Concrete mixing plant
A concrete batching plant on a construction site can be located at any time with an IoT tracker. Contractors can see where their equipment is and receive an alert if a machine unexpectedly leaves the site.
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Concrete batching plant: track location on construction sites
In the solution example, each construction machine is fitted with a tracking box hidden inside. The General Track NaBi tracker from General Mechatronics determines the position via GPS, measures ambient temperature and detects whether the equipment is being moved. Data is sent regularly to the 1NCE IoT Connectivity Suite. Transmission is mainly via energy-saving NB-IoT, and the lithium battery lasts up to five years for most applications. If a stolen machine leaves network coverage, the tracker can transmit via 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or LTE-M. Using geofencing, the software raises an alert as soon as a unit leaves the defined area of the site.
The example comes from the construction industry. 1NCE, a mobile network operator for the industrial IoT, developed the solution for a construction company in Hamburg. Equipment kept disappearing from its sites, from concrete mixers to excavators. Some of it had been moved to another site without notifying the dispatch office and had to be searched for; some had been stolen. The requirement was a solution that runs maintenance-free for a long time. Today, the location of every machine is available at the touch of a button.
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Concrete batching plants: frequently asked questions
How can a concrete batching plant be located on a construction site?
A GPS tracker hidden inside the machine determines its position and sends it regularly via cellular network to a cloud platform. In the 1NCE example, the General Track NaBi is used, with data flowing into the 1NCE IoT Connectivity Suite. The current location of every construction machine can then be retrieved at the touch of a button, even if staff have moved it without notice.
How does IoT protect concrete plants and other site equipment from theft?
The tracker detects when the equipment is moved, and the software raises an alarm as soon as it leaves the site. Because the box is installed out of sight, location tracking remains possible even after a theft. If the machine leaves NB-IoT coverage, the tracker continues to transmit over other cellular standards. Fences, cameras and security staff, by contrast, are expensive and often exceed the budget.
How much maintenance does a tracker on a batching plant need?
Very little: long-term maintenance-free operation was a key requirement of the construction company in the example. The tracker transmits mainly via NB-IoT, which is designed for long battery life. According to 1NCE, the lithium battery lasts up to five years for most applications. The data connection runs on a prepaid flat rate on Deutsche Telekom's network.
What does geofencing do for equipment on construction sites?
Geofencing places a virtual boundary around the site and automatically reports when a unit leaves it. In the 1NCE solution, the software alerts users as soon as the tracker, and with it the machine, leaves the defined geographic coordinates. The dispatch office learns immediately about unreported moves and can react quickly in the event of theft.
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