The PowerFleet control unit

Nacco Materials Handling Group Inc (NMHG) has ordered PowerFleet-brand wireless vehicle management systems (VMS) from ID Systems Inc for deployment on forklifts at two sites of Nestlé Waters North America.

Nestlé Waters is considering eventual use of the ID Systems vehicle asset communicators on forklifts at more than 100 sites globally, including 24 locations in the US and Canada.

Forklift dealership Yale/Chase Materials Handling Inc in City of Industry, California facilitated the order from NMHG, which designs, manufactures and sells forklifts under the Yale and Hyster brands. NMHG of Fairview, Oregon and publicly traded ID Systems of Hackensack, New Jersey are strategic marketing partners.

"Nestlé has a culture of innovation and initiative, and Nestlé Waters continuously seeks new ways to improve our supply chain operations," says Chris Lyon of national fleet services group for Greenwich, Connecticut-based Nestlé Waters North America, a subsidiary of food giant Nestlé SA. "Wireless vehicle management for industrial trucks is a technology that we intend to further explore in our enterprise to maximise the safety, efficiency and productivity of our material handling activities."

Nestlé Waters North America, a leading US bottled water company, employs more than 8,000 and produces under the Poland Spring Natural Spring Water, Nestlé Pure Life and S. Pellegrino brands.

Wireless VMS technology can help improve supply chain productivity, establish accountability for the use of equipment, reduce fleet maintenance costs and improve workplace safety and security. A wireless VMS can automatically upload vehicle data, report vehicle problems electronically, schedule maintenance according to actual vehicle usage rather than by calendar or manual data entry and help determine the optimal economic time to replace equipment.

"By deploying a system like PowerFleet to reduce costs and streamline operations, organizations like Nestlé Waters North America can gain a competitive edge in their supply chains, which we think is especially important in the current economic environment," says Peter Fausel, ID Systems’ executive vice president of sales, marketing and customer service.

NMHG is a core business of publicly traded Nacco Industries Inc of Mayfield Heights, Ohio.