Goldhofer boosts its LINK telemetry solution

Memmingen-based Goldhofer’s LINK transmits live data from sensors located on a vehicle via the cloud to a user-friendly dashboard, thus enabling GSE operators to enhance the performance and safety of their vehicles, simplify maintenance and extend service life.

Oliver Noack, head of Internet of Things and digitalisation at Goldhofer, told Airports International: “We have installed a telematics system that retrieves, processes and forwards the relevant information from the sensors to the data platform. From this platform, the data is then processed and displayed on the LINK data portal, enabling efficient analysis and management of the vehicles. Now, customers have a valuable tool at their disposal to optimally evaluate and manage their operational processes.”

As Noack points out, only properly utilised vehicles generate revenue. 

Benefits to the user

As the airports sector continues to rebound following the COVID-19 pandemic, stakeholders find themselves under growing pressure to do more with less. In other words, they are expected to process growing volumes of both cargo and passengers without increasing their physical footprint and with fewer staff – all while making substantial inroads into sustainability targets.

The main requirement in any product is efficiency. With LINK, Noack explained, individual driving manoeuvres can be precisely analysed and optimised: “In the past, it has often been the case that fuel usage figures are available at the end of the day or week, but it is not known how exactly they were incurred. However, LINK delivers causation-based and detailed breakdowns of diesel or energy consumption from individual operations. These can be used, among other things, for billing individual orders and for optimising processes. With the help of the data provided, different vehicles can now also be compared with each other, thereby increasing fleet efficiency.”

The reliability of a vehicle is one of its most important attributes, Noack noted, with unplanned outages leading to significant costs and complications. This can be alleviated by LINK: “The continuously monitored operational state means optimal use can be planned and replacements for upcoming maintenance can be organised in advance.” According to Noack, this ensures the highest possible vehicle availability.

An added bonus is that thanks to the information delivered by the sensors, optimisation of operating costs can be carried out based on real usage data. This enables users to cut unnecessary fuel consumption or travel routes and thereby reduce their ecological footprint.

Upgrading LINK

The LINK system now provides even more vehicle-specific KPIs, said Noack, offering a deeper insight into the vehicle, so the use of vehicles can be optimised even further: “Additionally, we are increasingly focusing on integrating with third-party systems via the REST API [an interface that two computer systems use to exchange information securely over the internet], to ensure maximum flexibility for the customer.”

Goldhofer has been working on adding functionality to LINK and is currently in discussions with customers about their specific requirements for geofence options: “We are evaluating how these can be technically implemented in a sensible way. We continuously work with customers to identify value-adding functionalities based on their specific requirements and needs. Many of these involve geofencing and maintenance.”

In a class of its own

With LINK, the customer receives a highly flexible solution with a wealth of information about their vehicles – the number of aircraft moved, operational parameters, charging information, etc – that is not limited to the Goldhofer data portal but can also be integrated into any system. Additionally, the customer can access all the logged data that the vehicle has generated during the active contract. This allows an analysis of the vehicle's efficiency throughout its entire use, something that is increasingly important in this age of doing more with less.