February 2010 - Roadmap Newsletter

February 2010

Roadmap monthly newsletter In this issue

Case study Modis

Editorial New features in Frotcom

F
Cost management module
rotcom was recognized by Microsoft as Bizspark
Startup of the day on January 18.

To understand the meaning of this distinction, one This and much more…
must have in mind that more than 20,000 startups from all
over the world currently subscribe Microsoft’s Bizspark
Program. So, the odds were about 1 to 100…

Although we work for our customers and not for receiving awards or being
recognized, it is always great to see our plans succeed and to be recognized by
Microsoft Bizspark as the most promising startup. We will strive to deserve
Microsoft’s confidence and – who knows – maybe become Startup of the Year!

You can read a full interview about Frotcom and the Microsoft award in
http://frotcom.wordpress.com/

Awards aside, we are absolutely delighted with Frotcom’s new Cost Management
module, currently in beta stage. This module had been requested already by many
clients and we’re sure many more will start using it as soon as it becomes available,
later in February.

The cost management module allows companies to control their fleet costs,
including fuel, tolls, parking, maintenance, depreciation and so on. It will be easy to
calculate ratios such as cost/km, consumption/100km and others.

Best of all, the cost management module is fully integrated with GPS tracking, which
allows the user to validate the distances travelled and the locations reported in trip
reports, invoices, bills or cash sales.

Valério Marques
CEO - Frotcom International

A note from the editor – If you would like to have your own say in the next edition of this newsletter
please do not hesitate to get in touch at roadmap@frotcom.com.
Roadmap Monthly Newsletter | roadmap@frotcom.com | Tel + 351 214 135 670 | Fax +351 214 135 678
Frotcom vehicle tracking system | www.frotcom.com

Algeria | Angola |Belgium | Bulgaria | D. R. Congo | Greece | Kenya | Luxemburg | Madagascar | Mauritius | Morocco |
Portugal | Reunion Islands | Romania | Rwanda | Seychelles | Slovenia | Spain | Tanzania | Uganda

1

Did you know

It seems the sky is not going to
Case study fall on our heads, after all

Modis (SONAE) – Supplying hypermarkets and
supermarkets in Portugal

Exceeding 200 trailers, Modis’ fleet is responsible for transporting goods to all Sonae
Distribution hypermarkets, supermarkets and department stores in Portugal.
Did you see any of those doomsday
articles about the GPS satellite
network crashing down in 2010?
Well, we did not buy it either!

In fact, in 2009 the U.S. Government
Accountability Office has warned
In each trailer a Frotcom device was installed, along with a temperature sensor and
Congress that mismanagement of a $2
a door opening detector. The device is powered by the refrigerators starter battery,
billion upgrade program was
which allows it to keep working even when the head tractor is not connected to the
threatening the GPS service. Older
trailer.
satellites would start dying in 2010
and replacements were being
According to Dr. Casimiro Ferreira, the
Director at Sonae responsible for launched much more slowly than
implementing the project, "With necessary to maintain service, the
Frotcom it is possible to optimize the report to Congress said.
transportation, increase the safety of
the products transported, control the To put an end to this question, the
temperature of perishable products, ‘U.S. Strategic Command and Air
reduce transport costs, improve the Force Space Command’ (AFSPC) along
compliance with the delivery schedules with STRATCOM have announced
and reduce losses due to theft and improvements “that benefits not only
wrongly switched deliveries.” military operations, but also all GPS
users by taking advantage of the
Vehicles are distributed through 5 different control centers along the country’s largest on-orbit GPS constellation in
territory. In each control center the corresponding subfleet is controlled by a direct its history”.
team. On top of that, a supervising team has access to the data from all vehicles.
The current GPS constellation will be
This technology allows the fleet managers to monitor all movements of the trailers: optimized to provide enhanced
speed and location, at what time the trip began, stopping times, etc. But also to make capability for all GPS users and
sure that perishable goods are transported at the right temperatures. In case of provide better support to military
dispute, the temperature records in Frotcom will complement the one delivered by forces operating in Afghanistan.
the termograph installed in the trailer. Essentially, this plan will take
The door opening detector complements other security methods used by Sonae to advantage of today's constellation
imped the opening of the door outside of the permitted areas (loading and unloading size and reposition satellites to
improve coverage.
locations). If a door is open outside of these areas, an alarm is generated.

Sonae received the Optimus Mobility Award in June 2007, in the category of The existing constellation
Mobilization of Productive Processes, for the results of the use of Frotcom in replenishment strategy positions new
its fleet. This project won among 9 candidates in the same category. 4 years GPS satellites close to older satellites.
after the installation of the first units, the system is running as smoothly as in This strategy protects against
the beginning. possible failing satellites. The current
Roadmap Monthly Newsletter | roadmap@frotcom.com | Tel + 351 214 135 670 | Fax +351 214 135 678 strength of the constellation will
Frotcom vehicle tracking system | www.frotcom.com allow the constellation to be spread
Algeria | Angola |Belgium | Bulgaria | D. R. Congo | Greece | Kenya | Luxemburg | Madagascar | Mauritius | Morocco | out and improve GPS access
worldwide.
2
In www.af.mil

Tip of the month

New features in Frotcom Using the vehicle route movie

Cost Management module

The new cost management module, currently in beta tests, is an important add-on to Frotcom’s vehicle route movie runs a
Frotcom. It allows companies to register and control the costs related to their fleets, simulation of a vehicle’s movement on a
in a simple and effective way. given period, on the map.

Instead of a static impression of the
vehicle’s movements, you can actually
follow the movements of the vehicle
along that period.

In movie playing mode, Frotcom takes
about 1 second to display 5 positions (5
minutes in the case of positions every
minute).

The cost management module in Frotcom allows you to register all costs associated
to the operation of your fleet, including fuel, tolls, insurance, maintenance, tires,
salaries, etc.

There are some great advantages to controlling these costs:

• You will be able to calculate the real costs and – equally important – the
cost per km, for each vehicle. This will allow you to know exactly the You can move time manually back and
profitability of your fleet; forth by dragging the time slider. This is
a great way of displaying the movement
• You will be able to breakdown the costs of your fleet, giving you detailed of the vehicle without having to wait for
information about the variable costs and the fixed costs of your fleet; the automatic process to end.

• You will be able to detect wrong information, like wrong km readings,
You can use this, for instance, when you
excessive fuel consumption or impossible refueling places and times
want to know exactly at what time the
(comparison with GPS data).
vehicle was in a given part of the route.
Or, inversely, to know where exactly
the vehicle was at a certain time.
The new cost management module is currently undergoing beta tests and will
be available on March 1st.



3

Using Frotcom’s vehicle immobilizer In the next issue

Use SMS messages to block and unblock vehicles equipped with
News and events,
Frotcom’s immobilizer – IMOB1.
more new Frotcom features
An immobilizer is simply a relay (controlled switch) connected to a digital output of the
Frotcom device. When a special SMS message arrives to the Frotcom device, it opens the and tips will be presented.
switch. This switch then cuts off the electricity circuit of the starter. As a consequence, if
the driver tries to turn the key to start the engine, nothing will happen.

Once an “antidote” SMS message is sent to the device, the switch will close again, This and more, so don’t miss
allowing the car battery’s electricity to reach the starter. Under these circumstances, as
soon as the driver turns the key again, the engine will start. the next issue of Roadmap.

Notice that this immobilizer does not have any
impact on a vehicle if it is already running. This is
so for security reasons. The only effect will be to
disable the driver’s capacity to restart the
engine, once the ignition is turned OFF.

Frotcom DOS1 - Door Open Sensor

Do you need to control the access to the inside of a trailer or van
when you transport valuable goods? Frotcom’s DOS1 is your choice.

The DOS1 can be installed in both swing-type and sliding
type doors. It will detect the exact moment when a door is
being open and will send that information to the Frotcom
Data Center.

You will be able to set alarms and generate reports based on the information
received from the Door Open Sensor.

Before Now

You find out at the delivery point that You can act immediately.
part of the cargo is missing. You don’t
know where, when or how it Alert:
happened. The mechanical seal in the Door open detection out of permitted area
door of the semi-trailer seems to have Vehicle: 00-AA-00
been tampered. You will have to Driver: John Smith
indemnify your customer who is Time: 2009-09-14 14:23
obviously quite upset. Location: Click to see in map



4

February 2010 - Roadmap Newsletter

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Mehr von Frotcom

Mehr von Frotcom (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

February 2010 - Roadmap Newsletter