SMT GB markets Volvo Construction Equipment products including wheeled loaders, articulated haulers, hydraulic excavators, utility equipment and road equipment products in Great Britain. SMT GB has an established reputation for market leading quality equipment and unrivalled customer support.
Due to sustained increases in sales through the Immingham facility, managing stock was proving increasingly difficult. With so many identical models stored in different areas of the 5 acre site the simple task of locating the right vehicle was taking longer, leading to significant manhour losses per month. A solution was needed to help drivers pinpoint the vehicle they wanted to move before heading out.
SMT approached Codegate, who proposed and delivered an RFID and GPS based vehicle tracking solution that could be implemented quickly with no impact on the local IT infrastructure. Nordic HH53 handhelds were supplied, pre-loaded with Lime Asset Inventory software, to allow SMT to apply passive UHF RFID tags to all inbound vehicles at the point of entry. The handhelds record the tag IDs (and therefore the identity of each individual vehicle) and their location using GPS, before forwarding the information to Codegate’s Lime Asset Matter server over a cellular network. Using any browser on any computer in the facility SMT can log in to Codegate’s Lime Asset Mapper portal and view a map of their facility. Drivers can key in a vehicle asset number to view it’s pinned location on the map.
Using one of the handhelds a 20 minute inventory check can be carried out every morning to maintain accuracy. Since the RFID read range is about 5 metres the user simply walks past rows of parked vehicles in order to update their position. This 20 minute investment per day has delivered accurate stock information and eliminated time wasted searching for vehicles. As a result it is now planned to expand the solution to include plant accessories such as breakers and buckets.