LOTS Group and IoTag invest in artificial intelligence to improve off-road roads

LOTS Group´s Latin American branch has partnered with Brazilian technology startup IoTag to achieve improved performance, efficiency and reduce cost in road maintenance. The partnership centers on optimizing road conditions, mapping deviations in road quality to work preventively to identify and amend issues before they occur. IoTag´s tech is a perfect complement to LOTS´s innovative transport solution offering.

Initial testing was undertaken in LOTS´s sugarcane transport operation in Sandovalina, São Paulo state. Sensors installed in the trucks collect and process data from the vehicles´ telemetry systems to assess the condition of the road being driven on. The sensors detect and classifies anomalies such as increased vibrations in the vehicles and relay alerts back to the operation´s control tower. Different sections of the road network can thereafter be categorized based on the incidence rate (severity of anomalies x frequency at which the route is road section is used). This allows LOTS´s road maintenance staff to prioritize road sections in need of maintenance and to proactively schedule future maintenance work.

The results were striking – hours and in turn cost spent on road maintenance went down, transport cycle times decreased as the improved roads allowed for more consistent average speeds, and fuel consumption was down for both road maintenance equipment and sugarcane transporting trucks. The technology is now used in five of LOTS´s off-road transport operations in the region.

The IoTag partnership is one in a long line of innovative initiatives by LOTS´s Latin American organization. According to Luiz Guilherme Ferreira, Project Manager for LOTS Group, initiatives like this are in-line with the company´s digitalization strategy with the aim of fostering innovation to become a daily problem-solving tool.

Both parties are delighted with the results of the project:

“The IoTag partnership meets our needs perfectly. The complex nature of the off-road network in Sugarcane made it difficult for us to effectively allocate our road-maintenance efforts, but with IoTag´s system we can prioritize the most critical points in the network. The added bonus is that we provide our transport operation with better roads whilst our road-maintenance machinery works fewer hours”
–Juliano Basseto, Operations Manager LOTS Group Latin America

 “IoTag added new features to its hard- and software solution together with LOTS. The strong partnership allowed IoTag to validate our tech in real-life operations and conditions and to prove the value of our product live. The partnership has allowed us to consolidate our position in the market as an innovative company combining our patented connectivity solution with our skilled team of tech experts.”
–Marcelo Kaluf, Director IoTag

Together, LOTS Group and IoTag are working toward making the transport solutions of the future available in the present.  

About LOTS Group

Founded in 2016 in Sweden, LOTS Group aims to optimize transport operations through Lean management and innovation. LOTS has been present in Latin America since 2018 with new solutions to better analyze flows, identify deviations and continuously improve performance. The LATAM operation focuses on four sectors – agriculture, mining, forestry and on-road transport with a long-term ambition to implement new disruptive technology such as electric and autonomous transport.

About IoTag

Founded in 2018, IoTag specializes in innovative connectivity solutions with the aim of aiding fleet managers overcome their daily operational challenges. The company has created a patented solution for the management of heavy vehicles that transforms fleet operations data into actionable decision points for their customers, enabling agile and assertive management.

Press Information

LOTS Group
Tobias Hespe | info@lotsgroup.com

IoTag
Marcelo Kaluf | marcelo.kaluf@iotag.com.br | 41 99965-3451