Take advantage of your digital edge

These days, most things in our lives don’t stay the same for very long. In an age of rapid digitalization, everything from our cars to our toasters, suitcases and clothing are becoming more and more capable and connected.

It’s not only happening in our personal lives, of course. Take a look around your workplace, and it’s likely you’ll be able to list multiple examples of tools and processes that have been digitalized in recent years. The promise of better safety, productivity and perhaps even competitive advantage is driving the push. And if you’ve been keeping up with Konecranes, you’ll know its benefits are now fully integrated—and continually evolving—in our forklifts and container handlers.

Good things come in smart packages
Konecranes digital services give drivers, managers and maintenance personnel access to the fleet’s operating conditions. As of April 01, 2022, all new Konecranes lift trucks comes equipped with the telematics solution TRUCONNECT®, giving complete overviews of asset utilization, running hours, idling times, tank levels, charge status if you have an E-VER, and general information about your lift trucks. CheckApp, a digital solution for handling daily and maintenance inspections, is also included as standard and available to all lift trucks users. By activating various additional subscriptions to monitor other indicators, such as load lifted and travel distance, companies can monitor their efficiency and productivity KPIs. Upgrading the TRUCONNECT®package lets customers receive and manage data on shocks and tire pressure, and monitor the quality and temperature of the hydraulic oil to evaluate the remaining useful lifetime, making it possible to change the oil only when truly needed.

Sometimes though, the available features don’t get taken advantage of as much or as quickly as they could be. “Using digital services engages you with your machine in a way you have to feel to believe,” says Bertrand Marion, Director Business Development & Digitalization at Konecranes. “You experience what they can really do, and start playing around and discovering possibilities for yourself.  For a lot of customers, it’s an “aha” moment.”

And if cybersecurity is the sticking point, it doesn’t need to be with Konecranes equipment. “We’re the first in the material handling industry and the only lift truck supplier complying with ISO 27001 on information security management, the absolutely most stringent standards, at the moment,” says Bertrand. “Buying equipment that is not compliant increase the risk of cyber security breach.”

Digitalization you’re ready for
There’s a certain comfort in the old adage that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—in digitalization terms, that these features are nice to have, rather than integral. But that kind of thinking ignores the inevitability of innovation that’s coming anyhow—and the longer we delay in adopting digitalization into our work routines, the more opportunities for the competitors that do.

“I think digitalization is the reality of modern lift truck operation, and the majority of our customers are already living in that reality” says Bertrand. “Digital solutions increase safety, improve maintenance and sustainability, boost efficiency and productivity, and lower costs. And when you look at initiatives like the EU’s iTerminal 4.0 applications of i4.0 towards smart ports, it’s digitalization happening on a wider scale. We all need to get and be ready for it.”

Many Konecranes lift trucks are already equipped to take advantage of digitalization services, and all new lift trucks include free access to essential services.

”No one thought they needed a smart phone until they were invented,” says Bertrand. “Now we can’t do without them. I see that for digitalization services in the lift truck industry as well— try them once, and there’s no going back.”

Begin using digitalization features and
learn more about our digital services.