May/June 2004

Tracking of vehicle movements in out of depots and on the road has been added to the capabilities of the logistics management suite offered by VSc Solutions. The extension of the suite harnesses solutions developed by Maple Group and UPS Logistics Technologies, a subsidiary of the parcels giant. VSc says it now offers a complete order-to-delivery solution.

The Maple system uses RFID (radio frequency identification) tracking to match drivers, vehicles and loads together. Drivers are issued with personalised RFID "tags" which they can "swipe" against a reader built into the Maple electronic seal (actually they simply hold it nearby). This validates the vehicle movement, and the resultant information is integrated into a wider tracking and management system.

The UPS range adds UPS's Roadnet routing, scheduling and transport management capabilities to the package. Tracking of vehicles out on the road can be added with UPS's Mobilecast technology, which provides vehicle GPS tracking and a variety of data capture options.

VSc says a key feature of the overall package is that it offers users powerful ways of comparing plan versus actual performance, with new ways of optimising use of resources.