Digital sensors, the new cops in construction, logistics

For construction and logistics players, digital sensors are emerging as the new police. In India alone, J.C. Bamford Excavators Ltd (JCB), a UK-headquartered construction equipment maker has reclaimed 37 of its stolen vehicles in last 2-3 years.

But in these cases, it was not the police that nabbed the thieves. It was JCB’s LiveLink, a factory-fitted tracking solution, which relayed location information, prompting JCB to alert its client, who in turn lodged a complaint with the cops, who recovered the machines.

Digital lockers

If one technology solution helps track its location , another refuses to be opened in the thief’s hands.

Start-up GoBOLT, which ferries pricey luxury goods like wines and cell phones, has become much more than a plain- vanilla logistics player. It has invested in new digital lockers can be unlocked only after they reach the customers’ premises.

In 2016 across India, around 2.12 lakh vehicles were reported stolen and of those 46,436 were recovered, according to data at the Home Ministry.

LiveLink

JCB India’s Managing Director and CEO, Vipin Sondhi explained how LiveLink, installed in all JCB machines sold since 2015 works—it is a mix of software and hardware that helps JCB, its dealer, machine owners and the equipment operators track various parameters of the equipment on their smartphones or computer screens.

“If the machine gets stolen from Uttarakhand and lands up in Andhra Pradesh, we can trace it the moment it is switched on. This information is outside the dealer’s territory but we can see the all India picture. We immediately alert the dealer, who alerts the customer and a FIR is filed. Since we know exactly where it is, the police then traces the location and contact details,” said Sondhi.

There are several other ways Livelink provides security. “You can geo-fence and time-fence the machines. Suppose, the machine gets started about 10:30 pm— an unusual time, then the owner gets an alert,” added Sondhi.

GoBOLT

GoBOLT locks its cargo in a way to ens “uses geo-fencing to verify the location. A One-Time-Password is generated for the digital locks only after the truck reaches the customer’s location,” said Sumit Sharma, co-founder, GoBOLT. She added that this OTP is generated by the GoBOLT’s vendor and given to customer.

GoBOLT is in the process of equipping all its vehicles with such digital locks.

In automobile market

These technology solutions are bound to find their way to the larger automobile markets, which is adopting variants of tech security. In 2017, 39,000 vehicles were reported stolen in Delhi, according to the Delhi police’s annual report.

Among other factors, unwillingness of a majority of motor vehicle owners to install anti-auto theft equipment was reported as a major contributor to such thefts.

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