Case Studies
Tire Manufacturing
When an American, highly automated tire production plant wanted to replace their aging one-way paging system to alert maintenance technicians to a breakdown in the production chain they turned to Datalink to provide a solution.
Concrete Delivery
Knelsen Sand and Gravel located in Calgary, Canada approached Datalink through a local Kenwood dealer to provide a status tracking program for use with the Kenwood mobile radios previously installed in their concrete delivery trucks.
School Bus Tracking
A Kenwood LMR dealer in Halifax, NS, Canada asked Datalink to supply a tracking and monitoring system for 95 school buses. The system had to track start and stop times, scheduled en-route stops, and door openings and closing.
Volunteer Firefighters
The days of 911 one-way alerts to pagers are fading away. Datalink's NEXalert routes 911 email alerts directly to Kenwood NEXEDGE portable radios and older analog Fleetsync radios. NEXalert sends the 911 information simultaneously to all radios in the selected groups.
Skelton Truck Lines
Skelton Truck Lines, based in Toronto, Canada, operate a highly specialized and temperature controlled transportation service for the delivery of pharmaceuticals and blood plasma products across Canada and the United States to pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and distribution centers.
Electric Co-Op
An Electric Co-Op in Minnesota running a Kenwood NEXEDGE Network wanted to add more advanced GPS data and network roaming capabilities to their NX Radios. The Kenwood SMR turned to Datalink Systems to deliver a solution. Datalink developed and delivered a unique solution.
Tire Manufacturing
Major Tire Manufacturer Selects Datalink for Automated Tire Production Plant
When an American, highly automated tire production plant wanted to replace their aging one-way paging system to alert maintenance technicians to a breakdown in the production chain which required an immediate repair they turned to Datalink and a local Kenwood LMR dealer to provide a solution.
The plant management selected Kenwood NEXEDGE portable radios for voice communications and a Datalink text messaging solution based on Datalink's well proven DataGate software management programs.
Typically when a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) monitoring automated processes detects a fault, the PLC sends a status signal to a systems monitoring console. The console operator will assess the problem and will send a service alert to one of a number of plant service technicians with the required training for the particular fault. The alert service call details are entered into the Datalink software program which is then transmitted over the NEXEDGE network to the appropriate technician for immediate repair action. The details appear on the portable radio's text screen. The time/date stamped details are also stored in the maintenance department's database. All status reports entered by the technician at the fault location into the radio using status keys are transmitted back to the systems monitoring control console and automatically recorded in the Datalink program.
Concrete Delivery
Concrete Ready Mix Company selects Datalink to provide a "bespoke" status reporting system for liquid concrete delivery trucks
Knelsen Sand and Gravel located in Calgary, Canada approached Datalink through a local Kenwood dealer to provide a status tracking program for use with the Kenwood mobile radios previously installed in their concrete delivery trucks. Live status updates inform the dispatchers on the status and location of every truck on a minute-by-minute basis, ensuring an efficient flow of concrete at every job site.
Each status update is transmitted over the Kenwood LMR network to a DataGate processing hub. Normally this is installed on the ready-mix company’s computer which processes the data and forwards it to the dispatch desk that monitors all the concrete trucks allowing for efficient and quick truck routing. Speed and efficiency are important because liquid concrete must be mixed, quickly delivered to a construction site, and poured before it sets.
The Knelsen Company chose to use the existing status keys on the Kenwood radio faceplate to send their current status. An option was to install MDT terminals.
MDT terminals also allow for CAN engine monitoring which can immediately email engine alerts to the maintenance department. The maintenance department can instruct the driver to shut down the engine which can result in the prevention of costly engine repairs.
GPS Tracking of School Buses over NEXEDGE
A Kenwood LMR dealer in Halifax, NS, Canada asked Datalink to supply a tracking and monitoring system for 95 school buses. The system had to track start and stop times, scheduled en-route stops, and door openings and closing. All statuses needed to be time and date stamped.
Datalink i50 data terminals were installed in each bus and wired to the required sensors. The i50s were connected by cable to the data connector on the rear of the radios. GPS location information and other data is transmitted over the Kenwood network to a base radio which is cable connected to a PC computer. This runs a "serial to Ethernet" adaptor which forwards the data to a DataGate and WebGate desktop monitors.
Optional Basic Operation with Only NX Radios
The lowest cost option is to use only NX radios with GPS. NX radio inputs are used to sense door openings and other actions. If GPS reports are sent every X minutes they may interfere with voice communications. If that is a problem, only use door opening and ignition ON/OFF reports.
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Flashing lights store and report
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Stop arm extend store and report
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Door open/close store and report
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Driver ID required before engine will start
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Student ID boarding and disembarking logged
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Speeding and bad driving logged
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Engine monitoring for maintenance department
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Automatic engine service alerts
Volunteer Firefighters
NEXalert - 911 Digital Paging for Today’s Volunteer Firefighters
The days of 911 one-way alerts to pagers are fading away. Datalink's NEXalert routes 911 email alerts directly to Kenwood NEXEDGE portable radios and older analog Fleetsync radios. NEXalert sends the 911 information simultaneously to all radios in the selected groups. Messages are repeated three times, twenty seconds apart to ensure best delivery.
When a 911 call is placed, the 911 center should have the ability to dispatch the call via email to the appropriate fire department. A DataGate IP routing controller automatically relays the information to one or more radio groups where volunteer firemen are equipped with Kenwood mobile radios. Alternately the fire station chief can select the groups that will be called to the fire hall. All alerts are transmitted three times. The fire chief has the added option to send additional text messages.
NEXalert includes an emergency call button for any firefighter in distress with GPS location and ID transmitted to the command post. Each firefighter’s location can appear on a tracking map in the command post. GPS locations of firefighters in distress in forest and bushland firefighting can be transmitted to helicopters.
The local fire hall and volunteer firemen must be equipped with either Kenwood NEXEDGE digital radios or Fleetsync analog radios.
Skelton Truck Lines
Datalink Delivers an Advanced Dual Network Tracking and Load Security System for Skelton Truck Lines Ltd. Canada
Skelton Truck Lines, based in Toronto, Canada, operate a highly specialized and temperature controlled transportation service for the delivery of pharmaceuticals and blood plasma products across Canada and the United States to pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and distribution centers.
When Skelton wanted to improve their live tracking system for monitoring the trucks and trailers including the critical temperature condition for each shipment, they turned to Datalink Systems Inc. Datalink engineered a complete tracking and monitoring system including on-board smart control, based on the Datalink i50 and Mobius Windows messaging software. GPS, messages, and sensor information is transmitted every few minutes to a DataGate software routing program installed in Skelton’s communication server over cellular networks with automatic switching to Iridium Satellite communications when cellular service is interrupted. Dispatchers use Datalink’s WebGate to monitor and process messages and data.
The Datalink i50 is a multi-network intelligent vehicle mounted terminal. Wireless Networks include Cellular, Iridium Satellite, UHF/VHF, NEXEDGE (Kenwood), and WiFi. The i50 also has multiple I/Os and RS-232 serial ports for connection to external devices. Host control is by the time-proven DataGate software developed by Datalink.
Minnesota Electric Co-Op
LMR Wide-Area Automatic Channel Switching
An Electric Co-Op in Minnesota running a Kenwood NEXEDGE Network wanted to add more advanced GPS data and network roaming capabilities to their NX Radios.
The Kenwood SMR turned to Datalink Systems to deliver a solution. Datalink developed and delivered a unique solution where the radio channel switching was controlled by a Datalink i50 based on the GPS location of the vehicle. This allowed service vehicles supporting high voltage transmission lines to roam around the state and when within the coverage of the network would automatically switch the radio to the channel with strongest coverage for the area.
The operator has manual override control at all times.
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