Toyota and I.D. Systems develop new wireless industrial vehicle management system

Toyota Material Handling U.S.A. Inc. and I.D. Systems Inc. announced an agreement to develop and deploy a new wireless industrial vehicle management system (VMS). The new VMS will be marketed through the Toyota Industrial Equipment umbrella in North America under the "T-Matics" brand.

Vehicle management systems (VMS) help improve workplace safety and security by restricting vehicle access to trained authorized operators, providing electronic vehicle-inspection checklists, and sensing vehicle impacts. A wireless VMS also helps fleets reduce maintenance costs by automatically uploading vehicle data, electronically reporting vehicle problems, scheduling maintenance according to actual usage, and helping to determine the optimal economic time to replace equipment. Wireless VMS also establish accountability for the use of equipment and provide metrics on equipment utilization.

Toyota's T-Matics Command VMS is based on I.D. Systems' patented wireless technology and is cloud-hosted in a secure data center. The system will leverage either an end user's existing Wi-Fi network or a VHF/cellular capability. The system's on-vehicle hardware will be a custom version of I.D. Systems' fourth-generation "VAC4" hardware platform.

The T-Matics products were officially launched to Toyota dealers in early March. I.D. Systems is conducting technical and sales training for Toyota Industrial Equipment dealers across North America.