The Davis Derby TK5 system is the system i will be introducing to the US market this year. Is there anything else you can tell me about the system that would help make the transition to the US easier?

I'm introducing the Davis Derby TK5 system to the US and Canada Markets this year.

i've had the opportunity to install several shockwatch systems on a couple of our customers. The install was fairly easy but it seems the customer has to have the network access setup before they can go online with the systems. So far to this day one of them i have of yet to hear that they have successfully done so. One other customer has incorportated these into thier system using a wireless access and after speaking to the operators and the manager they seem to like it. The system monitors the truck access and if there is an impact it immediatly flashed up on the managers screen and sends impact data such as speed, time of impact, the impact force etc.
The tricky part is tweaking the system so it wont pick up erroneous event triggers from just bumps in the floor. The process took about a month to work out the kinks but now they seem to love it.

As for Davis Derby? Never heard of em
maybe they will come around here eventually, if they are worth a look i'm sure my sales people will look into them.

Nope, never used it.
EV1, S16 & SD1 are the one's ive used.

Its the SD1 with LCD screen im looking after at the moment.

I've heard from a friend in the trade that has Davis Derby's all new fancy access system & there having issues with it already.

Screen failures seem to be a problem at the moment.

Do you have any experience with Davis Derby's online system?

The Davis Derby system in question doesn't connect to a network, you can download the info of the unit & view it on a Windows computer OR view the info on the unit if you press buttons in the correct order.

Only issues down to the actual system on the truck are normally dirty connections between the 2 pcb's inside which we strip apart & clean ( once the warranty is up of course )

Other issues are customer programming units incorrectly which we have to correct & the way it's been wired in to the truck, it looks like someone's got " My first crimp set " for xmas & been over enthusiastic wiring it up.

I hate electrical crimps, it would have been so much better if the wires had been soldered & protected by heat shrink - this is what I do when I repair them.

I also have trucks from another manufacturer with the same system retrofitted, never had an issue on these as that forklift manufacturer insists on using a plug & play wiring loom they supply if you wish to add this system on to one of there trucks.

I have heard of another new access system that is looking to break in to the UK market, apparently its big in US & growing in Europe, not had anything to do with it yet but heard good things about it from a couple of sources in the industry.

Was the system you retrofitted, on the end users network or separate. Which system did you have problems with?

One of my customers had a retrofit system fitted on there new fleet instead of having the manufacturers system fitted.

Reason being, the retro fit one worked with the customers RFID access fobs where as the manufactures system wouldn't.

The only thing they use the system for is to switch truck on & control training, they don't use any of the impact sensing or data reporting functions.

It would have been cheaper in long run to spec the manufacturers system & issue everyone with a additional keyfob. the amount of issues the retrofit one has caused us & cost the company has already proved that point.

Does most of them care if the tracking software is added to their network or would they like for the forklift tracking system to be totally separate from their existing network.

When choosing to install an access and monitoring system, the customers I have dealt with are looking mostly for impact monitoring and access control. Some look at speed but many of the newer lifts have speed control built into the truck software, some even add limited operator access. Some do like the monitoring they can achieve with added software, but these are a limited group. Cost is the chief factor I have found. The upfront cost with installation is generally the overall concern.