Armitage Technologies Limited Fleet Safety & Energy Saving Management System Best Green ICT (Innovation) Silver Award
Mr. Cedric Yeung, Vice President for Sales and Marketing
The world is developing at a fast pace, while people also have a growing demand for energy. Because of this, many companies are developing various energy-saving systems. Today, I have the honor to invite Mr. Cedric Yeung, Vice President for Sales and Marketing of Armitage Technologies Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Armitage), to tell us about their Fleet Safety & Energy Saving Management System (FMS) and how it can be effectively and easily adopted in container terminals. The system not only saves energy, but also guarantees fleet safety.
Mr.Yeung says that Armitage has been established for 40 years, but their green technology was only developed during the intermediate stage of its establishment, instead of its earlier years. In order to meet clients'need in the market, Armitage has developed a FMS system to help clients ensure fleet safety and at the same time reduce the consumption of energy considerably.
FMS is developed based on integrated technologies combined with an innovative application platform. It is mainly designed for vehicles in container terminals or relevant ones in restricted environments. Beside its capability to perform basic functions of daily operations like detecting vehicle location, mobilizing vehicles, etc., it can also help in energy-saving and vehicles driving safety.
The system combines various kinds of current technologies like RFID, GPS, DV, alarms, fuel sensors and smart cards, as well as an intelligent controller installed in the vehicle, all of which are enough to collect all information of vehicles in the dock.
Taking its cue from some conditions of the new government regulation on “idling prohibition”, FMS aims to achieve two results: energy-saving and supervision of safe driving.
First, a vehicle driving recording device is installed on each vehicle to prevent its engine from idling over-time. If the engine is still on when vehicle stops, the system will start counting and record the idle time. Only the first 15 minutes may be waived but anything exceeding it will be counted as a breach of regulations. As soon as it receives real-time data from the system, the company will then send out warnings and fine violating drivers in order to prevent further breaches. The data plays an important role in helping save energy and reduce carbon emissions, hence the reduction of pollution.
Second, a fuel sensor is installed on each vehicle to record data on fuel consumption, as well as time and location of oil re-fuel. Staff at fuel stations will need a smart card to authenticate the identity before re-fuelling, which makes it possible to record re-fuelling information and prevent staff from improper use of company fuel.
Third, a device is installed on each vehicle to monitor traveling mileage of each vehicle. When the management personnel gains access to this data, they can more effectively understand the state of the vehicles’ usage. If any suspicious data shows, managerial personnel can then monitor it and take appropriate action more effectively.
Finally, a fuel sensor on each vehicle gives the managerial personnel access to fuel consumption of each vehicle, which help sun cover abnormal situations of fuel consumption more easily.
Aside from avoiding unnecessary energy waste, Armitage also hoped to develop a system to help cultivate consciousness for and a habit of fleet safety. Fleet safety can be achieved through the following ways:
First, each driver has to be recognized and authorized to drive a vehicle. The company will issue each recognized driver a smart staff card. Whenever driving or refueling, the driver will need the smart card to initiate the task. Therefore, it can prevent other unauthorized people from starting the vehicle without proper permission.
Second, each vehicle’s driving speed is monitored. The device installed on each vehicle tracks every piece of information on the vehicle while moving, including the driving speed. If it exceeds speed limit, real-time data will be sent back immediately to the company for further action, such as warnings and punishments. With this supervising system, drivers will become more self-disciplined and not dare to drive too fast. Then, accidents caused by speed driving can be decreased remarkably.
Third, drivers’ improper driving behaviors are also monitored. Apart from various devices installed to record driving data of each vehicle, cameras are also installed to take pictures inside and outside the vehicles. With these devices, the managerial personnel can supervise any improper driving behavior of the driver, such as improper braking or crossing lanes. It can also retrieve pictures on the scene. Hence, improper driving behaviour can be prevented and supervised.
Finally, with this system, the managerial personnel can easily classify different regions to allow only designated vehicles to enter. Some highly classified regions can be protected from stopping vehicle entry using this system. If any vehicle makes entry to these restricted regions without authorization, the managerial personnel can find out immediately and carry out relevant warnings and punishments.
The writer was also curious of any problems that might show up when above measures were taken. Mr. Yeung said that the biggest difficulty came from the resistance of drivers at the beginning. They thought that they were to be watched and monitored by the company at all times, which might feel like losing freedom. Then later, with the implementation of an incentive plan along with the system, some well-behaved drivers were awarded by the company. Then, drivers gradually recognized and accepted the system and even became willing to obey various regulations. Mr. Yeung also mentioned that green technology was not a cause Armitage advocated for from the beginning. It was developed out of clients' demand. As the world was paying more and more attention to green environmental protection, more and more companies started to think about it aside from developing their businesses. Encouraged by the regulation of "Idle Prohibiting" previously enforced by the Hong Kong government, Armitage developed the FMS system combining various existing technologies. Apart from helping save energy, it also creates a safe driving environment. It kills two birds with one stone. Mr. Yeung believes that future trends will encourage companies to develop commercially favourable but also environmentfriendly technologies.
Sources: 2013 Official Guide to ICT Industry in Hong Kong