Relying on manual methods to track vehicles and count inventory is an error-prone and lengthy process. Apptricity’s I-Connect technology features the latest in IoT innovation to provide automated vehicle and inventory tracking for your business, reducing time spent locating your vehicles and eliminating insufficient stock levels for completing the day’s work.

The Apptricity I-Connect controller comes in a multitude of configurations to match the tagging technology and communication method you desire. Whether you want to track your inventory with RFID or Bluetooth tags, Apptricity’s I-Connect controllers can be configured with the appropriate antennas to scan what is inside your vehicles. These controllers provide vehicle location and on-board inventory counts and communicate this information to the cloud through Wi-Fi, ethernet, or LTE connectivity.

Tagging each piece of equipment in the van is what provides the real-time visibility into stock levels on the vehicle. Items are scanned by the I-Connect controller and the stock levels are presented to the technician on the Field Services mobile application. This helps technicians understand their inventory usage throughout the day and allows warehouse workers to properly stock vehicles at the beginning of the workday.

Technicians in the field need to know the equipment on their vehicle in order to complete their work orders for the day. Visualizing this information can save hours digging through a service vehicle looking for equipment that may no longer be in stock and can help eliminate the house calls that get cancelled after arrival because required items are not on the vehicle. With Field Services Mobile, drivers can get a direct look into the equipment on their vehicle compared with what is required to complete their workload for the day. Technicians receive alerts when they leave important tools at a jobsite and can also be notified when their vehicle stock drops below what is needed. Technicians can also use the application to view and complete work orders, tracking the time spent and materials used.

The final piece of this solution is Apptricity Asset and Work Order Management. With these web apps, users can create common vehicle stock profiles to ensure the proper inventory levels are kept and maintained at the vehicle level. The stock is then directly compared with the work orders assigned to a technician to ensure that dispatchers are not assigning work orders to technicians who do not have the required inventory to complete the job. As the workday progresses, dispatchers can assign, reassign, and cancel work orders depending on customer requests. This fully-connected solution allows the dispatcher to access the “command console” which shows all the vehicles in the field with their corresponding stock levels.