Critical Machine Information Makes Fleet Management More Effective
May 2008By Ken Calvert
Remote fleet monitoring systems continue to become more technologically sophisticated. Advanced wireless equipment monitoring systems, such as Komatsu’s Komtrax, can provide not only location and hour-meter updates, but additional invaluable information about machine health and productivity.
Invaluable Asset: The Right Information
Komtrax was designed to give owners the information they need to make strategic business decisions regarding machines and their operations. The payoff is increased productivity and machine availability, as well as smarter management. The system is installed in almost all new Komatsu construction equipment, including excavators, crawler dozers, wheel loaders, articulated dump trucks, smaller dump trucks, and motor graders. In fact, the system can be installed in almost any piece of equipment using a 12- or 24-volt electric system. It is also available as a retrofit for older machines, as well as non-Komatsu equipment.
Komtrax relays basic as well as critical performance data from the machine to the owner’s and the local distributor’s computer. That way, the distributor is readily available for expert analysis and feedback. Using this information, distributors can align manpower, processes, and inventories to best support customers’ parts, maintenance, and service needs. With accurate and timely information, distributors have improved their response time, which lowers owners’ costs and downtime. For example, machine cautions are transmitted to owners and to authorized distributor technicians so that the latter can troubleshoot the machine even before arriving at the jobsite. This allows distributors to provide a higher level of support by reducing travel expense and ensuring a prepared mechanic arrives at the site—ultimately reducing the owner’s expense and unscheduled downtime.
Machine operation monitoring can facilitate proper maintenance scheduling and can help identify a potential problem before failure occurs. Examples of the types of information the technology can relay include the following:
- Service meter reading. Equipment hours can be tracked for a variety of uses, including service and maintenance scheduling. This eliminates the need to be at the jobsite or to rely on another party to log and call in current hours.
- Operation maps. These maps tell owners what times of day their machines are operating and whether they are working when they should be.
- Fuel level. Fuel level information helps owners better manage fuel service scheduling. A bar graph shows how much fuel is in the tank at the end of the day.
- Average hourly fuel consumption. Taken from the fuel injection valve, owners can get a true reading of the actual fuel consumed and an average over the operating period, and can help determine which machines are working hardest.
- Cautions. Owners will know if a caution light flashes in the cab. The caution explanation and time it occurred, as well as number of occurrences, are displayed on the Web site for owners’ review.
- Working hours. Detailed operation information tells owners how and when the machine is being used, and how productive machines and operators are. Easy-to-follow bar charts show engine-on time, as well as actual working or non-idle time.
- Load frequency. Knowing how hard the machine is working can help owners more accurately schedule component replacement and prevent major failures. Load frequency also works as an early warning sign for potential overload or underload situations and can tell the owner whether the proper-size machine is being used for the task at hand.
- Machine operating info. Key operation information like excavation, travel, dig, relief, and hoist times can help monitor operator performance and assist with the training of new operators.
Easy-to-Use Technology
Owners can receive detailed information in easy-to-read daily, monthly, and annual summaries or reports about both basic and more advanced aspects of machine performance. Komtrax is Web based and provides a wealth of information in a user-friendly format. The system also allows owners to enter and assign their own equipment numbers, jobsites, operators, machine-specific notes, and more.
A variety of charts, maps, and graphs, as well as useful search and filter parameters, make it convenient for owners to find what they need quickly and easily. They can search for information about specific machines based on key factors, such as utilization rates, age, various notification messages, and more. Data can also be provided for custom office applications or can be downloaded directly into spreadsheet applications. In addition, access and viewing rights can be controlled so that the right people see the right information.
Saving Fuel on a Significant Scale
Lists and charts are great, but the key to a successful fleet-monitoring system is that owners can easily adapt that information to use their equipment more efficiently. An example of how to do that is by reducing machine idle time.
Over the life of a machine, idle time typically accounts for nearly 20 percent of the machine’s total fuel burn. By eliminating 50 percent of non-productive idle time, fuel costs can be reduced by 10 percent, a significant reduction and savings in today’s environment of rising fuel costs and increased concern about engine emissions.
Reducing idle time obviously saves on fuel costs, but one of the chief hidden costs of excessive idle time is reduced residual value of a machine. Because Komtrax measures idle time, users with multiple machines doing similar work can compare machine-to-machine idle times for insight into how much improvement is possible.
For example, if two machines actually work 600 hours per year doing identical work, but one idles 40 percent of the time and the other idles 20 percent of the time, these machines will accumulate service meter hours at a different rate. After 5 years, the machine that idles 40 percent of the time will register 5,000 hours, while the one idling 20 percent will have less than 4,000 hours. All other things being equal, the machine with fewer hours is obviously worth more. In addition, the lower hour machine likely will have avoided two maintenance intervals, translating into increased availability, less operating expense, and more time to move dirt.
Knowledge is power, and owners who have knowledge about their machines at their fingertips can make better daily and long-term strategic decisions. An equipment monitoring system should provide answers to critical questions about machines, including what they’re doing, when they did it, where they’re located, how they can be used more efficiently, and when they need to be serviced. If owners and managers can monitor machines on the Web anywhere and anytime, they have the power to make fact-based decisions that directly affect their bottom lines through increased efficiency and productivity, while lowering owning and operating costs.
About the Author:
Ken Calvert is director of IT support for Komatsu America Corp. He can be reached at kcalvert@komatsuna.com. Komatsu America Corp. is a U.S. subsidiary of Komatsu, Ltd., which is the world’s second largest manufacturer and supplier of construction, mining, and compact construction equipment. For more information, please visit www.komatsuamerica.com.
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