trailer world Issue Two 2012

consulting and IT service provision com- pany Capgemini, which is intensively sup- porting the joint project together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics. Windheuser was surprised by the great willingness of retailers to cooperate: “Retailers have never cooperated so close- ly before. And the participants are going about the project with great openness and commitment. They want to have concepts for the future ready to hand, and that is why they have remained interested. I am confi- dent that here we are not simply producing mountains of paper.” The planned new city shops can be thought of as a sort of “Corner Shop Mark II”: the most important items for daily use will be available on-the-spot, together with advice and per- sonal contact with staff. The range of goods on display is very limited, but behind it there is a further, huge range, from which goods can be ordered via the customer’s mobile phone or terminals in the shop. The required goods can then be collected later from the shop or delivered to the customer’s door. The termi- nals could also offer banking transactions and other services. Anyone who is not versed in the technology can refer their questions to the staff on hand. The goods ordered by the customer in the shop come from the urban hub. After the ex- ternal retailers have placed their orders, the hub optimises the flow of goods and puts to- gether consolidated deliveries of goods to the various stores. Route planning is also pro- duced with the aid of the IT system. After the acceptance of the deliveries, the goods are forwarded to the dispatch area via cross-docking. In the commissioning area, the retailers’ goods are consolidated and dis- tributed amongst the different delivery routes. The trucks are then loaded. They deliver to the small retail outlets, unload, and take back goods such as returnable bottles, transport containers and other returns. These are then sorted back at the hub according to retailers or different further disposal. In addition to the organisational chal- lenges, there are also questions of cartel regulations to be considered: Urban Retail Logistics is therefore working together with the Cartel Office and reviewing solu- from a vehicle, which a driver brings to the empty sprayer. Telematics will make it pos- sible in future to read off centrally when and where the next sprayer has to be re- filled and how much liquid is needed. The technology can always help where resup- ply is needed in the field. “The capacity of a device can only be increased to a limited extent, but the effectiveness of the work processes can still be improved”, says Steffen Walther, Electronics Product Man- ager at Amazone. The company regularly tests proto- types with its own customers to collect experience on how telematic applica- tions are becoming a matter of course in everyday business. According to Stef- fen Walther, agriculturalists and agri- cultural associations are especially in- terested in technology where they can evaluatekeyperformanceindicators,inor- derforexampletomonitorthevariationsin different periods, and which ensure a smooth flow of information even in the case of a very complex overall process. Amazone is investigating telematics solutions for the entire work process, from ploughing and sewing through to ferti- lising and harvesting. Such solutions are in demand above all for machines which are subject to heavy use: “If a machine is used relatively infrequently and otherwise stands around unused for many months, operators are reluctant to make high in- vestments, even if the technology offers great benefits”, says Walther. It is still un- decided via which platforms the data can be read out. Amazone wants to organise this through an independent service-provider, so that it will also be practical for customers who op- erate very different machines from several manufacturers, which generate very dif- ferent data – this also has to be taken into account. Steffen Walther: “We know that we can only progress by networking.” To- gether with competitors and the vehicle manufacturer Claas, Amazone has there- fore developed TONI – the abbreviation stands for “Telematics on Implement”. With TONI, the data from the tractor and the trailer vehicle are combined via the standardised ISOBUS connection and transmitted to the back office. They can be analysed, evaluated and documented Closeness to the customer, with a huge range on call Linking-up of manufacturers 12 Issue Two 2012

trailer world Issue Two 2012

Pages