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8. September 2020Daimler AG further automates communication with incoming trucks at the truck production plant in Wörth. System-supported inbound control with Syncrosupply software from Aachen’s Inform GmbH. Simple vehicle registration with the Habbl app from Fleetboard Logistics. Digitized communication process according to VDA recommendations.
(Stuttgart / Aachen / Volkach) At the Mercedes-Benz truck plant in Wörth, trucks now announce their arrival early through automatic status messages without driver intervention. For this purpose, the inbound logistics at the Wörth plant and Daimler IT, responsible for controlling incoming trucks and the IT system used for this, have developed a new approach: Under the leadership of Daimler IT, project partners Inform and Fleetboard Logistics have implemented a process according to VDA recommendations 4945 and 4996. A central element is the truck control software Syncrosupply from Inform, which manages plant traffic through a time window management system. There, vehicles from the commissioned freight forwarders register via the Habbl app from Fleetboard Logistics at the start of their tour. During the journey, they also send status updates on the estimated time of arrival (ETA) every 15 minutes, as well as additional updates upon reaching predefined distance points. Just before the destination, the truck control system sends the driver permission to enter the plant directly. If all capacities are occupied, the driver is asked to wait in front of the plant and thus to take their planned break early. “With the continuous information on transport progress, additional planning security is gained,” says Matthias Wurst, Head of Business Development Industrial Logistics at Inform.
Habbl Guides the Driver on the Plant Grounds
At the plant gate, the driver can identify themselves via a barcode in the app and enter directly. For these registration tasks, Inform had already developed a highly specialized app. With this joint project, the inbound control process of Syncrosupply is also supported in Habbl – a standard product for mobile order control that even transport companies of the commissioned freight forwarders can directly use by downloading it to a smartphone. This allows planners and drivers to digitally view the entire transport process, including plant delivery, right from the start of the tour. This makes it easier to flexibly reschedule in case of unforeseen deviations and to optimally utilize driving times. Additionally, the Habbl app is multilingual, significantly simplifying communication with foreign drivers. In the new Mercedes-Benz Actros, it is also fully integrated into the vehicle’s multimedia cockpit. Through the tool, the driver also receives information about their unloading location and is guided directly there through waypoint representation. For a quick start in working with the Habbl app, Fleetboard Logistics provides the underlying Habbl workflow as a template to the contract freight forwarders of Daimler Truck AG. Furthermore, the Habbl app and the truck control system Syncrosupply can already communicate seamlessly with each other. A special implementation is therefore no longer necessary.
Improving Planning Options
With the simplified truck registration, Daimler continues to advance the digitization of its inbound logistics processes. The new approach will initially be gradually introduced at other German production sites as well. It is also suitable for all delivery scenarios with time window management and central truck registration – and thus for exactly those points in the logistics chain where trucks and their drivers often experience waiting times. “The automatic communication process is an example of how we, as a truck manufacturer, make it easier and more efficient for our customers in logistics to deploy their vehicles,” says Stefan Buchner, Member of the Board of Daimler Truck AG.
Photo: © Daimler
