BAS World monitors truck locations with efficient asset trackers

Sensolus and Sentech have implemented a tracking system at BAS World, Europe’s largest seller of vehicles and machines. The outdated and expensive RFID location system was replaced by quick-to-install trackers. They do not require any additional on-site scanning infrastructure, which means they can be put into immediate use at any site or parking area.

This user-friendly and scalable solution forms a perfect fit with BAS World’s expansion plans. It also provides further insight into the transit times of vehicles such as trucks and other machines. These vehicles can now be located far faster, which provides for efficiency gains and a reduction in costs.

About BAS World

With average sales of 2,500 vehicles, the Dutch company BAS World is Europe’s largest seller of second-hand trucks in Europe. This family-owned company has a huge stock of new and used trucks, tractor units, trailers, construction equipment, company cars and agricultural equipment, in which it trades on a worldwide basis. The company employs in excess of 900 employees and enjoys an annual turnover of 500 million euros.

Why renew the tracking system?

BAS World’s former tracking system relied on an RFID location system in which every truck had its own allocated parking place with local tracking infrastructure to monitor the vehicle’s location. This solution was expensive and becoming increasingly impractical as BAS World took on more parking areas. In addition, the majority of the trackers were due for replacement.

This dependency on outdated hardware meant that vehicles could only be tracked at their own parking area. The company was looking for a solution that was also able to trace vehicles at external locations and third-party parking areas. This is how BAS World latched on to Sensolus, which presented a comparable project at an automobile manufacturer as a reference. An extensive proof-of-concept project that included regular consultations with BAS World’s team convinced the company. BAS World was able to rely on the expertise of Sensolus partner Sentech, which helped manage the switchover.

Easy installation and integration

Sensolus came up with a customized tracking solution tailored to BAS World’s requirements. “The outmoded RFID trackers were replaced by 3,500 of our smaller Track 1010 trackers, each of which has a unique serial number linked to the vehicle number. These trackers were fitted to the key boxes placed in the vehicles, and can be very easily transferred to another vehicle when buying or selling,” explains Michiel Raat, Sales Executive Netherlands at Sensolus.

The location data from all trackers are integrated into BAS World’s existing ERP system via an API from the Sensolus platform. Rather than having to install an expensive local tracking infrastructure, data transfer is effected via a long-distance wireless network optimized for IoT devices. Mike van Kasteren, team lead inspection at BAS World: “The clear and well-defined API made it easy for us to integrate the Sensolus solution into our existing ERP system. Because all the vehicles were in a single location, the rollout of the new solution was able to proceed very efficiently.”

Facilities for geo-zones

Virtual geo-zones were created on-site to facilitate vehicle tracing. Employees can establish the location of vehicles within these geo-zones based on their allocated zone. This is more efficient than relying on coordinates alone. For this localization, staff use a mobile app that guides them to the exact location of the vehicles. This is a big time-saver and is really user-friendly.

“Our old system was also pretty accurate: the tracker indicated on a map the parking space in which a truck was located,” Mike van Kasteren reflects. “But the parking spaces change annually and we often rearrange the rows. Sensolus’ location trackers are more accurate and work independently of these parking spaces. The trackers were configured to ensure accuracy to under ten meters, saving our staff a lot of search effort.

The asset tracker Track 1010 is a small low-powered tracker with a long battery life.

Why collaborate with Sentech and Sensolus?

For BAS World, the collaboration with Sentech and Sensolus could not have gone better. “When we first began to look for a new solution, they were particularly proactive in the help they gave us. They allowed us the time and space to properly investigate the various options, and understood that we were also considering the competition.

In the end, we opted for Sensolus and partner Sentech because of the expert guidance, the solution’s flexibility, the long service life of the tracker batteries and the platform features. Sensolus is also open to improvement. We were keen for the tracking system to have greater accuracy, and they have successfully delivered that. In addition, the system is easily scalable to match our future growth,” Van Kasteren says.

Potential

The system also offers possibilities that go beyond its current use. Although exact time savings are not yet measurable, the system has the potential to further improve efficiency at BAS World and continually reduce process costs. BAS World can permanently count on Sentech for this. The Dutch sensor specialist will further support BAS World in getting the most out of the Sensolus solution, e.g. by providing training and support for queries or complications.

In the long run, vehicles will be fitted with a tracker immediately so that they can be monitored at all times. Even if they are at one of BAS World’s other sites. As well as monitoring vehicle movements, they can also utilize this information flow to implement a ‘Track your delivery’ service for their customers.

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