Menzies Aviation
- Menzies Aviation Land side vehicles Use Aeromark Telematics Technology
- Aeromark tracking solution enables Menzies airside aviation to keep cargo moving
Menzies Aviation Land side vehicles Use Aeromark Telematics Technology
Background
Leading airfreight company Menzies Aviation were quick to realise the benefits of using vehicle tracking when they installed Aeromark vehicle tracking equipment back in 1998. Since then, the flexibility of the system has allowed Menzies to upgrade to the latest level of technology and to take advantage of 21st century developments.
The vehicle tracking system, manufactured by Aeromark of Bedford enables managers at Menzies, Heathrow to see the exact location of each of its 22 land side delivery vehicles: wherever they are on the UK’s roads.
Solution & Benefits
As well as knowing the location of each delivery vehicle, a journey log is automatically made of every trip.
The log records the route taken by the driver together with other vital management information
such as the amount of time taken for compulsory driver breaks.
Communication is another area where Aerotrack vehicle tracking has made life easier for the control staff at Menzies.
Messages can be sent to the driver by phone or text via the internet giving details of pick-ups or other instructions.
Knowing the precise location of the whole fleet enables managers
to direct the vehicle best placed to handle the job and so reduce unnecessary journey time.
Satellite navigation then directs the driver to the pick-up address simply by entering the customer’s postcode into the system.
Jan Rowlands, Menzies’ general manager of trucking operations said:
“The Aeromark system is very user friendly and means that we can see exactly where everyone is all the time: that’s a big advantage for a transport manager. Last year we upgraded the system so that we can use ’Google Earth’ to view the delivery fleet. We use a large plasma screen here in the office and can see to within a few feet where all are trucks are on the road. This helps us keep customers informed about the status of their consignments and increases their confidence that deadlines will be met.”
Menzies is currently evaluating a further facility on the Aeromark vehicle tracking system that enables electronic ’paperwork’ detailing pick-ups and deliveries to be sent to and from the office. This means that the information can be processed immediately back at base, resulting in quicker invoicing and greater document security. The electronic paperwork facility is provided free by Aeromark and is operated inexpensively via the GPRS (General Packet Radio Service).
Aeromark manufactures a wide range of systems to provide fleet operators with tracking, control, communication and interactivity with their fleets wherever they are to enhance safety, productivity, customer service and staff working conditions.
Aeromark tracking solution enables Menzies airside aviation to keep cargo moving
Aeromark, a mobile technology provider and supplier of Optimatics, the next level of Telematics combined with mobile workforce solutions,
today announced that Menzies Aviation, one of the world’s major independent suppliers of ground handling services to the aviation market,
is successfully deploying Aeromark’s Aerotrack vehicle tracking solution across its airside fleet at London Heathrow.
Aerotrack is enabling Menzies Aviation to accurately monitor Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and to improve the productivity and efficiency.
“Our customer base includes airlines and cargo handling agents all working to tight deadlines and delays are costly, so they demand that their cargo is unloaded and loaded as quickly as possible. As a result it is crucial that Menzies can accurately monitor their SLAs to determine why delays have occurred”, said Lesley Coleman, Operations Manager, at Menzies Aviation. “Previously we had to manually measure our SLA performance by checking truck loading and unloading documents when they were returned to our central location and there was the potential for inaccuracies. With Aerotrack we can instantly see where each vehicle is, who the driver is and how long it has been at a specific location.”
Menzies Aviation, collects cargo from warehouses located both airside and landside (on airport/off airport) and takes it out to be loaded on to its customer’s planes. “Our vehicles have to be at the right stand, at the right time”, explained Coleman. “When unloading planes our vehicles must be waiting when the plane arrives at its stand. We simply cannot allow our vehicles to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if they are, we need to understand why. We needed a tracking solution that would deliver this capability plus it needed to have operational tool capabilities that would deliver information to help us to manage the day to day running of our business.”
Aerotrack, a component of Aeromark’s Optimatics, which takes traditional Telematics solutions to the next level, was chosen by Menzies Aviation. The solution comprises of a mobile data terminal (MDT) with voice capability allowing connection to ten pre-programmed telephone numbers. Menzies drivers are issued with identification key tags which are recognised by the MDT, enabling both the tracking of the vehicle and identification of individual drivers. Menzies is now able to monitor exactly when a vehicle arrives and departs from a location, and to accurately track its position when it is on the move.
“Aerotrack enables us to instantly understand why a SLA has not been met. We can see that a vehicle was held at a security checkpoint for much longer than normal or that a vehicle arrived at a stand on time but that the plane was delayed or that it arrived t the warehouse but had to wait for the cargo to be loaded”, Coleman added. “Aerotrack allows us to more accurately monitor when a vehicle has cleared a job, and is available for the next one, which has helped us to increase our productivity and efficiency as we have reduced the amount of time our vehicles are idle.”
Aeromark was the obvious choice for Menzies as it has been deploying its tracking solutions for its landside fleet since 1997. “I was given a demonstration of how Menzies was using the latest version of the Aeromark solution to track our vehicles which deliver and collect cargo from warehouses located at London Heathrow to and from other UK airports”, said Coleman. “Our existing strong relationship with Aeromark made it very easy to work with them on the unique additional requirements of an airside solution. For example we did not need mapping that detailed road names, we needed the location of stand numbers.”
An important feature for Menzies Aviation was the ability to build into the software a ’Lights On’ warning’ to be triggered when the ignition is turned off, to prevent vehicles becoming totally immobile as a result of a flat battery. Stranded vehicles can cause serious delays to aircraft by blocking stands and hampering the operation of the airport. The Aeromark solution also enables Menzies to monitor airside speeding events, providing the opportunity for the company to re-train individual drivers.
“Aerotrack ensures that we have satisfied customers as we are able to keep their cargo on the move and get their planes back in the air as quickly as possible,” concluded Coleman.
