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Transaction will provide government and private fleets a broadened selection of services for maximizing productivity, efficiency and safety, firm says.

Geotab has announced that it has signed an arrangement agreement whereby it plans to acquire BSM Technologies.

BSM provides telematics and asset management solutions to more than 165,000 vehicles across government and private fleets in Canada and the United States. The completion of this transaction would add to the over 1.5 million fleet telematics subscribers utilizing Geotab globally.

Over the past 20 years, BSM has developed extensive experience and customer relationships in the government sector, enabling municipalities and States/Provinces to optimize and manage their winter road maintenance fleets.

”BSM had previously standardized on using the Geotab platform as their base and then created a competitive advantage by building new products on top of our technology,” said Neil Cawse, Geotab CEO. “An example of this is winter ops - support for data and the management of snow plows and spreaders. This technology is key for our resellers to be able to win government business.”

By adopting the Geotab platform, BSM’s customers in government as well as other verticals including construction, service and rail, will not only benefit from Geotab’s leading engineering expertise and award-winning focus on security, scalability and reliability but will also gain access to solutions for enhanced visibility into vehicle performance, driver habits, accident detection and more.

Geotab’s leadership is reflected in major account wins including the awarding of the world’s largest single-source telematics contract in history by GSA Fleet, a division of the GSA (General Services Administration), to equip its 217,000 U.S. government vehicles with Geotab technology.

Placing security at the forefront of its innovations, Geotab announced earlier this year that the cryptographic module in the company’s GO vehicle tracking device received FIPS 140-2 validation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Geotab is the first and only telematics company to achieve this standard.

“BSM’s activity in the government space coupled with Geotab’s proven success and commitment to security and scalability will work in tandem to dramatically accelerate Geotab’s presence across North America including in the electric vehicle space, which is an increasingly important emerging market,” added Cawse. "We are excited about what BSM will do to strengthen our ecosystem and believe that the resultant platform enhancements will benefit our customers around the globe."

Geotab has a long-standing history of providing customers with access to an open-platform solution that enables fleets to customize and scale their telematics implementation to meet their business needs. This approach has allowed the company to closely align with strategic partners that provide customizable solutions to help improve productivity, fuel efficiency, driver safety and more.

Through this transaction, BSM customers will also benefit from Geotab’s partner ecosystem. BSM will contribute some of its product and services development in asset tracking, winter ops, third-party integration and off-road equipment tracking to the Geotab Marketplace, Geotab’s extensive online solutions center for managing mobile assets and workers.

“Following the announcement of our expanded partnership with Geotab in late 2018, it became clear that BSM’s growing analytics and optimization capabilities combined with Geotab’s best in class telematics solution results in an enhanced product offering to fleet management customers. As part of the Geotab team we will be able to offer these capabilities across all of Geotab’s partner network,” said Louis De Jong, President and CEO of BSM. “The combination of BSM and Geotab is a great outcome for all of BSM’s stakeholders.”

Captec, designer and manufacturer of specialist computing equipment, has launched a new fully rugged in-vehicle solution comprising a tablet and vehicle dock. 


The VT-681 rugged tablet and IVM-681 dock provide a complete IT platform that delivers mobile workforce automation in vehicle fleets with a mounted and dismounted use case.

Mobile workforce automation is a proven advantage that many fleets are now adopting to gain a competitive edge. As these use cases expand into a wider diversity of sectors, mobile phones are commonly used, but they are not sufficiently ruggedised for the operating environment and are also limited in display area. Whilst current offerings from market leaders are highly ruggedised beyond requirements, they are typically priced above the budgets of many fleets. Captec’s tablet and dock solution has been specifically developed to disrupt this market by supplying a suitably ruggedised platform at a cost-effective price.

 

The lightweight, 8-inch VT-681 provides fleets with an affordable Windows-based tablet. It has been ruggedised to achieve IP-67 protection and drop-tested to 1.2 metres, enabling it to withstand stress factors including rough treatment, shocks, and both dust and water ingress.

 

The integrated hand strap delivers maximum on-the-go comfort, while an active stylus pen increases functionality - even in wet conditions. With built-in GPS and an optional barcode scanner, the VT-681 supports mobile workforces across sectors such as construction, environmental services, utility fleets and emergency services.

 

Designed to safely and securely house the new Captec tablet, The IVM-681 vehicle dock is robust, compact and easy to use. With a lockable release for both mounted and dismounted applications, it features USB and power pass-through and offers hassle-free, one-handed docking.

 

To meet the critical safety requirements of in-vehicle applications, the dock has been tested for its ability to endure shock and vibration. This enables the VT-681 tablet to stay securely mounted, even in the event of a collision.

 

Gerard Marlow, Sales Director, Captec, said: “We are excited to introduce this new rugged solution into our range. Our aim is to provide mobile workforces with flexible, powerful and cost-effective mobile computing solutions that make jobs easier and provide peace of mind that they are equipped to withstand all the rigours associated with field work.”

 

Global service platform introduces e-sorting technology to benefit businesses.

Serve has announced the official launch of Serve Sortation, a groundbreaking tool to help businesses simplify and facilitate inventory control, product distribution, and delivery completion processes. As part of the Serve ecosystem, Serve Sortation complements the company’s existing platform by expediting the arrangement and coordination of goods, food, pharmaceuticals, consumer products and beyond.  This enables companies of all sizes to better participate in the ever-expanding on-demand and e-commerce market by improving efficiency in the last-mile delivery processes.

 

“We have taken a complex, chaotic labyrinth and converted it into a profit center for enterprises on our platform,” says Shahan Ohanessian, CEO of Serve. “By developing an advanced system that optimizes delivery performance on every level, Serve cuts costs for logistics companies while opening up opportunities for all vendors and independent service providers.”

 

By enabling access to drivers, restaurants, and just about any product or service with lower costs, greater value and more convenience, Serve Sortation removes barriers that restrict the growth of businesses.

Ericsson and ABB have partnered to accelerate the industrial ecosystem for flexible wireless automation. The partnership will enable enhanced connected services, Industrial IoT and artificial intelligence technologies in the future.

The partners established their joint vision for future flexible production with automation and wireless communication by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Hannover Messe 2019. This comes in the era of Industry 4.0 and 5G, as businesses realize the benefits of increased productivity through automation and digitalization.

The MoU confirms the partners’ agreement to: continue their strong research collaboration, explore improvements in manufacturing processes and automation, and discover new business opportunities for the industrial ecosystem.

Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO, ABB, said: “We are very excited to extend our partnership with Ericsson as the world moves closer to the era of 5G technology. ABB’s leadership in digital industries combined with Ericsson’s pioneering work in connectivity will open up new opportunities for customers to enhance productivity and competitiveness by digitalizing their businesses.”

Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, added: “Ericsson and ABB already have a strong collaboration in research for 5G and Industrial IoT technologies. With this MoU, we strengthen our partnership to accelerate the industrial ecosystem and realize the full potential of flexible automation, unlocking new business opportunities enabled by combining 5G and Industry 4.0.”

Gartec, the supplier and installer of passenger platform lifts, has transformed its business with a single IT system that provides end-to-end digital working, eliminating paperwork using mobile devices, BigChange says.  

With the 5 in 1 system from BigChange, Gartec field service engineers use smartphones or tablets connected in real-time to cloud-based software that manages the entire business process, from initial call to closure and invoicing.    

As the UK market leader, Gartec has been at the forefront of the platform lift industry for 25 years and is a subsidiary of Artico, the Swedish lift manufacturer.  Employing 50 people and based in Aylesbury, Gartec supply, install and maintain lifts with a team of 20 service engineers together with sub-contacted installers. The system, called JobWatch, has completely replaced separate software systems used for service management, audit management and tracking, and added a host of new automation capabilities. 

“We chose BigChange not only because they offered the best and most cost-effective solution, but because it was clear that they were a company with ambition and vision to really move things on,” says Ben Long, UK Operations Manager, Gartec.  “The beauty of JobWatch is that anyone can access and use it. That means our sub-contract installers can use their smartphones to access the same app and we can then manage sub-contracted work seamlessly as if it was our own.” 

Although much of Gartec’s service work is undertaken under maintenance contracts, the company provides 24/7/365 emergency services with guaranteed response times of typically 4 hours.  Customer service staff use BigChange to log incoming calls and then plan, schedule and allocate jobs to engineers, who in turn use their smartphones running the JobWatch App that gives seamless two-way connection with the back office system.  Automated emails confirm orders and call outs and accurate ETAs are provided using data from BigChange GPS trackers fitted to Gartec vans.                       

“BigChange is providing huge efficiency gains with the optimisation of routes and resources and the complete automation of many administrative tasks,” say Long.  “Since implementing BigChange the engineering team has grown from 9 to 15 and turnover has grown by £1miliion, without having to increase the number of office support staff.  I reckon we are probably twice as efficient when it comes to administration and managing operations has become a lot easier.

"Overall BigChange has streamlined the business and the whole process is much smoother. Probably the biggest benefit is the added visibility we now have and the automation provided by the system has helped to remove the human error element; the system gives us continuity and accountability.” Long sums up.

Atos and Google Cloud have inaugurated a joint artificial intelligence laboratory in Paris, France. 

The laboratory, which is unique in France, enables clients, businesses and public organizations to identify practical cases, for which AI could provide innovative and effective solutions, the companies say.

Through this laboratory, Atos is helping AI solutions to be adopted in Europe. In its cloud and hybrid cloud datacenters it ensures the security of both the data and the processing of it, as well as compliance with the European regulation on the protection of personal data. A real space for teaching and experimentation, the laboratory welcomes French and European clients to define concrete use cases where AI algorithms can provide high-performance solutions, via co-creation and solution prototyping workshops.

Thierry Breton, Chairman and CEO of Atos, said: "In order for France to continue to play a key role in the information space, it has to invest heavily in artificial intelligence and new technologies. Beyond economic development, being able to offer technological excellence while protecting European data is a matter of sovereignty. With this joint laboratory between Atos and Google Cloud, we are enabling the adoption of artificial intelligence by our clients by offering them the best technologies and the highest level of security for their data processing, all within a clearly defined European regulatory framework. As such, Atos combines economic and technological development with sovereignty, compliance and security and helps to design a secure and valued European information space.”

Eric Haddad, France’s Managing Director of Google Cloud added: "Our technologies enable our partners and their customers get the best value out of their data securely. This laboratory is a concrete example of the close collaboration between the Atos and Google Cloud teams, as well as our commitment to help French and European businesses define new business models based on artificial intelligence”. 

In April 2018, Atos entered into a unique global partnership with Google Cloud to accelerate the creation of secure hybrid cloud solutions, data analysis and machine learning, as well as the connected work environment. The partnership includes the opening of three AI laboratories around the world - in London, Dallas and the Paris region.

Global service platform closes loop in delivery security and custody, firm says.

 

Serve has announced the official integration of its patented facial recognition technology into its blockchain logistics platform

Users of the Serve Platform can now require facial recognition at every step of the delivery process.  With this enhancement, Serve’s technology can now be used to secure deliveries where chain of custody and proof of delivery are critical, such as with medical devices and pharmaceuticals. 

"The inclusion of our patented facial recognition system allows Serve to stand alone in modern, on-demand delivery and logistics technology,” says Shahan Ohanessian, CEO, Serve. “This combination of technology and forward-thinking will allow delivery providers across the world to secure sensitive products such as pharmaceuticals in ways previously unavailable to them.”

According to a new research report from IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the installed base of sensors, actuators, modules, gateways and other connected devices deployed as part of IoT-based building automation in smart and connected commercial buildings was an estimated 151 million units worldwide at the end of 2018.

Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent, the installed base will reach 483 million units in 2022. About 4.5 million of these devices were connected via cellular networks in 2018. The number of cellular connections in the building automation market will grow at a CAGR of 44 percent to reach 19.4 million in 2022. In terms of revenues, Berg Insight estimates that connected devices into the global BIoT market generated revenues of more than US$ 1.2 billion in 2018. This figure will grow at a CAGR of 21 percent to almost US$ 2.7 billion in 2022.
 
This study from Berg Insight analyses the market for building automation in smart buildings along multiple verticals ranging from well-known ones such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), indoor lighting, fire & safety, access & security, to lesser known ones such as electric vehicle charging, irrigation systems and pool monitoring. The most successful building automation solutions to date, in terms of sold units, include access and security, fire and safety, HVAC systems and elevators and escalators management. These solutions are marketed by product OEMs such as Assa Abloy, Avigilon, AMAG Technology, HID Global, Comark, Tyco, Albireo Energy, Cimetrics, Delta Controls, ENGIE Insight, Silvair, KONE, Otis, Schindler and ThyssenKrupp. The automatic control may be done through a centralized system such as a Building Management System (BMS). Examples of BMS solution providers include ABB, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Schneider Electric, Siemens and United Technologies.
 
Building automation has been around for many decades but there is a new urgency due to factors such as energy conservation as well as mandates for green construction. The latest smart building solutions leverage new technologies such as IoT, big data, cloud computing, data analytics, deep learning and artificial intelligence for the benefits of saving energy, reducing operational expenditures, increasing occupancy comfort, and meeting increasingly stringent global regulations and sustainability standards. “A major change is starting to happen now especially in new construction, where the primary driver is changing from cost reduction to features that enhance the user experience and change how users and buildings interact. Instead of there being a single killer-app, we are starting to see a combination of use-cases”, said Alan Varghese, Senior IoT Analyst, Berg Insight.

These use-cases leverage the Internet of Things, sensors and connectivity to enable customization of spaces in offices and conference rooms based on occupancy levels and occupant preferences, efficient mobility throughout the building, and they help occupants with location and wayfinding – all controllable by mobile platforms. Most important, they are capable of predictive awareness of individual needs.

You can download the report here.

Ericsson has launched Ericsson Industry Connect, an easy-to-use cellular connectivity solution to accelerate Industry 4.0 digital transformation.

Ericsson Industry Connect enables communication service providers to offer dedicated cellular networks at factories and warehouses starting with 4G/LTE, with a clear path to 5G.

The offering strengthens Ericsson’s private networks and IoT portfolios by making 4G and 5G technologies accessible to new industrial markets.

Purpose-built for industrial environments such as factories and warehouses, the dedicated cellular connectivity solution enables secure, reliable coverage with high device density and predictable latency.

With a network management experience designed to be easy to use and manage for information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) professionals, the solution aims to make cellular technology rapidly deployable for factory and warehouse staff.
With industrial-grade wireless connectivity, Ericsson Industry Connect can enable innovative Industry 4.0 use cases such as: digital twin inspection (a real-time digital replica of a physical entity) with massive amounts of sensors; mobility for human machine interface (HMI) instructions for workers; collision avoidance and remote control for autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs); and collaborative robotics for automated operations.

Åsa Tamsons, Senior Vice President, Head of Business Area Technologies and New Businesses, Ericsson, says: “Ericsson Industry Connect is built on design thinking to meet industrial customers’ requirements on speed, reliability and security, while being easy to install and manage. It helps enterprises to accelerate their automation and operational efficiency to the next level. It complements service providers’ offerings to enterprises with a solution that is easy to scale. Ericsson Industry Connect increases the relevance of cellular solutions in the high growing segment of industrial connectivity - leveraging Ericsson’s technology leadership, strength in connectivity, and R&D investments to date.”