One of the world’s leading suppliers of trailer monitoring controls, Secureseal Systems enjoys a first class reputation as a provider of wireless intelligence for logistics suppliers’ needs, encompassing RF trailer location systems, RF security seal systems and RF refrigerated trailer temperature monitoring solutions. The company serves a broad customer base spanning retail and supermarket fleets, 3PLs, airlines, trailer manufacturers, bus and coach operators and parcel carriers. The product portfolio includes the most advanced and reliable re-usable security seal available, as well as the most advanced RF-based trailer fleet management systems, and has won various awards for innovation.
Ben Grant, Chairman and founder of OEM Marketing Services Ltd, Secureseal Systems’ parent company, spoke to Warehouse & Logistics News.
Warehouse & Logistics News – When and where was the business founded, and who by? Who owns it now?
My wife Joyce and I formed the holding company OEM Marketing Services Ltd in 1976. We initially operated from our spare bedroom in Enfield. We remain the controlling directors, with 70% of the stock.
WLN – How did you get started?
I had been employed as Sales Director with a division of the Rank Organisation, and identified a profitable business opportunity supplying low volume specialist components to the original equipment manufacturers. I resigned my position with Rank and we started on our own with just enough capital to last six months.
WLN – Why did you call yourselves OEM Marketing?
We planned to sell specifically to the large original equipment manufacturers, hence the company name. Within our first year of trading we had a blue chip customer base, including industry leaders such as Rolls Royce, Caterpillar Tractor, Perkins Diesel, Bell Fruit and Rank Xerox. I am delighted to say that after 30 years almost all our original customers still use us as a specialist supplier.
WLN – How do you sum up the Group philosophy?
Our approach was to identify and solve customers’ supply problems regarding low cost but essential data monitoring components. We were always innovative in our approach to problem solving, and committed to providing exceptional customer service.
We also decided to limit the company size to a maximum 10 staff and turnover to about £2m. To maintain a high level of specialisation, we outsourced or split off individual business sectors as they expanded.
WLN – How big is the Group in turnover, staff and operating locations worldwide?
The enterprise consists of a number of companies with interests in industrial property, industrial controls, building controls, security seals, asset location and monitoring. The company focused on trailer control applications is Secureseal Systems Ltd, which will achieve a turnover of about £2m in our 2008/9 Financial Year. We have strategic partners in several countries. Currently we have four staff dedicated to the trailer systems business.
WLN – How many countries do you operate in worldwide?
We serve customers in 14 countries, spread over the EU, North and South America and SE Asia. Secureseal Systems is growing fast, and we currently have field trials and quotations in place that indicate more than 100% growth in 2008/9.
WLN – How big is Secureseal Systems in the UK? How important is the UK to your worldwide operation?
We have 10 direct staff on the current payroll. Sales revenues are approximately 60% UK and 40% export.
WLN – For the uninitiated, what are the typical functional components of a trailer management system, as provided by Secureseal Systems?
We spent a considerable amount of time studying the trailer market’s needs before deciding to form Secureseal Systems Ltd. The market for vehicle tracking was, to our mind, already overcrowded and we were determined to offer a really unique package focused on specific needs. Feedback from our existing customer base had highlighted that the key problem areas were wiring connections from tractor to trailer, provision of reliable power supply and cost on trailer (COT). It was apparently much easier to achieve ROI on the costly truck or tractor than on the basic trailer. In some cases, fitting essential equipment to the trailer could be as costly as the equipment itself.
Our answer after much investment in development is a family of self-powered components that reliably communicate by RF (433MHz) signal. We eliminated the problems of power supply and reduced fitting time to a few minutes. Cost on trailer COT can even be under £100.
The system is made complete by the provision of either tractor or depot-mounted transceivers, which also provide data logging capability.
These modules are also designed to be “plug and play,” ensuring low installation cost. To complete the family we can provide data transmission either by GSM/GPRS or satellite for higher security and truly international range.
WLN – What specific products do you supply to deliver these functions? What does each of these do?
The RF-based SecureTemp temperature management system enables independent load temperature monitoring in trailers or trucks, combined with optional immediate driver alarms to signal temperature threshold breaches. The system can also deliver remote temperature information while vehicles are in the depot, and where required the optional Secureseal Systems components expand the temperature management capabilities across the supply chain from production, through distribution and warehousing to point of sale.
Also RF-based, the SecureLocator trailer location system is the least cost depot location system for trailer fleet management. In simple terms, it tells trailer fleet operators which depot their trucks and trailers fitted with the RF beacons are in, and when they entered and when they left the monitored locations.
Secureseal Data, the latest development of our market leading random number tamper evident door seal, can now be used to deliver historical tamper-proof trailer door activity data. Depending on the degree of integration with the Secureseal Systems solution, this data can either be used to manage trailer security when entering or exiting depots or, if required, provide real time information about door opening events while the vehicle is en route. The GateManager fleet management solution is a least cost, internet-based, modular fleet management solution that provides the customer with the management reports necessary to manage his diverse operations.
WLN – In layman’s terms, how does data get from the trailer to your office and from there to the customer?
We use the communications technologies best suited to the logistics operation and depot of vehicle type managed; in the case of depots, we use our proven GSM/GPRS cell hubs to collect the sensor data. Where the customer requires communication of sensor and location data from un-tethered trailers in remote locations, we use the satellite-communicating MMT, and for communication from powered trucks and tractor units on the road we use cab-mounted GPS/GPRS mobile units to transmit the data to our servers, for presentation to the end customer in Internet browser-based management reports.
WLN – Do you retain customer data on your servers? How long for?
The data is retained live on our servers, depending on customer requirements. Typically we archive the data every 3 to 6 months, but this can extend to 12 months if required. Data is archived for 3 years but, again, can be transferred to the customers for storage if required.
WLN – What are your newest innovations?
The latest innovations are the integration of our proven RF sensors into the satellite-communicating MMT, thereby enabling real time exception reporting from mobile and uncoupled trailers. The MMT has been around for several years, with over 200,000 deployments worldwide. The addition of the RF sensor capabilities to the product extends the operational benefits of the trailer tracking system exponentially. Another recent development is the addition of our truck and tractor cab-mounted GPS/GPRS mobile units that uniquely include RF transceivers/data logging and CANBus, as well as the usual GPS/GPRS capabilities. Whilst modular, these two innovative products close the circle to ensure that by the end of 2008 we will have the unique ability to provide every aspect of logistics fleet monitoring not only for trailers, our core area of expertise, but also for powered vehicles.
WLN – Your UK customer base spans retail and supermarket fleets, 3PLs, airlines, trailer suppliers, UK bus and coach operators and parcel carriers. Can you name any customers, and talk about what you’ve done for them? What about major customers elsewhere?
We provide essential distance recording and security monitoring products to almost every major supermarket group in the UK and Europe, including Sainsbury, Tesco, Carrefour, Ahold and Safeway. Major bus companies include Stagecoach and First Bus. We enabled DTS (now Clipper Logistics) to operate full vehicle depot security with unmanned security gates, and provided Samworth Brothers with automatic temperature alerts on all trailers. Christian Salvesen monitors its extensive trailer fleet with full visibility across some 45 depots.
WLN – How do you serve customers – direct or through distributors?
We already supply most major UK retail fleets, as well as many around the world. Traditionally we have always supplied the retail and brand fleet operators and their contract logistics providers in the UK direct, but use our extensive distributor network to supply all other markets. We are aggressively, but selectively, further expanding our distributor network, particularly in Europe and Canada, to drive the sale of the new systems product now proven in global deployments with our customers.
WLN – When trailers are sold or scrapped, can you take out the IT that’s been installed and transfer it to other trailers?
Where the equipment is hard wired, as in the case of the in-cab mobile units, customers’ qualified workshop personnel or our engineers can remove it easily. All other Secureseal Systems products are modular and easily moved between vehicles, as they are battery powered, installed using plastic ties or adhesive kits. Reinstallation is therefore very easy.
WLN – Where are these products made? Where is the technology developed?
All our security seals, RF sensors and the in-cab GPS/GPRS mobile units were developed for Secureseal Systems, and manufactured in the UK. The GPS/satellite communications equipment was developed and patented in the USA and due to the volume requirement, manufactured in the Far East.
WLN – What are the challenges operators face in managing trailer fleets? How do these considerations differ from the problems of managing drivers and trucks?
Tracking powered vehicles such as trucks, vans and cars is the easy bit, and the fact that there are hundreds of such equipment and service providers in the UK confirms this. To my knowledge there are only three or four companies in Europe, two based in the UK, that have developed viable trailer fleet tracking devices. The Secureseal Systems trailer management systems are, due to the use of RF technologies, by far the least cost products available worldwide.
Tracking unpowered assets such as trailers and containers is the difficult part. The main challenges are power and the operating environment, temperature being a primary concern, but also humidity, power wash and the usual dust, sand and gravel. GPS/ GPRS-based systems, as used to track-powered vehicles, do of course work on trailers, but due to the power and environmental challenges require extensive hardwired installations and peripheral equipment. This drives the cost to about £1,000 per trailer, in the case of two proven competitor systems. The Secureseal Systems trailer tracking systems can cost under £100 per trailer.
Trailers simply do not carry the high capital investment and operating costs associated with trucks, and therefore the margin for a return on investment on any trailer tracking system is limited. The cost of the trailer tracking system deployed must therefore be as low as possible to maximise the ROI.
WLN – What environmental conditions and temperature extremes is your kit tested to?
Our trailer fleet management systems are, where appropriate, tested and certified to meet the SAE J1455 standard for fitment of electronic equipment to heavy commercial vehicles. Additional standards relating to military requirements are also certified. Meeting and exceeding an operating temperature range of -40 to +85 Celsius, both from a battery and radio technology perspective, is crucial to the reliability of any trailer tracking equipment. Even an IP67 rated casing for the radio equipment has proved unreliable over recent years, hence our move to an IP68 and a recent upgrade to IP69 rated casing to eliminate humidity ingress into the radio equipment. No other trailer tracking system we are aware of meets these operating conditions.
WLN – What power sources does your kit run on?
Due to the power-related challenges associated with trailer tracking, all our equipment uses primary lithium Thionyl batteries. This is the only battery technology we are aware of that operates reliably at -40 to +85 Celsius, and in combination with the patented satellite communications radio and RF technologies can deliver up to 8 years’ battery life. Some competitors try to use lithium Ion and other rechargeable batteries that simply do not operate reliably at the temperature extremes, may not deliver long battery life, and require complex hardwired recharging systems that affect the system’s reliability.
WLN – What communications networks do your systems use? How does your kit interface with mobiles, the Internet and so on?
We use two different communication systems, the mobile telephone GSM network for depot and truck-based communications, and satellite communications for our remote trailer tracking devices. The sensors deployed to manage door asset ID and temperature all use various radio frequencies depending on international requirements. All the data is sent from the vehicle-borne tracking device or depot cell hubs to our servers in the form of raw data. We decode the data and deliver the fleet management information to the customer in role-based reports.
WLN – What are the certifying bodies for testing your kit? What standards do you work to?
Depending on the application and type of vehicle tracked, our equipment is certified to several standards. Apart from CE and FCC and Industry Canada approval, some of the equipment is certified as intrinsically safe under UL Class 1, Division 1, Groups A, B, C and D for operation in explosive environments. An important standard for the trailer equipment is SAE J1455, which defines the standards for electronic equipment fitted to heavy commercial vehicles. Important additional standards are MIL STD 810 and of course the NEMA IP rating previously described.
WLN – Where is OEM in the league table of vendors of this kit?
We are without doubt a market leader in regard to trailer security, with over 27,000 devices deployed. Our RF trailer location and temperature sensors, developed and recently launched, are quickly becoming the least cost solutions preferred by major trailer fleet operators. In the case of the MMT, this is without doubt the most widely deployed trailer tracking device in the UK, Europe and globally, with over 200,000 deployed mobile units. I believe it is a fair statement that we are one of the leading trailer fleet specialist equipment and services providers.
WLN – Why buy a trailer solution from OEM?
That’s an easy question to answer; our systems are the least cost solution available today. In addition, they are the only trailer telematics systems proven over a number of years in deployments on major UK trailer fleets, as well as globally in the most extreme operating environments imaginable. Innovation and proven reliability of the equipment, coupled with least cost solutions and an excellent customer service track record, ensure we stay ahead of the competition.
WLN – Aren’t all trailer security systems much the same – how do you differ?
I’m pretty confident that is what the layman, or even an experienced trailer fleet engineer, believes; we probably thought that was the case when we first started in this field of expertise several years ago, but experience has proven otherwise. Over the years many traditional tracking companies have tried to enter the trailer tracking market, and apart from the aforementioned, most have failed to deliver a reliable solution, because they have disregarded the challenges uniquely associated with trailer tracking.
One other trailer tracking equipment vendor in the UK and one in Germany have addressed the challenges, but their systems are costly, and for that reason alone may not be commercially viable solutions. The Secureseal Systems trailer tracking and telematics systems are unique because of the battery, radio communications technologies and the active radio frequency sensors used to ensure that our systems remain the least cost and most reliable systems available.
WLN – What does it cost to set up a solution supporting a fleet with a given number of vehicles?
The costs can be less than £100 per trailer over a three-year term plus £1,000 per depot with very limited monthly costs, due to the use of RF as a core communications medium. Typically the cost of our RF-based solutions is around one fifth of any competitor. The most expensive of our equipment options for GPS trailer tracking is £300 per trailer, with a monthly cost starting at £4.50 per trailer per month, again still a least cost trailer tracking system compared to most other trailer tracking vendors.
WLN – What are the business benefits of your technology for the customer?
The business benefits are many, and vary from customer to customer and depending on the solution deployed. The core benefits to trailer fleet operators are removal of the cost and inaccuracies associated with manual trailer location; improved fleet utilisation; ease of management of service and MOT schedules; and improved trailer and load security.
WLN – How do the prices and costs of your solutions compare with the cost of setting up and running GSM-based systems for fleet management?
The investment in any Secureseal Systems trailer tracking hardware is typically 20% to 40% of that in any GSM-based system. The monthly operating costs for RF-based systems can be as low as 50% of the cost of a GSM-based system operating just in the UK. Where GSM roaming charges are applicable to trailers operating across international borders, our satellite communications charges remove all such hidden charges by ensuring a flat rate monthly charge wherever the trailer is operated.
WLN – How long before you see a return on investment?
The time to achieve a return on the investment, based on the core trailer fleet operator benefits mentioned earlier, can range from a few months to a year, depending on the fleet size, how efficiently that fleet is managed, whether the trailer fleet operator uses subcontractors, and many other factors.
Where additional benefits such as extended customer loyalty and service, security of high value loads, reduction of losses due to temperature breaches and other factors apply, the ROI will not only increase exponentially over the term of the contract, but will be realised that much quicker.
WLN – Does having your kit mean lower insurance premiums?
We do know of considerable reductions in insurance premiums achieved, particularly in the case of high value vehicles and loads. These reductions must be negotiated between the fleet operator and their insurers. Many high value loads are shipped on a self insured basis by the manufacturers, and as such they must carry any losses. These manufacturers would without doubt welcome the security feature associated with the MMT and its resistance to jamming by low cost GSM jamming devices.
WLN – What awards has your kit won for excellence?
We were finalists in the RFID Breakthrough Awards 2006 for the innovative use of FR on the Christian Salvesen trailer fleet.
WLN – What’s the process of arriving at a tailored solution?
We capture each customer-specific requirement during the preliminary discussions and are able to tailor our trailer fleet management solutions to meet those needs, however basic or complex. Uniquely among tracking suppliers we can provide very low cost tailored field trials within a few weeks.
WLN – How long is it from first conversation with a potential customer to a tailored solution? How long from go ahead to go live?
As the systems are all modular, any combination of equipment and management reports can be delivered off the shelf in similar timescales. Typically a customer will require some degree of additional reporting; we cater for this in house, and our report software development timescales are very short.
We have productised our trailer management systems, SecureLocator, SecureTemp and SecureTrac, hence each product can be deployed within weeks of the order being received.
WLN – What maintenance does the kit need? What is its lifespan?
All our systems are designed from the outset to provide a long, reliable, unattended service life, as this is a prerequisite for any return on investment in a trailer tracking solution. The typical operational period for our battery-operated RF beacons and sensor range is four to five years. The GPS Trailer Tracking device has up to eight years’ operational battery life. In general terms, all battery-powered equipment is designed to operate for a minimum three years, and where possible the batteries are replaceable to extend the product life cycle.
WLN – How visible are the trailer-fitted elements of the system – can thieves and bad guys see them?
The GPS trailer tracking and RF sensor devices used by Secureseal Systems, unlike the GSM-based systems, do not have GSM SIM cards and as such are not perceived as useful to petty criminals. All devices can be deployed covertly where operations demand this for security reasons, but are typically installed on the trailer bulkhead in the case of Trailer ID Beacons, on the trailer roof in the case of the GPS Trailer Tracking devices, or inside the trailer in the case of the magnetic door and temperature sensors. Theft of the devices has never been an issue over the years.
WLN – How adaptable or scalable are your solutions as businesses grow?
The modularity of the Secureseal Systems allows fleet operators to quickly deploy the core solution to meet initially limited requirements, say purely trailer location within dispersed depots. Over time the fleet operator can add additional modules to extend visibility on the road and add door, temperature and other sensors to extend control. The system’s modular nature ensures the longest possible product life cycle by ensuring customers can add components of the system as their business and requirements grow over time.
WLN – Is this kit compulsory under EU and UK law?
Trailer tracking is not compulsory in any EU country: the reasons for deployment are generally commercial by way of improved business processes and efficiency benefits and security.
WLN – Does this kit comply with communications regulations in different parts of the world?
As previously mentioned the RF, GSM and Satellite communications devices meet all regulatory standards worldwide.
WLN – How much end user training is needed for the overall system? Do you provide the training?
There is very little end user training required as all devices, as well as the software, are designed from the outset to be easy to install, operate and use. We are happy to provide initial training as part of the deliverables in a contract.
WLN – How easily updated is the kit?
All software is maintained and regularly updated by Secureseal Systems in-house. All RF hardware components have a long product life cycle, during which they will not require any upgrades, as we ensure all systems are backwards compatible. In the case of the remote communications devices, these are all remotely programmable using either the GSM network or 2.4GHz RF communications. Any upgrades on the latter are generally carried out without any, or only limited, interaction with the end customer.
WLN – What are the external drivers impacting on demand for your kit?
The external influences on demand for our trailer tracking systems are the trailer fleet and general business operating cost increases. As fuel, wages, business rates, health and safety, service and maintenance and other costs have increased year on year, together with actual investment in the vehicles, fleet operators have not been able to fully recover these increases from their customers by way of rate increases. Business and fleet efficiencies are critical to achieving and maintaining reductions in operating costs, and hence profit margins.
WLN – Where do you see Secureseal Systems Ltd going from here?
After investing heavily in the development and proving of our trailer fleet management equipment and software over the past few years, we are currently launching a major sales drive directly to our existing customer base and through distributors to international markets. We are well placed as the technology leader to realise considerable growth over the next decade, and intend to maintain our market and technology lead by continuing to add innovative RF capabilities to our systems portfolio.
Secureseal Systems Ltd
Tel: 020 8344 8776
www.secureseal-systems.com
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