Digital Transformation in Connected Mobility

If you own a car built in the last 20 years, you will find a lot of information about your vehicle in its onboard diagnostics (OBD) port. Most vehicles manufactured since 1996 are equipped with an OBD II port, which — if you have right device and cloud application — lets you monitor vehicle health, do remote diagnosis, predict failures, monitor utilization, improve fuel usage, leverage new business models, and much more.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a revolutionary technology, and businesses in a wide range of industries are eagerly adopting it. Gartner predicts by 2020 a quarter billion connected vehicles will be on the road. Companies are capitalizing on this wealth of data to improve business productivity, reduce operating costs, prevent accidents, and automate processes.

Due to the decreasing cost of sensors, network connectivity, and technology such as IoT, artificial intelligence, Big Data, blockchain, and more, companies can now collect more data, make intelligent decisions in real time, and rapidly come up with new business models.

Today, companies can leverage the connectivity of new vehicles and the data they produce to create additional value: for the benefit of the company, the consumer, and the wider public. Here’s how your company can begin creating a connected fleet with IoT:

• Equip vehicles with IoT-enabled sensors: By fastening sensors to your fleet, you can more easily collect data about it. You can then use this insight to track, monitor, analyze, and maintain all moving assets, wherever they are in the network, in real time.
• Capture sensor data and conduct condition monitoring: Sensors transmit key data to a central location so you can keep tabs on the ever-changing conditions of your fleet. For instance, if the tire pressure of one of your vehicles is too low, you can receive an alert and address the issue before it becomes a major problem – such as a blowout on a busy highway.
• Analyze data continuously to identify areas for improvement: IoT and sensor data aren’t helpful just for recognizing problems; they can help detect areas for improvement, too. If the batteries in your vehicle fleet are dying faster than they should, sensor data can quickly detect this pattern, and you can equip your trucks with different, longer-lasting batteries.
• Reimagine business processes: IoT can help fleet owners optimize day-to-day operations and enable OEMs and service providers to take advantage of new business models. For fleet owners, this could mean enhancing delivery strategies, cutting travel costs, or reducing emissions. For OEMs and service providers, this could mean a connected fleet platform that helps customers reduce maintenance costs and improve the driving experience.

Gaining real-time insights from fleet can produce a variety of advantages, including:

• Enable real-time fleet monitoring: Reduce accidents and monitor cost efficiency of vehicles.
• Streamline warehouse management: Accelerate warehouse processes, reduce failure rates, and achieve seamless material flow between warehouse and production lines.
• Optimize fleet utilization: Increase fleet revenue and improve fuel consumption.
• Increase revenue: The connected fleet platform can leverage new business models and create new revenue sources.

By combining transformative technologies from blockchain to Big Data, the automotive industry can evolve from selling cars to selling experiences.

To learn what happens when technology, people, and data combine to enable “segment of one” experiences, better predict service needs, proactively engage customers prior to product modifications, and much more, download the new automotive whitepaper.

Sahu Satya Narayan is senior solution director of the SAP Leonardo Center of Excellence at SAP. 

This story originally appeared on the Digitalist.