When we talk about automated transport, what comes first to mind is a vehicle without a cabin and able to drive itself to carry out its transport missions.
We think less about another pivotal component of any logistics solution which is the fleet management system. This system is essential because it must ensure the dispatching of transport missions to autonomous trucks, monitor the effective completion of deliveries, and interact with other smelter production management systems.
As part of the development of the MAX autonomous transport solution, AP technology has also taken great care in designing and developing an ergonomic and comprehensive fleet management solution so that it covers all the needs associated with automated logistics in an industrial environment.
The fleet management software is already available and can be implemented in a plant. We have packaged it under the product name LISA FM which stands for LISA Fleet Management. LISA FM is an advanced system in term of functions and ergonomics, here are the main functions included in LISA FM:
- Management of road network and driving rules
- Management of pallet and crucible locations
- Real time monitoring of inventory (pallet and crucible locations status)
- Itinerary generation
- Interface with Reduction Management system and Casthouse system (e.g. Alpsys and Mesal)
- Transport mission planning, sequencing and dispatching plus manual entry of transport mission
- Real time monitoring of event and alarm
- Maintenance of the fleet
The first user, ALVANCE Aluminium Dunkerque plant in France, has emphasized the quality and completeness of the solution based on Qt, the widespread standard cross platform software development.
Thanks to its smelter business knowledge and its experience in the development of Alpsys and Mesal, the AP technology teams were able to specify a consistent system adapted to the requirements of aluminium smelters.