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Satellites have changed the way we live - forever. The world is indeed a much smaller place now with ultra-powerful cameras orbiting the earth able to take clear photographs of a postage stamp lying on a pavement. Technology is indeed a remarkable thing, enabling us to do things one would have thought impossible fifty years ago. In the areas of fleet management and vehicle tracking systems ('telematics'), technology is the key enabler but it does not guarantee business success. Employing the right people and delivering exceptional service are crucial if you want to compete in this already overtraded market. DigiCore is South Africa's international fleet management and vehicle tracking success story with thousands of clients in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. In a recent high-level survey of global leaders in the telematics industry, DigiCore Holdings scored an impressive second place, topped only by a US company many times its size, writes Paul Collings.

ABI Research is a world-renowned company specialising in surveys and reports within the digital technology arena, be it commercial telematics, mobile devices or digital products for the home. The study featuring DigiCore Holdings dissects the global telematics industry from several perspectives: aftermarket consumer telematics, OEM consumer telematics and commercial (fleet) telematics. Digicore Holdings falls into the Global Commercial Telematics Hardware Vendor category, which evaluates vendors on product innovation and implementation, assessing hardware, software and service and support.

User interface, hardware and software functionality, availability of wireless links and unique features are analysed to determine innovation. To determine implementation, ABI Research looks at criteria like product pricing, installed base, regional deployment and range of solutions. These criteria form a matrix upon which all competitors will appear, positioned according to their fulfilment of the criteria. DigiCore Holdings scored 71% for innovation and 69% for implementation, just a couple of percentage points behind the top rated vendor, QUALCOM Inc

Says Nick Vlok, CEO, DigiCore Holdings: "DigiCore actually scored first place in the GSM/GPS-based systems category of the survey and overall second place. The survey looked at over 210 companies including OEMs like GM, Ford, Tyco, Volvo, Daimler Chrysler and technology giants Siemens AG, Motorola, Lockheed Martin and Delphi. With 50% of DigiCore's manufactured units exported and growing by 45% in the last financial year, this is a huge accolade for South African developed technology."
 

	GETTING OUT THERE DigiCore is now a global 'telematics' player.

Aggressive growth
Further proof of DigiCore's world-beating performance over the last year is the fact that it outshone 150 other world-wide applicants to win a tender to install 1 200 of its C-track units into Thames Water Board vehicles in the UK. It now has 150 000 vehicle devices installed world-wide, in countries such as Pakistan, Holland, Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Nigeria, Kenya, Czech Republic, Australia and Namibia. 

These are impressive figures and Vlok is prepared to shed some light on the company's success. "DigiCore invested heavily in R&D from 1998 and succeeded in attracting some of the brightest brains in the business, many of them from the defence industry. The company spends about R12-million a year on R&D, giving it a crucial competitive edge in a market where technology is advancing at a furious rate," he says.

Going big on smaller fleets
Having achieved market-leader status with its full-blown fleet management systems, DigiCore is now attacking the vehicle tracking/stolen vehicle recovery (SVR) sector.

"We made a strategic decision to move away from being a supplier of vehicle control hardware to a total solutions provider targeting fleet managers with a total solution," says Bruce Richards, DigiCore's sales and marketing director:

"Historically, many small fleets and businesses, in accordance with insurance requirements, have opted for beacon based and passive technology like Tracker and Netstar for security, which cannot give any value-added real-time location or movement information other than reactive recovery if and when required. Our new product for the SVR market, C-track Secure, combines valuable Internet based productivity and movement reporting."

Richards believes C-track Secure fills a much-needed gap in the fleet market. "Full Fleet Management solutions can be too expensive for small fleet operators while SVR systems are relatively inexpensive but add no real value in terms of delivering management information. Secure offers not only the most advanced personal SVR system on the market but also gives smaller businesses tracking and basic fleet management capabilities without the need to invest in expensive office equipment."

For Vlok, DigiCore's positioning in this highly competitive sector of the industry is clear cut: "We're not competing at the low end of the SVR market because we have a product that adds value and genuine peace of mind to the individual while having full insurance backing on the table. We think our product will revolutionise the industry."

CELL PHONES integrate with FM systems, giving transporters the ability to manage their vehicles while on the move..

Upgrading for sustained growth
DigiCore recently spent R3-million upgrading its data gateway server environment to ensure even greater reliability of service and redundancy. 

"This will allow us to make C-Track Secure the largest part of the group's SA business within the next few years. Nashua Mobile was recently brought in as a retail partner of the C-track Secure product through their 60 outlets nationwide and a network of 45 fitment centres countrywide have been readied for the mass launch of C-track Secure. The product has been tested and is ready for launch in Namibia, to be followed by other African countries," says Vlok. 

It seems there's no stopping the folks from Centurion. Long may they thrive.