Normalizing performance data across industrial vehicles

Abstract

Approaches are provided for normalizing performance data for the operation of industrial vehicles. The approaches comprise categorizing operations of an industrial vehicle into distinct, measureable activities. The approaches further comprise measuring the actual usage of the industrial vehicle as a function of each category of operation and wirelessly transmitting that measured usage to a remote server. The approaches also comprise associating for each category, a weighted impact on the work performed by each category as a function of energy consumed in performing that work.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of normalizing industrial vehicle performance data, comprising:
 establishing at least one category where:
 each category is associated with a distinct, measureable activity capable of being performed by an industrial vehicle, and 
 each category is characterized by at least one parameter; 
   electronically collecting data from an industrial vehicle corresponding to actual vehicle use, where the collected data satisfies the parameter defining each category;   accumulating the collected data according to each category;   associating for each category, a weighted impact on work performed by that category as a function of energy consumed in performing that work; and   providing an indication of the work performed by the industrial vehicle based upon the accumulated data.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 using a communication device that communicates with native industrial vehicle components across a vehicle network to obtain the collected data from the industrial vehicle. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 establishing at least one category, comprises:
 establishing a category as whether the industrial vehicle is in use; and 
   electronically collecting data from an industrial vehicle corresponding to actual vehicle usage, comprises:
 extracting information from a battery coupled to the industrial vehicle so as to measure actual energy consumed by the industrial vehicle. 
   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 establishing at least one category, comprises:
 establishing a category as travel distance; and 
   electronically collecting data from an industrial vehicle corresponding to actual vehicle usage, comprises:
 measuring a travel distance, where the travel distance is the distance traveled by the industrial vehicle while the industrial vehicle is being operated. 
   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein measuring a travel distance comprises using odometery that measures tire travel and accounts for tire slippage in determining travel distance of industrial vehicles within a warehouse. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein measuring a travel distance comprises using a location tracking system to track the travel of industrial vehicles within a warehouse. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 establishing at least one category, comprises:
 establishing a category as lift distance; and 
   electronically collecting data from an industrial vehicle corresponding to actual vehicle usage, comprises:
 measuring a lift distance, where the lift distance is the distance of lift operations performed by the industrial vehicle while being operated. 
   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 establishing a plurality of categories, comprises:
 establishing a first category as travel of the industrial vehicle where the industrial vehicle is traveling with a load; 
 establishing a second category as travel of the industrial vehicle where the industrial vehicle is traveling with no load; 
 establishing a third category as lift operations with a load; and 
 establishing a fourth category as lift operation without a load. 
   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising
 establishing a fifth category that comprises the blending of travel and lifting into a single operation.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein:
 associating for each category, a weighted impact comprises assigning a static baseline value for each category.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 adjusting the static value associated with a first category by a dynamic value.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein associating for each category, a weighted impact on the work performed by each category comprises:
 defining a work unit expressed as power expended per unit of time; and   using the work unit to compute a cost associated with each category.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein defining a work unit comprises:
 defining the work unit as kilowatt hours.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein using the work unit to compute a cost associated with each category comprises:
 multiplying the total measure by a cost of energy expended per unit of time.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising:
 determining cost for defined tasks based upon the weighted impacts for the categories. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising:
 comparing an actual measured cost for a given task to an ideal cost for that task to evaluate the performance of an operator of the industrial vehicle. 
 
     
     
         17 . A method of normalizing industrial vehicle performance data, comprising:
 measuring a total horizontal movement of an industrial vehicle over a pre-determined interval;   measuring a total vertical movement of the forks of the industrial vehicle over the pre-determined interval;   summing the total horizontal movement and the total vertical movement to a summed total;   deriving a work unit by dividing the summed total by a standardizing factor; and   providing an indication of the derived work unit.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 determining a cost per work unit by dividing a determined total cost by the derived work unit.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 defining a plurality of categories, each category corresponding to a predefined task;   computing the work units for each predefined task for multiple industrial vehicles; and   comparing the work units for each industrial vehicle, for each predefined task to compare fleet operations.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein deriving a work unit further comprises:
 defining a work unit expressed as power expended per unit of time, measured in kilowatt hours; and   using the work unit to compute a cost associated with each category.   
     
     
         21 . A method of normalizing performance data of industrial vehicles, comprising:
 identifying distinct, measurable activities;   identifying a measure Y 1  . . . Y N  as at least one of:
 a time duration (t 1  . . . t N ) corresponding to each activity, and 
 a distance (d 1  . . . d N ) corresponding to each activity; 
   assigning a weight (X 1  . . . X N ) to each activity to produce a weighted activity:
 A n =X n Y n ; and 
   calculating total event cost (EC total ) as:   
       
         
           
             
               
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         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 calculating a normalized event cost (EC norm ) as:   
       
         
           
             
               
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         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 calculating total work units expended as:
   WU=( S )(EC norm ), 
   wherein S is a scaling factor.