An ID Systems' vehicle management system on a forklift

Wireless machine-to-machine solutions provider ID Systems Inc is gaining traction in deployment of its PowerFleet vehicle management system (VMS) technology.

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc of Bentonville, Arkansas adopted a wireless VMS system in a single facility as a pilot program and subsequently expanded the program across many of its distribution facilities, which within the US number 132 sites operating thousands of forklifts. The VMS system uses the same unlicensed cost-free 900 MHz radio frequency spectrum that Wal-Mart's supply chain deploys with its RFID systems.

A Wal-Mart supply chain executive says: "While we will not divulge the exact return on our investment in VMS, suffice to say we have found it well worthwhile to invest further in this technology."

Managers of the massive Mount Vernon, Illinois manufacturing plant and warehouse of Continental Tire wanted to reduce the abuse and damage associated with operation of their forklift trucks. Now, PowerFleet VMS establishes accountability for each vehicle and prompts an operator to complete a safety checklist prior to each shift or vehicle use. After evaluation of productivity data, Continental Tire eliminated one forklift from the warehouse and cut three vacant staff positions.

Nathan Baugher, Continental Tire's fleet and rolling stock manager, says: "PowerFleet helps drive process costs down and increases productivity, which ultimately lowers our cost per tyre and positively impacts the bottom line."

On 22 September, ID Systems reported receiving a purchase order valued at approximately USD400,000 to deploy PowerFleet wireless industrial VMS for a leading global manufacturer of machinery and heavy equipment. A channel partner of ID Systems generated the order for a customer that is new to ID Systems.

"We view this as an implicit endorsement of the high value that our VMS solutions provide in manufacturing operations," says Kenneth Ehrman, ID Systems' chairman and chief executive officer. "We look forward to the opportunity to expand this customer's deployment of our technology across its enterprise."

In another ID Systems' business development, a leading global consumer packaged goods company placed follow-on purchase orders valued at about USD900,000 for VMS equipment. After delivery of the orders, ID Systems will have provided more than 1,500 PowerFleet VMS systems for this customer worldwide.

Separately, a leading multinational manufacturer of heavy equipment placed a follow-on purchase order with ID Systems for VMS equipment valued at about USD300,000. After implementation, ID Systems will have deployed PowerFleet VMS in nine of the customer's facilities. This order represents the customer's first VMS deployment outside of the US.

Ehrman says: "We have no doubt that VMS is being viewed as both a best practice and a competitive advantage among companies with global supply chains." VMS-related analytics can provide an instant assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of a forklift fleet through monitoring of key performance indicators such as vehicle utilisation, safety and compliance.

Other ID Systems' customers include 3M, Alcoa, American Axle, Archer Daniels Midland, Canadian Tire, Chrysler, Delphi, FMC, Ford, John Deere, Kellogg's, Nissan, Northrop Grumman, Nucor Steel, Raymond, Rite Aid, Target, Toyota, Walgreens, Weyerhaeuser, the US Department of Defense, the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Postal Service.

Woodcliff Lake-based ID Systems reported a loss of USD7.5 million on 2013 sales of USD39.9 million. Subsidiaries operate in Plano, Texas; Düsseldorf, Germany; and Milton Keynes, England. As of 17 March, the publicly traded firm had 104 full-time employees. ID Systems outsources its hardware manufacturing operations to contractors such as Flextronics International Ltd of Singapore.

In the market for industrial forklift fleet management, ID Systems says no other firm provides capabilities comparable to its systems' functional precision, but emerging companies such as TotalTrax Inc of Newport, Delaware and Speedshield Technologies Pty Ltd of Clayton, Victoria, Australia and established entities such as Crown Equipment Corp of New Bremen, Ohio provide similar solutions. In addition to the industrial arena, two other primary ID Systems markets involve technology for management of transportation assets and rental fleets.

ID Systems holds more than 75 patents related to wireless solutions and has deployed VMS systems in more than 20 countries.