Description

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 are mega-trends that are rapidly changing the global trucking industry, with North America and Europe being at the helm of it. From curtailing road safety issues to improving diagnostics capabilities of fleets, these trends are making trucking a more effective business. By applying diagnostic and prognostic techniques to vehicle data, companies can reveal how vehicles and their systems are currently performing (diagnostics) and how they will perform in the future – will they be able to produce when they need to be (prognostics). Prognostics and Health Management/Monitoring (PHM) are methods to assess the health condition and reliability of systems for the purpose of maximising operational reliability and safety. In the commercial vehicle segment, PHM systems are useful for predictive maintenance, product improvement, warranty claim optimization, Over-the-air (OTA) updates, dealer optimization and so on. The usage of PHM systems will have an impact on trucks OEMs, Tier-1 Suppliers and fleet operators in terms of reducing unnecessary expenses and improving efficiency. However, establishing significant benefits for all value chain participants remains a challenge, as not all value chain participants have established the monetary benefits of converting unstructured data to useful information. Apart from this, there are some common challenges that the industry as a whole is facing. Challenges such as shortage of budget, poor connectivity, low quality and quantity of data, and lack of dedicated sensors are pulling back the implementation of PHM system currently. With storage of data getting cheaper, bandwidth ever-increasing and the cost of sensors steadily coming down whilst their ability is increasing, doing things with vehicle data beyond basic analytics is becoming increasingly viable and adoption of PHM system is expected to grow in the future. The prognostics market in NA and EU put together is expected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 130.5% between 2018 and 2025. The scope of PHM systems are currently restricted to tire, engine, transmission and emission. With electrification of trucks picking up pace, predictive maintenance, scheduling of battery recharge and replacement of batteries will drive the adoption of prognostics in the mid-term. The advent of autonomous trucks and platooning is expected to thrust the implementation of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning based prognostics in the long term.