLE, ZigBee, etc., to allow more connectivity, availability, and robustness.
Telematics vendors will have to adapt and stay in line with future requirements and will have to use these technologies while supporting required feature-based solutions of today and in the future.
Many of the aftermarket service providers offer mobile apps for better driver experience to communicate between the vehicle and its driver. This trend will continue to grow, and with autonomous cars moving forward, it will soon enable functions like “calling” the car to pick up the driver from the office or from home, wherever it is parked.
MWS: HOW CAN TELEMATICS HELP THE WORK TRUCK INDUSTRY?
KIRSHENBOIM:
Telematics can assist the work truck industry by reducing operational costs and improving performance. In addition to segment-specific solutions like some of ERM’s technologies for trucks such as monitoring cement trucks’ drum, monitoring cold chain temperature, and garbage truck pick-up, we will establish more solutions to support the connected truck vision. Trucks will be able to communicate and provide valuable information to each other regarding hazards or traffic on the road ahead.
MWS: HOW CAN TELEMATICS CONTRIBUTE TO ADDITIONAL INDUSTRIES, SUCH AS INSURANCE?
KIRSHENBOIM:
Insurance telematics and usage-based insurance (UBI) programs continue to roll-out across the globe.
ERM has successfully integrated a UBI solution by one of our partners, supporting a leading insurance company in Israel, enabling them to customize insurance policies based on driver behavior. The insurance company rates the quality of driving, the distance traveled, and time periods of using the vehicle, and awards safe drivers with a significant discount of up to 30% in their yearly insurance policy. Additionally, with the use of telematics, many service providers such as insurance companies and vehicle OEMs or importers, will be able to offer after-market services to their customers, create new and customized services, and maintain long-term relationships with them.
For example, when a vehicle has an accident, the insurance company, the vehicle OEM, or the local importer can be automatically notified by the telematics solution with details about the accident itself and about the specific damage to the vehicle. This way these suppliers can offer post-accident service to the vehicle owner. The insurance company will be able to better control its risk management and analyze and assess the repair cost. The OEMs would be able to earn more money by tempting the driver to come to their garage to fix the vehicle, extending the relationship with the driver even more.
MWS: HOW CAN TELEMATICS PREDICT “MONEY EVENTS”?
KIRSHENBOIM:
“Money Events” is a term that addresses future events where there will be a monetary expense, such as changing tires, battery, or other vehicle malfunctions. The telematics solutions can provide real time diagnostics information from the CAN bus and issue alerts on predicted upcoming expenses.
Each day that passes when a truck is not in use due to maintenance costs money. With the help of ERM’s telematics solution, the fleet owner can set an alert when the battery’s state of health is low, for example, and schedule replacement in advance to prevent a disabled vehicle during work. Additionally, alerts from vehicle sensors can be identified by ERM technology for CAN bus interface, and then the owner or fleet manager will be able to schedule a fix accordingly.
MODERN WORKTRUCK SOLUTIONS: JULY 2018 ISSUE
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