AEM tracking devices to the rescue.

Consider these different scenarios. A truck belonging to a fast-moving consumer goods company is carrying perishable products from the factory to its destination several hundred miles away. Somewhere en route the driver switches off the air conditioner in his refrigerated truck to save diesel. Doing this for even a short while can lead to reduced shelf life of the goods being transported. In another situation a carmaker is awaiting its daily quota of raw materials from different corners of the country. A truck carrying the raw material is delayed because of an incident.

In both these cases a modern vehicle tracking unit can be tremendously helpful. This is precisely what the Rs 45 crore Noida-based company Applied Electro Magnetics Pvt Ltd (AEM) manufactures. Its product range includes data communication devices, digital voice communication, digital signal processors, micro controllers, telemetry systems, embedded computers, defence electronics as well as customised industrial controllers and simulators.

According to Upender Bhati, head of business development, “We are a 30-year-old company that primarily works with the defence sector. Our vehicle tracking systems which are part of our telematics business, supplies Tata Motors for its Novus range of trucks. We also supply TACO MobiApps.”

Automotive focus

AEM operates in two segments within the automotive area. One is the vehicle tracking units and the other is an automotive production monitoring system. The latter involves networking the machines to a central server. According to Bhati, “the management can use our automotive production monitoring system to know the actual production going on at any point of time. We take the codes from the production logic control (PLC) and figure out the production pattern.”

"Also when a machine stops suddenly, our system tells managers whether it is due to a breakdown, an intentional switch-off, or because a particular tool is being changed. AEM currently offers such services to Sona Koyo, Jay Bharat Maruti, Asahi Glass, Clutch Auto and Tata Motors."

Explaining the benefits of his system, Bhati said, “Sona Koyo had to wait for three days for getting data from their machines. With our system they can get it in three minutes”.

“We need to understand the machine and the production pattern. Then it takes around a week to determine the requirements of the customer and a further six weeks to deliver the first prototype,” he adds.

As for vehicle tracking systems, Bhati claims that though these are essentially communication devices, AEM has incorporated advancements within them. Depending on the customer, AEM makes different versions. Its customers include Tata Motors for its Novus range of trucks, ORG – a Gurgaon-based mapping company, and TACO MobiApps. It has also recently tied up with Ashok Leyland and Eicher. With facilities in Himachal Pradesh and Noida, AEM makes around 5000 units a month and caters mainly to OEMs.

”We are outsourcing all our manufacturing. Around 15 percent of our revenues come from the automobile segment, which should double in the next three to four years,” Bhati says confidently.