Munich, 16 November 2021. RIO and ZF, through its Transics brand, are taking their partnership to a whole new level this year. With newly developed interfaces and improved data exchange between the partners’ cloud-based solutions customers can now decide on transport data sources, the trucks used and how information is presented at the front end. This is particularly beneficial for mixed fleet operators using software and hardware from both companies. In the long term, clients will have the option of using the RIO or Transics Portal, regardless of whether a truck is equipped with a RIO box or Transics hardware. If either paid service is selected, RIO will send business-relevant data sets such as vehicle position, driver identification, tacho activities or sensor-based information to the Transics’ platform.
The customer benefits of this closer collaboration include ensuring new trucks are instantly ready to begin operations by eliminating the downtimes associated with retrofitting. The strengthened collaboration between RIO and Transics also enables fleetowners to maintain a comprehensive and efficient single-view of all their vehicles using Transics’ TX-CONNECT back-office platform. Transics customers can also register and onboard their fleets for free at RIO making their assets available for further product offerings as well as supporting shippers operating on the RIO Platform. This improved visibility will be key in offering enhanced service levels to logistics partners, thereby ultimately reinforcing the fleet’s competiveness. The improved compatibility between RIO and Transics applies to over 300,000 vehicles being managed by fleet owners across Europe and will help further improve their operational efficiency.
“The close cooperation with ZF and its Transics customers underscores our aspiration to better connect all stakeholders in the supply chain. We create value by becoming more hardware independent and offering greater flexibility to our customers. With its own services and leveraging those of its partners, RIO is itself a data hub for a more efficient transport ecosystem which, rather than silo working, is fully open to cooperation with partners and competitors alike. In this context, the close, two-way exchange of data with Transics is a prime example for the cooperation necessary in the industry today,” sayed Jan Kaumanns, CEO of RIO, explaining the motives behind the closer cooperation.
Peter Bal, Business Leader Digital Customer Services, EMEA, with ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Control Systems division, added: “Many transport companies operate mixed fleets where MAN trucks are equipped with a RIO box and other vehicle brands with a Transics’ IoT connectivity solution. In line with the needs of customers, we help unify and visualize the data from their entire fleet through a single interface to deliver a consistent user experience. We can do this quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively in close coordination with RIO. The optimised data transfer services provided by RIO and Transics result in important efficiency gains and help our joint customers to manage their fleets at an optimized total cost of ownership.”
Customer satisfaction “Made in France”
The first company to benefit from the closer cooperation between RIO and ZF’s Transics-branded products is the French logistics service provider, Jacky Perrenot. The Drôme-based company, founded over three-quarters of a century ago, recently faced a “mixed” situation with part of its fleet using Transics and its MAN trucks equipped with RIO boxes.
As a result, Christophe Dauzat, head of purchasing at Jacky Perrenot, explained: “This teamwork epitomises the competitive pragmatism that we associate with a supplier who has an excellent understanding of its customers' needs. RIO and Transics have recognised that by connecting the two platforms, there is an opportunity to reduce the cost and downtime associated with retrofitting hardware, thereby affording us greater flexibility. New trucks from MAN are ready to head out onto the road immediately after the respective services are booked, rather than having to go back into the workshop for installation work.”
“In the future, a greater degree of networking and partnering will be required if transportation logistics operations are to be optimally efficient. This will affect all areas from order management, live shipment tracking and arrival forecasting to data analysis of previous consignments for optimisation purposes. The trucks and the information gained from the trips they make will play an important role in this. The fact that customers can now monitor more than 300,000 trucks through the expanded partnership with Transics and share the data with customers of both companies is an important step towards improved, cross-manufacturer fleet management,” emphasised RIO CEO Jan Kaumanns.
