Thinking long and hard about heavy-duty telematics

A study of the factors that should be considered by a vehicle OEM when implementing a telematics solution in heavy on- and off-highway mobile equipment markets.

The application of telematics in heavy, mobile equipment markets requires a business justification for the investment in development, sales, and support of the solution. Determining this justification is not a simple matter of product cost vs. revenue returned.

The first step in determining a business justification for telematics is to determine who the stakeholders are for the solution. Historically, customer use cases such as tracking equipment location and logging machine hours have been implemented for the primary benefit of the end user. OEMs must realize that there can be multiple benefactors of implementing a telematics solution. Internally the benefits may be realized in design engineering, test, product support, and even finance operations in some cases. Externally there may be benefits for distributors, dealers, customers, and companies that offer value-added services to customers. The key is to determine who the stakeholders are up front so the entire value of a telematics solution can be evaluated.