USA retail chain Lifetime Products is enhancing its logistics operations following the deployment of RCT’s advanced fleet management solution SmarTrack® Global.
The industrial fleet management technology provides Lifetime Products' management with a comprehensive overview of their materials handling equipment fleet and workforce behavior.
Lifetime Products sells a broad range of outdoor equipment including sporting goods, porch furniture and gardening equipment which are manufactured and distributed by over 1,500 employees.
The company originated in the garage of its founder in 1986 but now boasts six outlet stores across Utah, one in Idaho and a network of international partners.
Lifetime Products Area Supervisor Brandi James said SmarTrack® Global is benefitting fleet operations across multiple areas.
“(Since) installing SmarTrack® on our lifts (it has) improved our safety 10-fold (and we) have been able to manage maintenance on the machines a lot better,” he said.
“(SmarTrack® has) improved our overall productivity and keeping the workers liable for what they are doing and how they are spending their time (when they operate the equipment).”
SmarTrack® Global’s market-leading features include global reporting whereby managers can access real-time data on the entire mixed equipment fleet regardless of make or model across multiple sites, from one device.
The solution also offers pre- and post-start checklists, email alerts for incidents and expiring licenses, operator login requirements and machine speed, weight, seat and buckle monitoring.
Following a successful trial period of SmarTrack® Global, RCT’s Salt Lake City-based team are rolling out the solution across 15 machines within two Lifetime warehouses at the Freeport Center Industrial Complex in Clearfield, Utah.
SmarTrack® Global is seamlessly integrating with Lifetime’s diverse fleet including Uni Carrier internal combustion RSIL18NV and MCUIF2A25LV forklifts and Jungheinrich battery-electric ETG318 forklifts.
RCT Account Manager – Industrial, Nikolas Walden said the solution is providing Lifetime with real-time data which enables managers to make immediate improvements across their mixed equipment.
“SmarTrack® is holding operators accountable for equipment damage and management has noticed that SmarTrack®-equipped machines have significantly less damage than machines without SmarTrack®,” he said.
“The technology enables supervisors to easily access pre-shift inspections and to receive real-time alerts when a lift needs service or repairs.”
“SmarTrack® has increased productivity across their operations because management can see what machines are spending excessive amounts of time idling and they can implement new procedures to address this.”
RCT’s local Field Service team are implementing SmarTrack® Global across the machine fleet and providing onsite technical support to Lifetime staff on an ongoing basis.
RCT has successfully commissioned its fleet management system SmarTrack® as the first stage of a project with materials handling specialist International Heavy Equipment in the Sultanate of Oman.
The project is a result of Oman Air SATS Cargo—the premier cargo operations handler at Muscat International Airport—upgrading to electric tow tractors and counterbalance forklifts including a Fleet Management System.
RCT along with International Heavy Equipment which is the Oman dealer of Jungheinrich Materials Handling Equipment successfully fitted 6 Jungheinrich EZS 590 Tow Tractors and 10 EFG220 Counterbalance Forklifts with SmarTrack® Fleet Management.
The SmarTrack® product collects and reports operational data for each machine in an entire fleet providing live data to give site managers quick access to key production and maintenance performance indicators as well as real-time notifications of heavy impacts or damage to machines.
RCT Senior Business Development Manager – Industrial, Grahame Don said the company is pleased to have successfully commissioned the product for International Heavy Equipment and in turn Oman Air SATS Cargo.
“SmarTrack® will deliver significant benefits for the end user including efficiency gains for site and fleet managers, compliance from operators and cost reductions due to less machine maintenance and repair works,” he said.
“The product provides for a multilingual checklist which in this case will be provided in English and Arabic to machine operators.”
International Heavy Equipment Sales Engineer – Jungheinrich, Mohammed Shahid said the company is delighted to partner with RCT on Fleet Management solutions and hopes to continue this business relationship in the future.
“We are pleased with the application of SmarTrack® due to its ease of integration with the Jungheinrich system and successfully catering to the operational needs of our client.”
Oman Air SATS Cargo Chief Operating Officer Henry Christopher said he is delighted that the technology has been implemented into their operation.
“The SmarTrack® fleet management system will provide Oman Air SATS Cargo managers with key data in real-time that will enable us to make informed decisions to benefit our operations,” he said.
“I look forward to working with RCT in the future to help deliver quality solutions to our air freight handling fleet.”
In February and again in May this year, RCT Technical Support Manager – Industrial Matt Ingram and International Heavy Equipment representatives jointly delivered training on the new machines and the SmarTrack® system to Oman Air SATS Cargo management and machine operators.