I.D. Systems and C&D Technologies Enter Agreement to Market New Wireless Battery Management System for Industrial Vehicles
I.D. Systems, Inc. and C&D Technologies, Inc. announced that they have entered into a strategic agreement to market a new generation of wireless technology for managing the batteries that power industrial trucks. The I.D. Systems-developed system will be marketed under both the C&D Technologies and I.D. Systems names.
The new system is based on I.D. Systems' Wireless Asset Net® platform, which utilizes radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to control, track, monitor, and analyze material handling vehicles and other industrial assets. In busy manufacturing and distribution facilities, such vehicles typically require multiple batteries to sustain productivity throughout the workday. These batteries represent a significant capital investment and the changing/recharging process they require can significantly reduce productivity.
The new system will integrate automated battery change management, in-depth battery and charger data collection, and advanced management tools for remote system monitoring and analysis. I.D. Systems and C&D Technologies expect these functions will provide users with many benefits, including: more efficient battery swaps, at the optimal frequency, to reduce vehicle/operator down time and increase productivity; more timely, detailed battery/operator usage data to enable management to right-size its battery fleet and reduce capital costs; and improved visibility of, and control over, battery temperature and depth-of-discharge data to extend battery life and further reduce capital costs.
"We are very excited to partner with I.D. Systems," said D'Arcy O'Neill, C&D's Vice President of Sales. "The combination of C&D's innovative industrial motive power systems and I.D. Systems' Wireless Asset Net is a natural fit, where our ability to generate detailed battery and charger information is significantly enhanced and competitively differentiated by the real-time visibility and control afforded by I.D. Systems' industry-leading wireless technology."
"Our vision with the C&D team for this technology development is groundbreaking," stated Rick Muntz, I.D. Systems' Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Customer Satisfaction. "Together, we are responding to an explicit market need to reduce the significant costs and inefficiencies associated with industrial vehicle batteries. We look forward to working vigorously with C&D to establish and capitalize on the new system's benefits for owners and operators of industrial vehicle fleets."
