JSE Securities Exchange listed fleet management and tracking specialist, DigiCore Holdings ('DGC'), has clinched a R12-million contract to fit tracking systems on the fleet of UK water service provider, Thames Water.
According to Ndaba Ntsele, chairman of DigiCore, this breakthrough order bears
testament to the South African company's versatility and technological capability to deliver leading engineering, technology, software and service solutions throughout the world. DigiCore is now represented in four continents.
Thames Water is the largest water and wastewater services company in the UK, serving eight million customers in London and across the Thames Valley. Thames Water issued a tender late last year for fleet management tracking systems to improve service levels and in an effort to lower operating costs. From a very substantial international field, DigiCore's C-track technology won the contract.
Carl Leadbeater, Thames Water's operations manager, says, "Until now, we have been able to monitor separate teams rather than our whole workforce - so this new technology will be a big step forward.
"As well as reducing fuel consumption, it will in many cases help us to reach locations quicker, with obvious benefits for customer service."
The project will reduce the time it takes staff to get to the scene of bursts, leaks and other water-related work. In addition it will feature an alarm button allowing staff to call for help in an emergency.
The new tracking solution should be installed by September 2004, and will for the first time permit a single member of staff to view and track the position of all vehicles on an electronic map.
During the initial phase, Thames Water is installing the C-track system in over 1000 of its vehicles. In addition, the project is likely to extend to the installation of C-track within the various subcontractors' fleets servicing Thames Water.
Nick Vlok, CEO of DigiCore Holdings, adds, "We are delighted to be working with Thames Water and with their choice of our C-track vehicle location technology. The agreement is the biggest in the UK water industry, and the largest of any business sector in Europe utilising the Vodafone GPRS infrastructure for data transmission.
"The capabilities of our system far exceed the simple location of vehicles. The true power of the C-track resides in its ability to produce comprehensive information about vehicle movements, which can be employed to drive down costs and improve operational efficiencies," explains Vlok.
The C-track system uses satellite technology to show the whereabouts of each fleet vehicle to within a few metres, making it possible to send the nearest driver to any given location. Information is presented on the operator's PC in realtime on scalable digital maps, down to street level. Detailed management reports and graphs showing individual vehicle movements and performance can be produced for verification and/or analysis.
Ntsele, who heads up private equity firm Pamodzi Investment Holdings, is optimistic that DigiCore's sustained investment in industry-beating technology will ensure that the company grows its market leadership here, as well as overseas. Pamodzi owns 26% of DigiCore Holdings' publicly traded stock.
"Having embraced Black Empowerment five years ago, DigiCore has grown from strength to strength in the South African market. As a truly multiracial business, it serves as a motivation to all elements of its community that, together, we can break into all world markets, developing our businesses and generating a continuous body of technically skilled workers back home," Ntsele concludes.
For more information contact Nick Vlok, DigiCore Holdings, 012 665 7300, www.digicore.com
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