DEV Community: Mathan kb

How IoT is revolutionizing fleet management?

Mathan kb — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 18:53:18 +0000

IoT is a breakthrough that led to a remarkable technological evolution in the recent past, with its radical advancement in every possible industry. It is the present and future for ground-breaking business transformations.

This advancement encouraged nearly every business to re-evaluate their strategies and streamline their operations. Fleet Management is no exception. Every business is tailored in its unique way to its personalized goals.

Fleet management is facing challenges like never before due to external pressures: safety concerns, time, productivity, timeliness, or efficiency. IoT solutions in fleet management are offering valuable insights based on real-time data analytics. Leveraging the data derived from the vehicle can dramatically impact the business, from alleviating risks to generating higher revenue.

IoT in fleet management and its necessity

Almost every organization depends on commercial transport for various reasons starting from procuring resources to delivering services. The goal is to reduce the costs and risks of investing in vehicles to ensure smooth sailing.

Commercial vehicles are rendered to ensure the reliability of numerous business functions. From courier services to health care, almost every organization has fleets that require extensive coordination and maintenance, which is not a mediocre task.

Times are changing. The days of following standardized procedures are no longer practically viable. We’re very well aware of how the increased demand for quick supply and transportation is skyrocketing.

Imagine having access to every possible information at the tip of your fingers. Systematic fleet management dynamically aids in meeting the clients’ needs, reduces labour costs and streamlines operations. It also saves a great deal of time for the fleet managers.

How does a fleet management system work?

A comprehensive fleet management system is crucial to maintain and manage your assets to reduce potential risks associated with costs, transport, and compliance guidelines. It boosts uptime and improves the overall efficiency to drive customer satisfaction.

Effective fleet management leads to successful fleet operations, which increases your client’s reliability and reduces unnecessary expenditure associated with asset damage, fines, and litigation, all while following the company safety and environmental guidelines. Fleet management is vital to mitigate risks of any form, be it commercial or personnel related.

Is IoT the future of automation?

To stay neck and neck with the contemporaries while standing out in the market, fleet operating companies require a huge deal of data to keep track of the events bound to the vehicle tasks to monitor the overall productivity. Leveraging IoT in fleet management systems have dramatically boosted performance and sustainability.

The IoT in Fleet Management market’s global value exceeded over 7 billion USD with a growth rate of over 20% from 2016 to the present. There are over 250 million connected vehicles on the road and popular automotive companies such as Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland are already driving change by manufacturing intelligent vehicles equipped with advanced connectivity features.

Data is the new hero. Leveraging technologies such as big data analytics, observing the patterns by virtually tracking the data and establishing remote coordination has become a gamechanger for many fleet operating companies. Gaining insights to monitor and consistently provide high-quality services transforms your business. IoT assists in digital transformation with the help of broad-spectrum telematic systems and ultimately achieves optimal fleet management.

A fleet management software system uses a holistic approach to automate many manual processes and saves much paperwork. It enhances the vehicle’s timely availability and ensures optimal utilization to drive revenue growth. It also reduces the maintenance costs by providing cost-effective connectivity.

Use cases of IoT in fleet management:

1.Rapid data acquisition using sensors– Sensors are equipped to track every possible aspect of the vehicle, such as fuel, temperature, tire pressure, speed, etc. It is crucial to monitor them closely and periodically. This data can alleviate potential problems and aid in instant decision-making by directly connecting to the on-duty personnel and warning them well in advance.

2.Global Positioning System (GPS) – The GPS devices enable remote monitoring and tracking. Transmission of real-time data helps fleet operators monitor the vehicle status and driver activities to ensure safety and prompt service.

3.Automation– Automated warnings and notifications help drivers avoid any traffic or weather-related disruptions and provide crucial information such as the nearest gas stations or instructions for diagnostics.

4.On-Board Diagnostics (OBD II) – Compatible with the latest cellular networks, OBD reports the meaningful compilation of the critical data. A customized dashboard can be created to assess this data, which provides a report to the fleet managers. It can significantly cut down the audit time.

5.Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in IoT– RFID tags have proven extremely useful as they capture the required information subject to the unique IDs (UID) using the attached microchip. When integrated with IoT features, RFID can help quick transmission of the data, which assists in product traceability and inventory management. RFID also provides a wide range of applications related to security, stock tracking, etc., and increases the overall accuracy by eliminating the possibility of human errors.

Here are some of the advantages offered by IoT in fleet management:

Personnel safety by driver tracking – Monitor driver actions, on-road fares, and security by potential risk mitigation to prevent conflicts, accidents, and vehicle downtime.
Cost reduction – Cut down unnecessary pit stops and reduce engine idle time to avoid fuel wastage.

Preventive maintenance – Prevents and reduces downtime by predicting the risks and issues timely warnings to perform an inspection. This increases the asset’s life and consequently reduces maintenance costs.

Improve engine performance – Active monitoring using sensors can help predict a potential engine failure and duly implement engine diagnostics.

Compliance with environmental guidelines – Some systems like OBDs can also perform smoke testing to reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment while abiding by safety regulations.

Fuel efficiency – Optimized routes reduce fuel refills and ensure that the vehicle doesn’t run out of fuel abruptly. It also helps reduce idle time and save energy.
Remote tracking = increased security.

In trying times like these, where a global pandemic is taking over the world, it’s almost impossible to monitor and enable timely delivery and tracking of essentials while abiding by the lockdown protocols. It is high time you eliminate this uncertainty by investing in an effective fleet management solution.

Ready to step up your fleet management game?

Learn more about our comprehensive Fleet Management Solutions!

Top 11 Web Development Technologies That You Need To Know In 2021

Mathan kb — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 19:00:40 +0000

The growth of web applications is pretty strong and the trend is all set to continue for the next few years. As websites are the face of the businesses, the role of websites and web applications can’t be taken lightly. Every year the new technologies and trends add to the website and web application development. Are you aware of the latest web development technologies and trends that will make a significant impact on businesses in 2021 and beyond? Well, if you’re looking for one, I have shared top 11 web development technologies and trends in 2021 and beyond for enterprises and this might help your business keep abreast of the trends to stay ahead of competitors.

Also, in this post, I have shared some web development frameworks and tips to find the right web application development company to help you improve your business performance through better customer engagement.

Here are some of the popular web applications that most of you are using in day to day lives.

Let’s get started with the web development technologies for 2021.

Top web development frameworks

AngularJS.
Vue JS.
React.JS
Laravel
Express
Ruby on Rails
Django
ASP.Net
Spring
jQuery
Express
Symfony

Web development programming languages for 2021

Java
C#
Python
JavaScript
Golang
CSS
HTML
Meteor JS
Express.Js
Zend
PHP
Ruby
Coffeescript

Web development trends for 2021 and beyond

1. Motion UI

Beautiful web applications with intuitive designs often garner the attention of online users. Motion UI plays a major role in creating such websites that adds so much value to your marketing team and business.

Top reasons why Motion UI is trending in 2021

Less time to develop
Attracts users easily
Helps display products easily and elegantly
Saves cost for enterprises
Looks attractive and intuitive
So, in a nutshell, Motion UI will definitely play a huge role in the upcoming years too as they have a potential to close more sales for enterprises.

2. Push Notifications

How many of you have witnessed a notification when you pass by a restaurant or a supermarket? Yes, you might have received alerts on offers, discounts when close to some retail stores and this is because of the Push Notifications used by those companies. This really is a useful technique for both the enterprises and users as they provide a high level of personalization which leads to improved visitors and sales.

Top reasons why Push Notification is trending in 2021 and beyond

Makes users lives simpler
Helps users make actions without visiting websites
Direct communication to the users
High personalization for better sales
According to reports Push Notifications are considered to increase sales by at least 78% for enterprises. If you haven’t tried this it is a worthy technique to be implemented immediately.

3. AI chatbots

Have you ever seen a website or web application without a Chatbot or virtual assistant? Well, you couldn’t have. And, this shows the power and growth of AI powered chatbots in the online space. Almost all companies have started to leverage the power of this wonder technique to keep their users glued to their business for improved conversions and engagement.

Top reasons why AI chatbots are trending in 2021 and beyond

Engages customers faster and better
Instant replies to customer queries
Helps make the decision making faster
Simple and easy to use
Skyrocket sales
With such amazing benefits offered no company would think against implementing AI powered chatbot for their business improvements. This trend is all set to continue for long.

4. Progressive Web Applications

Though Progressive Web Applications are not new to the enterprise space, the growth rate of implementing PWAs for business needs is increasing pretty thick and fast. The best reason why PWAs are widely recognized as an amazing web application trend is for their ability to perform like native applications, making them friendly to end users.

Top reasons why PWAs are trending in 2021 and beyond

Fast and seamless
Easy to install and update
Native-like user experience
Decreased load time
Increased conversions
PWAs are really going to be game changers for most businesses in today’s world, the likes of Forbes, Alibaba, The Washington Post are built on PWA. By now you know why PWAs will rule the rooster in the upcoming years.

5. Voice search optimization

If one trend is really making a great impact on the enterprise users today, it is optimizing for voice search. This really makes a lot of difference as 98% of consumers or users use only voice search to find a store or make a purchase. By enabling this technology, enterprises can really impress their customers amazingly.

Top reasons why Voice Search Optimization is trending in 2021.

Enables users to search without touching the web interface
Provides faster results and access to data on the go
Seamless and effective
Increased user engagement and sales
Experts say that voice search will be the next revolution in the enterprise success and this is the reason why most companies have already optimized their web applications for voice search.

6. AMP

What if your website loads slowly? You’d end up losing potential customers every second of slow loading time. Accelerated Mobile Pages are exclusively used to avoid such circumstances. They help users by helping the websites load faster and briskly thus improving visitor engagement and leading to sales.

Top reasons why AMP is trending in 2021 and beyond

Loads in 2 seconds
Delivers amazing user experience
SEO-friendly
Improves branding and web visibility
Creates a huge difference with respect to user engagement
AMP based web applications are fast and seamless. This is the reason why most companies are using AMPs to improve their website performance today.

7. Single page application

What do you prefer? A website with loads of pages to navigate from or a single page application with all important specs on one page. Definitely the latter will make your users’ decision making process much easier. Single page applications are growing popular today and most companies create such applications to improve their visitor’s digital footprints and buying behaviour.

Top reasons why single page applications are trending in 2021 and beyond.

Loads faster on a smart device
Parallels the experience of users in laptops and desktops
Retains visitors better
Increases loading time
Prompts buying behaviour
Single page applications will create a stir in the market in the upcoming years as they can play a prime role in engaging customers better and increasing conversions.

8. Blockchain technology

Though the blockchain trend is there for quite some time, the full potential is not extracted yet. The upcoming years might see the soaring of blockchain technology use in web application development. With many companies focusing on cryptocurrency, this technology would definitely make an impact in the enterprise arena in the near future.

Top reasons why blockchain technology is trending in 2021 and beyond

Highly secure
No intermediaries during transactions
Data safety
Improved operational efficiency
Helps studying user behaviours better
It is worth noting that top banks and other financial institutions are widely considering Blockchain for their enterprise needs. This apparently shows this technology has the potential to strike gold in the enterprise space.

9. Internet of things

The role of IoT in web application development can’t be taken lightly as this is a game changer in every industry implementation. IoT helps in connecting data from machines to humans and humans to humans or from anything to humans. With such technology building robust web applications that meet user expectations will never be difficult.

See Also: Web App Development for Enterprises – Benefits and Trends for 2020
Top reasons why IoT is trending in 2021 and beyond

Faster and easier to load
Highly reliable and scalable applications
Highly efficient and trendy UI
Integrated easily with existing technologies to provide an astonishing user experience
According to reports, IoT will be the next-generation technology that would be used by enterprises in multiple projects. This is the one of the technologies that any enterprise should never miss out on.

10. API-first app development

Building applications that are API-first will help enterprises integrate with different functions easily. With everything moving towards a connected world and enterprise, creating API-first applications are extremely critical for improving the performance of businesses.

Top reasons why API-first app development is trending in 2021 and beyond

Front end developers don’t have to wait for back-end developers
Faster development cycle
Increased capabilities and integrations
API-first web app development is widely favoured by most companies today as it simplifies the development process and helps bringing products faster to market.

11. AR & VR

Not but not the least. Augmented reality and virtual reality is certainly a wonderful addition to any retail business as they can provide an incredible user experience that will most always lead to skyrocket conversions.

Top reasons why AR & VR is trending in 2021 and beyond.

Easy, quick and interactive web applications
Improves branding and marketing
Allows for users to get better understanding of products without unboxing them
Virtual tours
No language barriers
Extensive business outreach
AR & VR has the potential to take the shopping behaviour of users to the next level. Many retailers have started to feel the impact of these technologies and are incorporating them in their marketing strategy.

These are the top 11 web development technologies and trends that will dominate enterprises in the year of 2021 and beyond.

Conclusion

However if you really wish to have the complete benefits of the trends and technologies partnering with a right web application development really matters. Remember, it is of no doubt that all the trends discussed above are game changes, but only when they are implemented in the correct way. Make sure you have the right web application development comapny to discuss your needs.