Case Studies
Asset Tracking
Reduced fuel,
carbon emissions
and hire costs for
AWS Power
Summary
Established in 1972, Adlington Welding Supplies Ltd has grown and developed to become one of the leading independent welding suppliers in the country.
With five regional depots, Falkirk, Billingham, Pembroke, Scunthorpe and Luton, and their Head Office in Chorley, AWS operate a nationwide service supplying a complete and comprehensive range of welding consumables, safety equipment, machines and plant hire across the country.
Requirements
As part of the ongoing expansion of the AWS power division, they have a commitment to their customers and the service they supply, as well as the machines. They identified that a telematics system would not only benefit their customers, but also help to improve the service they provide them.
Key information for AWS and its customers over and above general telematics data was required – machine-hours, generator alarms, phase balance, phase rotation, kw per hour, generator mode, amps, fuel level and fuel used.
Solution
Viasat Connect was able to supply the Skyline Gen-Tel solution which interfaces with the generator’s control panel. Taking the modbus data, Viasat Connect can report on all the key data points required by the client and their customers.
Delivered either by exception report, SMS/email alarm or in one of our dashboards, Viasat Connect ensures that valuable Skyline data is delivered in an actionable manner.
Outcome
A prime example of how this has already benefited AWS and its customers is their request for a generator to test and commission a building as it was nearing completion of the construction phase and had no mains power yet.
AWS Power was requested to provide a solution that offered enough power to enable testing to be carried out, and also be robust enough should the building need to run whilst being fully occupied.
After working out the loadings provided by the client, AWS Power made a proposal that not only helped reduce fuel and carbon emissions, but also reduced hire costs.
Usually, the customer would specify a 250kva generator. However, AWS Power supplied a 160kva generator along with a long-range fuel tank. The customer had to be convinced this was suitable.
Utilising the Skyline Gen-Tel telemetry solution, alerts if the generator went over a threshold of 80% capacity were set up, and a plant was in place to upscale the installation. One week on and the systems reporting showed that the generator hadn’t hit 50% of its capability.