Satellite Technology Feature Article
September 18, 2008
Air Products Deploys Masternaut Satellite Tracking Solution
By Anshu Shrivastava, TMCnet Contributor
Industrial gas supplier Air Products (News - Alert) has said that it selected Masternaut Three X to supply a Web-based satellite tracking solution for their U.K. and Ireland cylinder gas business—Packaged Gases.
Masternaut Three X is a provider of vehicle tracking and mobile solutions. Masternaut will enable Air Products to optimize its route planning, reduce its carbon footprint, and provide a secure, fully automatic lone-worker safety system.
Air Products officials said that their company has rolled out the solution to their delivery fleet after a successful trial of the Masternaut service. Packaged Gases from Air Products features a portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and speciality gases, and serves a wide range of customers and industries such as steel; energy; technology; healthcare; and more.
To manage its delivery fleet, the Packaged Gases business uses a specially developed routing and scheduling program. Air Products is expected to cross-reference the Masternaut live information with the routing and scheduling software. The company believes that it will enable it to optimise the management of the fleet.
“One of the main benefits this solution offers us is the ability to manage the sequence of orders and let customers know when they can expect their deliveries,” said Peter Birdsall, transport manager of UK for Packaged Gases at Air Products, in a statement.
Based on geofencing methodology, the Masternaut service has been developed to provide a secure lone worker system for Air Products' delivery drivers. To link drivers to a particular vehicle, each driver is assigned a Driver ID Key, enabling Air Products to see who is behind the wheel of each vehicle.
Moreover with geofencing methodology, each customer site is allocated a time slot so that the moment the company's vehicle and driver enters the site, the clock counts down to the time they leave.
In case drivers take time, they are contacted to seek explanation for the delay, and if there in no response from the driver, then the system alerts the key holder.
“The lone worker solution gives a real-time view of delivery activity. As it is fully automatic we have eliminated the problem of human error. It is a very robust solution to lone worker safety and management,” said Birdsall.
Earlier this week, Exeter City Council said that it’s using the latest in Web-based satellite tracking for managing its fleet. The Masternaut Three X service enables the Council to monitor vehicle movements over the Internet and provides instant alarms if drivers exceed the 40 mph speed limit or stray outside of the City boundary.
Anshu Shrivastava is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anshu's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi
