Nov/Dec 2004

Mobile computing is being given an increasingly high profile in the suite of supply-chain systems from VSc Solutions. Having extended its core product progressively over the past year or so, the company has now pulled all the new features together in an integrated suite called Dispatch Dynamic.

Whilst some components of this suite are being supplied by third-party developers on a best-of-breed basis, VSc itself is providing the components that handle mobile computing, vehicle tracking and POD management, using what it describes as the VSc mobile vehicle gateway.

This provides control and monitoring of a wide range of driver activities and vehicle functions, offering operators anything from alerts on vehicle progress (perhaps triggered by GPS-based geofences) to full real-time vehicle and consignment visibility and tracking.

The on-board hardware for this system is a hidden computing and communications "black box" built by Scope Technologies, a South African manufacturer in which VSc's parent, Super Group, is a shareholder. The company says a visual display such as PDA, perhaps with automatically-generated navigation instructions, could also be linked to it.

 

VSc is also providing the supply-chain execution part of the suite, along with the integration resources to bind it all together. As a long-established UK company, it has built up a strong development team in this country.

Routing, scheduling and load planning are supplied by 121 Systems, a recently-established UK software house which is the UK and European distributor of UPS Logistics Technologies' Roadnet Transportation suite.

Load security, depot access control and consignment tracking are supplied by Maple Group, which is using its latest RFID proximity-tag system to transfer data about loads between the driver, an electronic seal on the vehicle and the gatehouse.

Most early users are said to be running the Dispatch Dynamic system internally, but VSc says it is also happy to provide it as a hosted solutions at a cost said to start at around £60 per vehicle per month (this would depend very much on the content).

VSc reckons the system represents a breakthrough in terms of its scope, pricing and functionality. "Other suppliers seem to see the despatch function as 'getting the product out of the door'," says director Anthony Munro-Martin. "Very few of them offer anything like this."