OEM Companies - Supply

Although telematics have been around for more than 20 years, the recent rise in adoption can be attributed to two main drivers:

The cost of telematics technology has decreased significantly over the past few years, including the hardware necessary on the machines, the software needed to gather and analyze the data and the portals or applications used to access the information anywhere, any time — even on remote jobsites.

OEM companies are now supplying telematics devices factory-installed and form-fitted to the exact machine on new production models. This offers a huge convenience to equipment owners and fleet managers who, in the past, have had to evaluate, choose and install their own telematics solutions or hire someone after the sale to do so. Now, on new units with factory installed telematics, one just needs to connect the asset and access the data via a mobile device or computer.

Another advantage of OEMs taking the lead in telematics solutions for lift equipment is that with this “real-time” machine data, they can more quickly and easily help customers solve issues or offer remote diagnostics. With this valuable machine data, many OEMs are now viewing telematics hardware and data as a tool to be used by both heavy equipment owners as well as the OEM.

In the past, when accessing telematics data was more complicated and costly, this technology was only put on complicated, costly machines. In lifting equipment, that means it was used mainly on larger boom lifts and cranes. With telematics costs coming down, and becoming more user-friendly, combined with [its value] being realized in all aspects of fleet management, telematics technology is now being applied to all sizes of lift equipment — from smaller footprint, easier to use machines like push-around lifts, all the way to the larger, more sophisticated models like Ultra Booms.