First-class fleet management

I_SITE is a fleet management system which collects data from your Toyota smart trucks to measure, analyse and improve your operations, to increase productivity, improve safety, expand your fleet’s lifespan and contribute to an environment-friendly operation and reduce costs. 

Toyota was the first company in the materials handling industry to introduce integrated telematics on electric warehouse trucks back in 2018. This integration has transformed these electric warehouse products into smart trucks with improved data collection capabilities.

In this article Keith Smith, Product Development Manager explains in detail how I_Site enhances and contributes to a safer workplace:

Holistic view of operations

Toyota’s I_Site tool has been developed over many years, with a focus on a user-friendly interface. When logging into the I_Site home page, there is the facility to customise your KPI dashboard. This provides the user easy access to view accurate, real-time information which is relevant to your operation at a glance. 

Reducing damage and costs

Shock sensors on the trucks relay information on impacts back to I_Site so you can manage any shocks, helping to reduce costs by reducing damage to both the trucks, and to your infrastructure. The shock sensors will provide insights on the speed the truck is travelling when an impact occurs, number of shocks, intensity of the impact and the date and time of impact. Add in outdoor positioning, which utilises Google Maps, and you can identify where impacts occur too. 

When a high shock occurs, notifications are sent either via e-mail or through a notification on the Toyota I_Site app. The truck reduces to creep speed, until an authorised user investigates the impact and resets the truck when safe to do so.  Alternatively, they can lockout the truck, making the truck VOR if required and deemed un-safe to use. As part of the reset procedure, we encourage users to input information about the cause of the shock, this can help weed out possible infrastructure issues or a requirement for further operator training. 

Keeping safety and reliability in mind

Pre-operational checks on material handling equipment is very important to help improve reliability and ensures the truck is safe for operation. It is with these reasons in mind why we have three options to select from on the frequency of completing a pre-op check within I_Site. 

The pre-operational check is electronic and is required to be completed before the truck is operated. All completed Pre-Op checks, passed or failed, are recorded and stored within the I_Site portal. 

Trained and authorised operators

Ensuring that only trained and authorised drivers are using trucks is key to having a safe workplace. Each driver can be issued with a unique pin or smart access card (optional) which is used to start-up a truck.  When a driver profile is created you can control which trucks the operator has access to. An example of this is if an operator only has completed training on how to operate a power pallet truck, you would only add that family of trucks to their profile. This prevents this operator from using his pin code/smart access card to operate another type of truck such as a reach truck. 

A fantastic feature of I_Site is the ability to manage drivers’ licences. You can have notifications sent in advance of an operator’s licence expiring, helping to ensure that operator training is always kept up to date.  

Prolonged battery life 

A feature that our customers are really impressed by is the battery management feature. When investing in electric trucks, the battery is a sizeable cost of a truck. Understanding this, I_Site helps prolong the lifetime of the battery and prevents misuse. It does this by constantly monitoring the battery on the truck and within the portal you can easily identify how a battery is being managed. The Battery Management section of the app provides information such as depth of discharge before going on charge, length of charge as well as, the operator using the truck at the time of it going on charge. If battery management is poor this information can be used to identify a training requirement. 

Driver engagement in the form of Team Challenge (option)

Toyota found that driver engagement is very important to creating a safer working environment. Team Challenge introduces gamification for improving safety within a warehouse. This is done by creating teams of drivers that work together to increase their safety score.  This can be run in competitions ranging from 1 to 9 weeks. Through trials we have seen boosts in engagement with drivers, team spirit, and ultimately safety. With 70% of those drivers in the trial strongly believing that the introduction of Team Challenge made their work environment safer. 

To learn more about the I_Site fleet management system and how introducing it could benefit your business visit www.toyota-forklifts.co.uk or call 0370 850 1409.