Managing mobile equipment fleets across New Zealand’s winemaking industry has never been easier thanks to the hard work of Blenheim-based Forklift Hire Services and smart technology specialist RCT.

The partnership has seen Forklift Hire Services deploy RCT’s market-leading fleet management system SmarTrack® Global to materials handling equipment used by wineries across the country.

Operations Managers can now access data from their entire fleet across multiple sites via one platform with the system's global reporting capability.

A high level of safety, compliance and acceptance are achieved at operations using the latest in fleet management technology with functions such as GPS Zoning, multilingual interfaces, pre-and post-start checklists, operator logins, speed, weight and belt buckle monitoring, impact reporting and message notifications.

Forklift Hire Services Managing Director Jonny Orr said they have deployed 20 SmarTrack® Global units to numerous pieces of industrial equipment over the last 12 months.

“We applied SmarTrack® Global to a variety of petrol and electric machines such as 24v and 80v equipment including forklifts, scissor lifts, knuckle booms and a container handler,” Mr Orr said.

“SmarTrack® Global’s ability to integrate with all brands and equipment types makes it a perfect solution for our customers who wish to supervise every machine in their very diverse fleets.”

Forklift Hire Service’s clients in the winery industry typically utilise their industrial equipment in barrel halls and on bottling lines and for the loading and unloading of trucks which takes place both indoors and outdoors.

“Primarily, our clients seek the operator login function, pre-start checklists for OSH compliance purposes and being able to set alerts for impacts, service reminders and expiring forklift licenses, which is crucial to remain in line with New Zealand’s safety laws,” Mr Orr said.

“Our clients know the product can clearly identify operator habits and incidents which enables managers to implement policies to reduce wear and tear on the machine fleet.”

“From our own perspective as a hire company we work across different businesses and industries and SmarTrack® Global can adhere to the different OSH business systems, so we really enjoy how flexible the system is.”

“The system provides us with real-time notifications alerting us when our hire equipment needs servicing meaning it is easy to be fully across the status of each of our machines at all times.”

RCT Account Manager – Industrial Nicholas Noorman said SmarTrack® Global provides information in relation to ‘events’ that at can highlight areas such as training, environmental hazards, and machine application.

“The SmarTrack system increases the level of responsibility and ownership on the operator, thus reinforcing a positive safety culture,” he said.

Mr Noorman said the work with Forklift Hire Services demonstrates how versatile the fleet management system really is.

“Regardless of the industry you are in or the diversity of your mobile equipment fleet SmarTrack® Global can provide you the information needed to enhance your operation.”

“This work is just the latest successful deployment of SmarTrack® Global to a mobile equipment fleet in New Zealand and we look forward to continuing a positive working relationship with Forklift Hire Services.”