22 May 2023
A rugged device can be a
valuable asset to any business by streamlining operations, reducing paperwork
and increasing productivity. Rugged truck mounts are no different; they are vehicle mounted and can be
used to maximise efficiencies and revitalise your operations by helping your
workers stay connected and provide real-time data.
Peter
Marsh, Sales Director at TouchStar Rugged Mobile Computers, is here to answer
some FAQs on rugged truck mounts and how they can benefit your business.
1. What
is a rugged truck mount?
A rugged truck
mount is a type of RDT (radio data terminal) which is used by businesses
in a variety of settings including in warehouses and for logistics. It is
traditionally vehicle
mounted, i.e. a permanent static fixture to a truck or piece of
machinery, and is rugged in nature, ensuring it is reliable and able to
withstand any knocks or damage.
Connected via Wi-Fi, a rugged truck mount is used by employees to carry out
tasks, transferring real-time data between the mainframe and the rugged mount. It
differs from a rugged tablet, which is often slightly larger than a traditional
handheld device and is a portable device, whereas a rugged truck mount is
permanently fixed to the same point.
2. How
does a rugged truck mount
differ from a regular truck mount?
When compared to a regular truck mount, a rugged truck mount is a
longer-lasting, more reliable piece of equipment that can be used for many
years, with appropriate continual maintenance. Plus, as it’s vehicle mounted and
rugged in nature, it is less likely to be damaged by accidental drops or
knocks, giving it a longer life span. This is all down to the construction of
the device. For our rugged devices, we use Sorbothane® rubber, a technology
that stops shockwaves and isolates internal components from the outer case. In
addition to the construction, a rugged device differs from a regular truck mount as it has an IP rating which will tell you how rugged the device actually is after thorough
testing.
The initial cost may appear higher for rugged in comparison to regular consumer devices, however, the total cost of
ownership (TCO) is lower. The TCO takes into account the failure rate, cost of
any repairs, replacement and downtime for device failure or maintenance.
Although consumer devices may have a lower purchase cost, rugged truck mounts
will last longer and withstand harsher conditions, making the need to repair
and replace them less frequent. Therefore, when comparing the total cost of
ownership, rugged devices such as truck mounts can cost your business less in
the long run compared to regular devices.
3. What
are some of the industries that use rugged truck mounts?
A warehouse
needs to work like a well-oiled machine to ensure all goods are in the right
place at the right time, and the use of rugged devices is key for this. Truck
mounts can be used to support your warehouse team by enabling them to fulfil
their duties efficiently and streamline your warehouse operations. They also
enable your staff to stay connected and increase work productivity by easily
capturing data and integrating multiple scanning options enabling drivers to
work safely from their trucks. This can be seen with our long-term
partnership with Lakeland and their use of truck mounts to maintain
efficient warehouse processes.
Third-Party Logistics, also known as 3PL, occurs when an
external partner helps e-commerce businesses manage their supply chains such as
through order shipment or inventory management.
Similar to warehousing, it’s important to streamline operations to
ensure each client is fully supported and the correct goods are sent to their
customers.
Delivering high levels of performance in
temperature-controlled environments, rugged truck mount computers play a key role in cold storage,
enabling employees to stay connected. They also help increase operational
performance and improve accuracy across all areas of the cold storage
environment, from goods in to put away and picking through to despatch. For QK Coldstores (Marston) Ltd (QK), it was important for rugged truck mounts to
have high-speed scanning capabilities and data capture, and in partnering with
TouchStar, QK has real-time visibility of their operations 24/7.
In logistics and transportation, it’s integral to operations that reliable data flows
from handling to transportation and rugged truck mounts can do this rapidly and
consistently. Truck mounts not only ensure that real-time data is shared
between the trucks and the back office, but they also reduced the amount of
paperwork and unnecessary communication.
Rugged truck mounts can also be used in manufacturing
to reduce errors and significantly increase productivity in plant or
warehouse-based manufacturing operations. Not only do rugged truck mounts
provide better visibility on materials, parts and finished goods flowing
through your manufacturing operations but they also simplify the tracking of
materials through production cycles. In collaboration with our sister company
TouchStar ATC, we worked with Persimmon Homes to install truck mounts to reduce the need for paper-based
information and to share real-time data for higher levels of visibility between
those in the cab and managers.
4. What
are the benefits of using a rugged truck mount?
There are a number of benefits of using a rugged truck mount for your
business including:
- It’s a fixed, vehicle mounted asset which means that it won’t be
mislaid or misused, ensuring it’s always available as needed.
- It’s reliable thanks to its toughened nature
which means it rarely needs repairs or replacing.
- It’s long-lasting and durable thanks to its
protective casing which protects the device from knocks, dust and moisture.
- It can increase productivity by ensuring accurate data collection and keeping your business
connected.
- It’s easy to maintain as most rugged truck mounts
can be undocked from the machine if needed, or many updates can be done through
Wi-Fi.
- It streamlines operations by removing paperwork
and inefficient processes.
5. Are
there different types of rugged truck mounts?
There are two main different types of rugged truck mounts;
those with keyboards and those with full screens. The choice between the two
will depend on each business’s needs and how much data needs to be displayed
for employees to effectively carry out their roles. For example, some
businesses may require a very large amount of information to be shown, and for
this, a full-screen rugged truck
mount would be preferential.
6. How
do you choose the right type of rugged truck mount?
Each business has different needs and choosing the right
rugged truck mount is
important to ensure you get the most from your investment. There are a number
of factors you should consider before choosing your rugged truck mount including the
amount of information you wish to display, what your application needs to show,
and the size of the device.
Here at TouchStar, we have created our rugged mounts to be
small in size to enable them to fit into tight spaces and a variety of machines
and be less obstructive. No matter their size, our devices have fast processors
which are optimised for a range of environments and the TS3300
offers easy one-handed docking/undocking plus touchscreens.
7. What
are some of the key features to look for when selecting a rugged truck mount?
One of the main features to consider with rugged truck mounts
is whether it meets your required IP rating and will be as rugged as you need it to be. Each rugged device goes
through thorough testing to ensure they are reliable and hardwearing and are
not counted as being fully rugged until they have a minimum rating of IP54. In
addition, if your business operates in a hazardous environment, the rugged device you choose
should be ATEX Certified as these are specifically designed for use in potentially
explosive atmospheres, such as the TS3300.
For rugged truck mounts, a distinguishing feature is whether
or not the device has an integrated keyboard, and whether this would be helpful
for your business operations. Here at TouchStar, our TS7200
device has a keyboard which is made from easy wipe-clean sealed membranes that
protect your device from dust.
Rugged truck
mount terminals are continually subjected to shockwaves and vibration
when in use within a warehouse and logistics-based operation. Vibration and
shock can have an adverse effect on electronic components, which in turn can
limit the useful life of a mobile terminal. TouchStar are unique in
incorporating Sorbothane® rubber into the design, eliminating these shockwaves
by totally isolating components from the outer case.
8. Can
rugged truck mounts be integrated with back-office systems?
Yes, rugged truck mounts can be integrated with back-office
systems and business mainframes through Wi-Fi which means your device is always
connected and sharing real-time data between systems and employees.
9. Can
rugged truck mounts be connected to other rugged devices?
Yes, truck mounts can be connected to other rugged devices
through Bluetooth. This is important to ensure your operations remain
connected and running as smoothly as possible.
For many operations, having Bluetooth barcode scanners
connected to rugged truck mounts are imperative to ensure information is
correctly captured and shared in real-time with back-office systems. For
example, in a warehouse environment, a rugged truck mount displays the pallet that needs to be
moved to the distribution area. At the same time, the scanner allows the
employee to scan the pallet to ensure the correct one has been selected and then
scan a barcode in the distribution area. These pieces of data can then be
shared with the system confirming that this job has been completed.
10. What
kind of regular maintenance is required for a rugged truck mount?
Due to their reliability, there is little ongoing
maintenance that is needed to be carried out on a rugged truck mount. As it’s vehicle mounted and simply
a method for displaying data, there should be little to no damage that needs
repairing.
Unless you’re running a legacy OS regular software updates may need to be carried out but these can often be
completed remotely and do not need physical updates. These software updates may
be required for additional functionality or as updates to your business’ app to
improve your operational efficiencies or to introduce a new data source.
11. How
often should I look at replacing rugged truck mounts?
Due to their long-lasting nature, rugged truck mounts need
to be replaced infrequently, as long as proper maintenance is regularly carried
out. However, we do recommend that a hardware review is done after 5 years. Although
the lifespan of these terminals is often much longer than this, it can be
useful to look at whether the device is still fit for purpose and whether the
device is on the most future-proof software platform.
Recently, some rugged devices have needed replacing
sooner due to the end of support by Windows and the rollout of Android devices. Changing
your operating system to Android as soon as realistically feasible means your
business can continue operating efficiently with as little downtime as
possible.
12. Can
a rugged truck mount
be used for multiple types of equipment, or is it specific to a certain type of
machinery?
Rugged truck mounts can be used for all types of equipment
and machinery including forklifts, reach trucks, order pickers, very narrow
aisle trucks (VNAs) and pallet riders. However, it’s important to note, that
once a rugged truck mount
is installed, its mount cannot be moved or switched to another machine as it is
a static asset.
There are other ways in which to use a rugged truck mount.
For example, it is possible to use the mount as an end-of-line terminal on a
production line conveyor belt to display information needed by employees such
as product information. Similarly to its intended purpose, once installed, the truck mount cannot be
moved from the production line and used for other purposes.
13. Are
there safety considerations or regulations that need to be considered for
rugged truck mounts?
One of the main safety considerations for rugged truck
mounts is to ensure they are not obstructing the driver at any point. The
mounts must be placed in a position that is convenient but that does not impact
your employees’ ability to carry out their roles safely.Here at TouchStar, our
highly trained engineers are experienced in fitting devices to ensure they add
value to your employees and operations, without hindering movement or
negatively impacting safety.
In addition, some industries require rugged devices to meet
a required level of ruggedness to ensure they are safe for their designated use.
Each device is tested and given an IP rating which
allows businesses to understand the level of protection against solids and
liquids, and therefore the overall ruggedness of the device. For hazardous
environments, a rating of IP65 or higher is recommended, and for construction,
ratings of IP67 or higher would be preferable.
14. Do
employees need training before using rugged truck mounts?
As the rugged devices we supply are known as dumb terminals,
they do not require your employees to complete training before use. However, as
part of our installation process, we do offer training to staff to ensure they
feel comfortable with how our rugged truck mounts operate, and how to remove
them from their RAM mounts.
As a business, you may choose to offer application-specific
training to ensure your staff are comfortable using business apps and can carry
out their role effectively and efficiently.
15. Where
are the benefits of choosing TouchStar for my rugged truck mount?
One of the benefits of choosing to partner with TouchStar for your rugged truck mount needs is that we are completely
UK-based. All our rugged devices are designed, developed and manufactured in
Manchester, and our support and installation services are also based in Manchester.
This means that we have excellent knowledge of UK sectors and can offer 24/7 UK-based support
quickly, such as hot swap service and next-day delivery. Not only do we support
the UK economy and boost employment in the UK, but it also means that there is a
limited disruption in times of global turbulence like Brexit, and we have a
lower carbon footprint compared to businesses that manufacture and ship their
devices from overseas.
We also have over 40 years of experience so we understand
different industries and the needs and challenges that you may face. We can
therefore tailor each of our solutions to your problems and help you to
implement a rugged mobile device solution to add value to your operations. Through
our consultation services, we can help you choose the right hardware as well as how to
configure and deploy them to ensure they suit your environment and fit your
business’ long-term strategy.
About the author - Peter Marsh
Peter joined TouchStar (formally Belgravium) in a sales
manager role in 2001. Prior to joining the company, Peter held Partner and
National Sales Manager roles within the parcel and logistics industries.
In 2011 Peter was promoted to Sales Director and is now
actively involved in promoting the value of TouchStar’s Rugged Mobile Computing
solutions to the warehouse, logistics, manufacturing and field service
industries. When not involved in the business, Peter is a keen and enthusiastic
football and cricket fan.