Jaguar Land Leading car maker turns to Traka to take control of fork truck usage

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Eight electronic key and intelligent access management The less critical areas were tackled first as Jaguar wanted systems were introduced to control over 200 fork trucks and to learn as much about the system and the information available other materials handling equipment used for the Just-In-Time from the reports as possible, thus getting maximum benefit from the transportation of product materials and components to the next installation phase. Currently, there are eight systems installed for production line. We ask why – what was the rationale? And we managing over 200 new Linde fork trucks and other keys on site. question the benefits Jaguar Land Rover expect to get from this control of fork truck usage. Traka systems are configured as iFob per person and for fixed return.

Manufacturer of the world-renowned Land Rover Freelander 2, the The Traka iFob attached to a key with a security seal, and then locked company has one of its three manufacturing sites at , into a designated port on the receptor strip within the Traka key Liverpool. cabinet. Each iFob will only be released if the person identifying him/ herself to the system firstly has permission to access the cabinet Traka was first investigated for key management control to restrict and, secondly, only then to the iFobs (or keys) for which they are driver access to fork trucks some three to four years ago on the authorised. This is all controlled through the supporting Traka grounds of ‘accountability’ from a safety perspective. After some software, with the user and key details stored on a centrally located consideration, the project was shelved. However, ground swell was database. Jaguar Land Rover opted for fixed return as it enables strong and, following representation from the on-site Linde fork truck supervisors to see exactly which keys are out of the system and who Engineering Manager, it was decided to revisit the idea, this time on a has them, from a simple visual check of the cabinet. major cost-saving justification. With the inbuilt electronic intelligence of the iFob, Jaguar land Rover Previously owned by Ford and now part of the Tata Group, Jaguar can use this device to actually become the key itself – an intelligent Land Rover is self-financing and is acutely aware of costs. On a site electronic key. Each truck is fitted with a ‘receptor socket’ into which of several square kilometres, Jaguar Land Rover employs more than the iFob can be inserted by the driver – and only when inserted 1,900 people and produces a car every 135 seconds, taking 2.5 days will the driver be able to start the truck. The iFob replaces the in production from start to finish. The site is vast, taking more than 25 conventional key and overcomes the common problem of all trucks minutes to walk across the factory. being keyed alike, which makes it almost impossible to know who has driven any particular truck in the case of an accident or incident that All achieved by using Traka to manage the keys; restricting access only breaches Health & Safety regulations. to authorised drivers in each of the specific areas.

With a range of trucks from Reach and Counter Balance to Tow Trucks and Die Handlers, historically these would be used at remote locations across the plant. Trucks are now controlled and zoned into five areas; Press Shop, Body Shop, Trim and Final, Parts and Logistics, and Linde workshop.

Traka systems were first installed in July 2008 during the summer shut down and have now been fully implemented on a phased roll-out basis. Traka’s unique iFob per person solution means that a driver need only impact giving the driver enough time to back away from danger such take one iFob from the system, and based upon their user profile, use as collapsed racking, but not enough to drive away from an accident this single iFob to start all trucks for which they have authorisation, scene. All this information is recorded in the driver’s iFob, and is based upon competency testing and a valid licence – all of which is downloaded when next returned to the Traka cabinet. A truck, once recorded in the Traka software. The user simply needs to identify him/ cut-out can only be restarted by a supervisor or service engineer with herself to the cabinet. a special service iFob. For any cut-out incident or accident, a driver must complete a report form. Daily downloads from Traka enable a At Jaguar Land Rover, this is achieved using the company ID card. The report to detail all incidents, and these can then be reconciled against Traka system will then automatically write the user access permissions the driver incident report. Failure by a driver to report and complete to the iFob (known for each unique driver) – and that one iFob will an incident report is now deemed a serious offence and is subject to enable the driver to move from truck to truck (for which he/she disciplinary action. is authorised to drive). For Jaguar Land Rover, the big time saving advantage is simple - the driver does not need to return to the cabinet The main areas that Jaguar Land Rover needed to address in terms of to ‘pick-up’ another key to use another truck. fork truck control were:-

With this system, there is no longer a single key for each truck, so if a • Accountability of drivers driver goes home with an iFob in their pocket, the truck can still be • Damage Control used by any other authorised driver with their iFob. Should an iFob not • Cost Savings be returned, a quick visual check at shift end will identify any that are • H&S compliance missing, and the supervisor can do an on-screen check or run a quick report to determine the name of the key holder. All of these have successfully been achieved by implementing the Traka systems. But by far the most striking change has been that of Pre-operational checks – easily managed modified driver behaviour. Previously, when keys were missing and others were left in trucks, there was no accountability. Anybody could In conjunction with the Data Logger, the truck is also fitted with an jump on and drive, and even if there was no key present, a driver acceptance button as standard and the Immobiliser Shock Sensor would almost certainly have one that worked in most trucks. With no as an option. The inclusion of the acceptance button ensures that accountability there was no restriction, trucks were taken and used the pre-operational safety check must be completed, acknowledged elsewhere. They were often treated badly with resulting damage as no and recorded electronically for every truck, on an individual driver by one could trace those who had used them. There was often damage driver basis and replaces the conventional paper based record used to stock, pallets and racking as well as to the trucks themselves. prior to the implementation of the Traka system. The benefits - they add-up… Unlike more costly competitive products which rely on RFID technology for data , this information is automatically By reducing truck damage, downtime is eliminated and trucks spend downloaded when the iFob is returned to the cabinet by the driver. less time in service for repair. With the new level of accountability, Stored in a central database, it is available to managers along with there is also substantially less infrastructure damage, resulting in other user activity reports to identify who has used which vehicle and lower operating costs. when, and if there was any damage or fault reported on the truck. Asked how the drivers reacted when Traka was first introduced, the Ensuring faults or damage is acted upon quickly saves time and money general consensus is that those drivers who were good drivers took to the system well – others quickly realised they would have to modify Any reported fault or damage is quickly acted upon and, in this case, their behaviour or risk facing disciplinary action. Drivers saw a positive a phone call to the Linde workshop results in an engineer bringing a side – firstly it has done away with paper based forms for acceptance replacement truck to the work area – saving in production time. The testing – it is now all electronic – better for the drivers and better Traka system also has the ability to automatically generate an email – for the company to manage records with less administration effort. so every fault report is recorded and it is easy to keep a check if service Drivers also know that the trucks will be ‘in-place’ when needed and level agreements are being adhered to. they will be in good working condition. For any unreported damage that does appear, it is possible to quickly trace the previous driver. Shocks sensors – reduce truck collisions Each driver knows that he/she is responsible, can be traced and any damage or faults need to be reported immediately. It has certainly The inclusion of the shock sensor has radically changed the way in improved productivity substantially, as well as reducing damage to which drivers treat the trucks (and the stock being transported). stock, trucks and infrastructure considerably. Each sensor is calibrated against G-Force impact, and can be pre-set to cut-out the truck following an impact above the determined threshold. At Jaguar Land Rover, the cut-out operates 10 seconds after traka.com

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