The Efficient and Reliable Transportation of Consignments project, ERTOC, has unveiled a prototype system for logistics companies that is able to predict the environmental impact of a commercial consignment.
Developed in the UK, the ERTOC system is able to pre-plan cargo manifests and routes in order to minimise the carbon and cost contribution attributable to every consignment.
“Ricardo is extremely pleased to have been able to participate in the ERTOC project, and proud of its role in the delivery of a successful prototype,” Rishi Odhavji, Ricardo project manager for ERTOC, said.
Ricardo contribution to the project is a newly developed electronics module capable of interfacing with fleet management systems. It is integrated with a driver information system that runs on an Android tablet device located in the vehicle’s cab.
According to Ricardo, fleet managers, drivers and logistics customers can now optimise operations through the use of intelligent route planning and load sharing for maximum financial return and environmental benefit. “Using highly granular data for each leg of the journey of each and every consignment shipped, analysis can be carried out at any level, from hubs and depots down to individual vehicles, drivers and cargo types.
“Logistics is an important element in the value chain for products of all types, and the ability to effectively manage operations through the integration of vehicle level data offers significant benefits in both financial and environmental terms,” Odhavji said.
“By leveraging available data from existing telematics systems and telecommunications infrastructure in an open architecture system, it has been demonstrated that significant commercial and environmental benefits are possible. However, this is just one possible implementation solution, and we hope and expect that the work carried out under the ERTOC project will lead to numerous future applications aimed at improving the efficiency and environmental impact of transportation and logistics operations.”
ERTOC is a two-year research collaboration between multi-national logistics company Ricardo and partners GS1 UK, Unipart Logistics, IRIS Technology and Coventry University.