Forklift Tracker RTLS System Helps Make the Most of Your Lifting Equipment
You can trim down business expenses with improved utilization of your forklifts and lifting trucks with the Litum Forklift Tracker RTLS.
This heavy equipment is a necessary part of the manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing industries. Yet, many businesses only use them to a fraction of their maximum potential.
With our real-time locating systems (RTLS), you’ll know where vehicles are in real-time, and be able to generate activity reports, visual (spaghetti) diagrams and analytics. However, there is much more our forklift tracking solution can do.
Real-Time Updates With an Active RTLS Forklift Tracker
The Litum RTLS System allows businesses to keep track of their assets within a defined work area. This area is made up of an invisible network monitored by ultra-wideband active RFID receivers installed around the warehouse floor, dock, or a yard.
How Forklift Tracker RTLS Works?
This RTLS network of receivers picks up signals sent from RFID tags attached to company assets and operators. Such signals are converted into location data using various algorithms such as time difference of arrival, time of flight, and trilateration.
Then, the location of each vehicle and its operator is sent on to our RTLS application software that is installed on your servers, where they are interpreted and displayed in an easy-to-understand manner. No matter where your forklifts are within the work area, our system will always be able to track them.
Data Analysis of Forklift & Lifting Truck Usage
From the end-user point of view, Litum’s RTLS platform is simple to use and interpret. We make a point of providing a user-friendly data analysis platform with an intuitive visual display. You’ll be able to review the utilization history of forklifts and lifting trucks in your fleet. The system gives you the option of tracking their operators as well. With our reports, monitor:
- The routes the operators take
- The time that tasks take to complete
- Which operators finish the most orders
- Which operators get speed or pedestrian warnings
- Comparison charts across the vehicle fleet (utilization, efficiency, etc.)
Managers can observe a digital re-creation of the floor, including the current locations of all forklifts, shelves, products, and even the fixed readers. Data is displayed in a simple list view and 2-D top-down view.
You can click on vehicles to get all of their operational data too. Get real-time information, such as:
- Vehicle ID numbers
- Assigned operator
- Current speed
In-depth analysis of user operation, vehicle movement, potential collisions, and near misses is also available. This vital information can help you further improve efficiency, safety and cut down on expenses.
Reducing the size of your fleet
Speaking of cost, a large warehouse can have up to a dozen or more forklifts and similar vehicles in operation at a time. This big fleet means a big impact on your budget. Businesses have money invested in the purchase or leasing of vehicles, maintenance, electricity for recharging, and the expense of extra workers to operate those vehicles.
With Litum forklift tracking solutions, you can potentially reduce the size of your fleet and the number of employees on the payroll. There are three main ways this happens:
Increasing forklift utilization
Some of our system functions allow managers to assign tasks and analyze vehicle usage with an aim towards improving efficiency. When you are better able to use your existing equipment, you may not need to keep as many vehicles on the floor.
Some of the improvements a Forklift Tracker System offers include:
- Assigning tasks to forklift operators remotely via a display screen in the vehicle
- Seeing who is doing what task at a glance through our map overlay of your warehouse floor
- Looking for inactive vehicles, so you can either contact the operator or send out a new task
- Tracking the movement of product and knowing each item’s exact location
With a combination of software and hardware, businesses can keep their fleet at peak efficiency and even save money.
Optimizing forklift capacity
Capacity is an important thing to consider as a warehouse or yard manager. You need to know how many orders your warehouse can fill, where product can be placed within the facility, and even how much weight a forklift or lifting truck can safely transport. This is a lot of information to keep in mind when also trying to run a business.
Allow Litum RTLS to keep track of that data for you. Our platform can be setup to monitor how many orders are left in the queue and determine where there is shelving space available. You may even have an easier time seeing where to best place pallets and products for quick loading and unloading.
Optimizing forklift routes
With the old way of doing things, operators were forced to figure out the best routes to take across the floor on their own. Sometimes, they would have to backtrack because of other vehicles, pedestrians, or even pallets that were in the way. This wasted valuable time that could be used to fill other orders.
Litum’s system offers key data metrics to help optimize routes. Take into account the size of the area, where obstacles are located, and even the routes of other vehicles in operation.
Each operator is ultimately responsible for the direction that they go. However, this doesn’t mean that we can’t make things a little easier for them.
Forklift collision warning: Stay safe with forklift proximity alert feature
Each year, forklift operators are involved in collisions and accidents. The nature of driving heavy-duty equipment while also carrying a bulky load is inherently risky. Visibility may be hindered by the load, and forklift operators have to be aware of pedestrian workers and other forklifts operating in the area. It’s nearly impossible for a human to manage this at all times.
However, a well-designed RTLS system with collision and proximity alert can provide a constant 360-degree awareness of nearby objects. Our proximity alert software signals with a visual and an audible alert when the forklift comes close to another object or person. This gives the operator plenty of time to slow or reach a complete stop to avoid a collision.
It’s also possible to have the software predict when a collision is about to occur and bring the forklift to a complete stop, without driver intervention. Thus dramatically reducing the potential for an accident while on the job.
Speed limiter
Litum forklift tracking software is also able to detect forklift and lifting truck speed. This opens up the possibility of setting speed limits and enforcing them within controlled areas. You can limit the speed at which forklifts travel throughout the warehouse or yard, and also set lower speed limits for pedestrian areas.
Our RTLS actively monitors speed and alerts the appropriate personnel if an operator is driving in an unsafe manner. The software can be set to bring the forklift to a stop or prevent it from exceeding maximum speed limits. Naturally, the program records all events for later review, which can be used to improve operator efficiency and safety while on the job.
Real-time forklift tracking systems are vital for the modern business
It’s essential for businesses in this field to be at the top of their game. Those lacking in any area can fall behind and lose out on big contracts. Litum’s RTLS allows businesses to remain as productive as possible with features like:
- Real-time location display and recording
- Data analytics (that yields to utilization and route optimization)
- Task assignment & workflow management
- Workplace safety (pedestrian proximity alert, speed warning, etc)
Stay current and competitive!
Forklift tracking solutions improve your business and reduce costs, You’ll be able to cut down on accidents, wasted man-hours, and even unnecessary vehicles. With the Litum Forklift Tracker system installed at your facility, you will remain competitive in an industry that is always making use of new technologies.
To find out more about how Litum can help improve your operations, follow litum.com/blog