How Cognosos is transforming automotive logistics with real-time location intelligence, an exclusive interview with CPO, Adrian Jennings

The automotive supply chain is a dynamic system, where efficiency and
precision are paramount. In this Automotive Industries interview with Adrian
Jennings, CPO, Cognosos, we delve into how the company is revolutionizing
the industry with its cutting-edge Real-Time Location Intelligence
solutions. Cognosos, known for its innovative technology, provides large
vehicle OEMs with tools to capture real-time vehicle and driver movements.
This enables the reduction of wasteful moves and enhances staff capacity,
particularly in two critical areas: Outbound Finished Vehicle Logistics and
Quality Logistics.

Outbound Logistics is a challenging aspect of the automotive supply chain.
Every day, over 2,000 vehicles roll off the production line and are parked
in massive lots, where they are frequently moved. This constant shuffling
makes them vulnerable to misplacement and damage, often requiring drivers to
spend hours locating cars, sometimes under harsh weather conditions.
Cognosos’ system mitigates these issues by enabling precise tracking and
efficient vehicle movement, significantly improving productivity.

In the realm of Quality Logistics, vehicles needing additional work
post-production pose another challenge. These cars, often requiring repairs
due to missing parts or other issues, must be identified and gathered by the
logistics team for further work. Cognosos’ technology simplifies this
process by allowing easy location of these vehicles and their swift
transport to repair bays, enhancing overall efficiency.

A cornerstone of Cognosos’ technology is the patented RadioCloud, which sets
up a proprietary network covering up to two miles outdoors. This ultralight
infrastructure connects tags to the cloud for computation without relying on
Wi-Fi or cellular networks, making it both cost-effective and easy to
maintain. The true value of this system lies not just in locating vehicles
but in identifying bottlenecks and optimizing processes, thus making the
entire operation more efficient.

Jennings explains how real-time location intelligence addresses specific
challenges in finished vehicle logistics, such as preventing vehicle loss
and reducing manual yard checks. By providing automated alerts for vehicle
moves and ensuring efficient transitions through various stages, Cognosos
significantly enhances productivity and reduces costs. This technology
transforms yards from chaotic spaces into well-organized hubs, where every
vehicle’s location and status are known, improving working conditions for
staff and overall operational efficiency. Follows Automotive Industries
exclusive interview with Adrian Jennings, CPO, Cognosos

Automotive Industries: Hi Adrian, how is Cognosos leveraging Real Time
Location Intelligence to streamline the automotive supply chain?

Jennings: Cognosos’ solution captures real-time vehicle and driver
movements, equipping large vehicle OEMs with custom tools. By reducing
wasteful moves, it helps to retain and expand the capacity of staff.
Currently, Cognosos is helping Auto OEMs with 2 aspects of their logistics –
Outbound Finished Vehicle Logistics and Quality Logistics.

Outbound Logistics: 2,000+ vehicles come off a factory line in a day and get
parked in immense lots. They are constantly moved, making them susceptible
to misplacements and damage. Drivers might spend hours looking for cars,
sometimes in intense weather conditions.

Quality Logistics: A car will come off the line, needing more work, for a
number of reasons. It could be that not all the parts were available,
whatever the case, the logistics team creates campaigns to identify all the
cars that need a certain repair and gather them.

Cognosos’ system makes it easy to locate cars and get them to the repair
bays, improving productivity.

One of our foundational technologies is RadioCloud. A patented technology
that allows us to set up a proprietary network that covers 2 miles outside
and connect the tags to the cloud where we do all the computation. The
infrastructure is ultralight weight and doesn’t require expensive
installation or maintenance, and we don’t need to rely on Wi-Fi or cellular
networks.

In the end, it’s not really about finding the cars. It’s about identifying
bottlenecks and improving processes that make the lot more efficient and
effective.

Automotive Industries: What specific challenges in finished vehicle
logistics does real time location intelligence address, and how effective
has it been?

Jennings: The solution ensures vehicles are never lost with automated alerts
for vehicle moves and efficient vehicle movement through each stage.

Provides real-time tracking that greatly improves productivity and leads to
substantial cost savings. Removes the need for time-consuming manual yard
checks. Improves working conditions and efficiency for staff by automating
previously arduous and manual processes that are subject to environmental
challenges (weather, time of day, etc.) Ensures a faster and more seamless
truck driver transfer.

Example: One of our earliest customers did a test where they tagged forty
cars with Cognosos tags and then had a control group of forty cars that
weren’t tagged. They found it took 4 hours to locate and move the untagged
cars, whereas it took minutes to locate and move the tagged cars. Multiply
that by 2,000 cars a day over a year and you can see how it improves time
and cost management.

Train and truck arrivals to transport the cars to the dealership can be
charged for waiting, sometimes short ships happen where they don’t send the
dealer all the cars they wanted. Additionally, there are costly yard audits
where employees fan out over these immense lots trying to account for every
car. As for efficiency, we let the numbers speak for themselves, we’re
currently deployed in over half of the top 10 auto OEMs.

Automotive Industries: Can you explain how real-time location intelligence
can help OEMs and dealerships manage vehicle inventories more efficiently?

Jennings: When we talk to prospects, they refer to their yard as a black
hole because they often don’t have a full grasp of what’s happening,
operationally. When a car waits on the lot for an extended period, it
increases the likelihood of something bad happening to it, which is often
referred to as Lot Rot – tires deflate, drained battery, cosmetic damages.

Real-time location intelligence reduces congestion by pinpointing exact
vehicle locations, simplifying vehicle collection. The technology can divide
yards into geo-fenced zones and can be associated with movement times,
adding weather and temperature conditions.

When Cognosos is implemented, the yard has all the tools to improve
throughput to get the right car to the right transportation mode at the
right time, which is one of the main KPIs for a yard. Track and record the
time taken by yard workers to move assets, providing valuable data for
analyzing productivity and performance to help identify bottlenecks,
inefficiencies and other areas for improvement.

Yards with FVL are viewed as more attractive to trucks/drivers transferring
vehicles from yards to dealerships. In addition, one of the reasons yard
managers and drivers like our solution is that it doesn’t require constant
interaction, for example, you don’t need to continually scan a barcode every
time you touch a car.

Automotive Industries: What are some of the most significant bottlenecks in
the automotive supply chain, and how does Cognosos’ technology mitigate
these issues?

Jennings: Global shipping disruptions brought on by semiconductor shortages
and port congestions have contributed to supply chain bottlenecks. A lack of
skilled labor, including a shortage of truck drivers, have delayed the
transportation of parts and finished vehicles. Severe weather conditions
have made it difficult to continue operations, resulting in short-shipped
loads and longer truck wait times. Inconsistent workloads have made it
difficult for truck drivers to successfully access their loads promptly.

Automotive Industries: How does RTLS technology enhance the transparency and
traceability of vehicle movements within yards and distribution centers?

Jennings: Utilizes various technologies, such as GPS, Wi-Fi, Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) and Bluetooth, to provide real-time tracking of tagged
vehicles. Features Bluetooth-enabled asset tags with bright LED lights for
simplified vehicle identification for transport, even in poor weather/low
lighting.

Spotlight: available on the Cognosos app, eliminates the guesswork of
locating vehicles. Now, lot and yard personnel can verify the needed vehicle
based on an LED flash instead of manually looking for the VIN number. Allows
yard managers to use data to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies to
optimize resource allocation and asset movement.

Automotive Industries: Could you discuss a case study or example where
Cognosos’ RTLS technology significantly improved supply chain operations for
an automotive client?

Jennings: A North American vehicle manufacturer’s truck assembly plant was
experiencing extended search times and productivity issues due to
significant inefficiencies in post-assembly quality float and manual
processes. Over a hundred vehicles were awaiting repair at any given time,
and repair stations occasionally paused work while waiting for specific
vehicles, hampering productivity.

To address these challenges, the manufacturer implemented our real-time
vehicle tracking technology to streamline and enhance repair quality and
processes, including:

Equipment: ‘Gateways,’ which acted as routers with long-range antennae, and
‘Activators’ that provided location data in GPS-challenged environments.

Software: Our dashboard access portal allows seamless data exchange with the
manufacturer’s enterprise system.

Support: Dedicated project manager and support provider, available 24/7, the
manufacturer could easily maneuver the Cognosos portal.

Since implementation, the manufacturer saw an estimated $500K reduction in
costs, a 20% reduction in vehicle moves per repair and a decline in the
time-to-repair metric.

Automotive Industries: What role does data analytics play in optimizing the
automotive supply chain through the use of real time location intelligence?

Jennings: Cognosos’ solution automatically captures vehicle, drive and trip
data to prevent vehicles from getting lost. Its AI-power location data
ensures high accuracy and affordability. With automatic data logs, operators
can see who moved what, when and where, allowing for simplified
accountability on vehicles.

Automotive Industries: How does the increase in new vehicle inventory impact
the automotive supply chain, and what strategies can be employed to manage
this effectively?

Jennings: New vehicle inventory has steadily increased, at 2.93 million,
while vehicle movement has plateaued at 1.13 million. To reduce bottlenecks,
yard operators will need to invest in tools/strategies for efficient
movement and tracking. Such technologies will ensure timely delivery of
vehicles to dealerships and customers.

Automotive Industries: What future advancements do you foresee in Real time
location intelligence technology, and how will they further benefit the
automotive industry?

Jennings: It may sound a little simple, but being able to locate important
assets that move from indoors to outdoors and vice versa is quite
complicated. The good news is that we have extensive expertise in both so we
will be able to provide true, full coverage from in the plant and out into
the yard. Another area we are exploring is tag-to-tag interactions. We
already provide a driver badge. That badge pings the vehicle tag when the
vehicle is in motion, recording which driver moved the car and how long the
move took.