LogisticsInchcape Automotive

Inchcape Automotive

(now owned by Camden Ventures)

The Client

Inchcape are specialists in vehicle logistics and re-marketing.

The Brief

Inchcape needed a wide-area logistics solution for managing their fleet of 450 vehicle transporter drivers. The solution would need to interface with their in-house driver scheduling software. There was an existing system in place but it was unreliable and incomplete; thus we were brought in at the recommendation of Symbol to develop a new solution from scratch.

The Solution

The system was designed around Symbol CE 2700 and 2800 series devices with GSM (pre-GPRS) radios, on which a custom application was developed showing the driver's work schedule and allowing him to inspect a vehicle on collection and delivery and note any damage. A signature could be collected on-screen to verify the operation.

FMK hosted a communications server at a secure facility which managed all data transfer to and from the units in the field. This relieved Inchcape of the need to run their own communications equipment and phone lines, which they had previously been doing.

At Inchcape's office a bespoke gateway application transferred data between their SQL Server based scheduling software and the FMK communications server. Throughout the development process we liaised with Inchcape technical staff to ensure compatibility and to minimise impact on their own systems.

Since many drivers rarely came into the office the system allowed for software updates to be sent to the devices remotely.

At its peak the system was handling 100,000 data transfers per month.