Fleet Maintenance - 36

Optimizing filtration monitoring with telematics
Using a condition-based maintenance approach implemented
through the Fleetguard FIT
system, Clark-Heinrich says the
fleet ended up replacing the air
filters less frequently, as needed,
instead. "They reduced their
changing of air cleaners from
every week to about every three to
six months, depending on usage
and the time of year," she says.

Real-time status updates allow fleets to make decisions on
service and replacement of engine air, fuel, and oil filters.
By Erica Schueller
The Cummins Filtration
Fleetguard FIT, which stands
for filtration intelligence technology, is a vehicle filtration
monitoring system designed to
provide real-time information
and visibility on the status of
filters on a commercial vehicle.
"The kit provides full visibility
to the service life of fuel, lube,
[and] air filters, as well as the
indicative health of the lube oil,"
explains Erica Clark-Heinrich, chief
engineer for Cummins Filtration.
"We use on-engine sensors and
advanced algorithms to understand the condition of the filters
and the oil, and then provide that
information to the end user."

THE INSTALLATION

The Fleetguard FIT system
works by connecting to the
engine's ECM, communicating
through J1939 parameters on
the vehicle's CAN bus network.
The system uses sensors to collect
data on the status of the vehicle's
filters. Sensors are attached to the
filter housing. Data collected from
the sensors is then collected and
provided to fleets. "We currently pair
with the vehicle telematics system
but [also] have ongoing development
projects for on-vehicle connections
as well," says Clark-Heinrich.
"The Fleetguard FIT parameters
are automatically rolled into those
telematics offerings. What that
means is the telematics [provider]
is now able to view our parameters," Clark-Heinrich explains.
When it comes to partnering with
a telematics system, Fleetguard
currently works with a number
of telematics providers, including
Omnitracs, PeopleNet, and Geotab.
The end goal is to have full integration into these telematics systems.
Currently, fleets can include an
application programming interface
(API) on the backend to transfer

and view the filtration information from Fleetguard FIT on any
number of telematics systems.
Fleets can otherwise view this
information on a standalone
interface or mobile application for
a smartphone or tablet as well.

Cummins Filtration is in a unique
position, because they are a segment of the Cummins organization,
which also focuses on other areas
of the vehicle's powertrain.

The system is currently an
aftermarket install and takes
about two hours per vehicle.
The standard filtration monitoring
system kit comes with sensors
and hardware for monitoring the
stage two fuel filter, the engine
oil filter, and the engine air filter.
On the engine air filter, a green,
yellow, or red visual light indicates the overall filter status.
An add-on differential pressure
kit can be used to monitor a stage
one fuel filter - typically seen on
severe duty or mining applications.
Clark-Heinrich says the algorithms
developed for the Fleetguard FIT
program are ideally designed for
use with Fleetguard filter media's
loading and plugging patterns. "We
highly recommend the use of our
filters to get the most accurate
prognostic information," she adds.
Diesel particulate filter (DPF)
monitoring is currently in development, but no specific launch
date has been announced.

"We have access to thousands of
engine parameters," says ClarkHeinrich. "Cummins as a whole
can use this data to improve
reliability and help introduce
smarter, better, new products."

» The Fleetguard FIT system offers
fleets an LED indicator light,
used to provide a quick status
update on the engine air filter.
A green light means the filter is
in good operating condition.
Photo courtesy of Cummins Filtration

help improve maintenance practices. She cited specific examples of
where fleets have seen improved
procedures with implementing
the Fleetguard FIT system.

"Our intent is to provide real-time
information that can help end
users or fleets proactively monitor,
plan, and optimize their maintenance spend," says Clark-Heinrich.

"We caught a missing air cleaner cover on a particular truck,"
Clark-Heinrich says. "We noticed
a heavy duty application where
they changed the lube oil but
forgot to change the filter. We
saw an example of a loose connection on an air cleaner system
that allowed for dust ingest and
eventually turbo damage. We've
noticed environmental effects
causing non-uniform loading."

She adds that real-time monitoring
can help tailor information to the
needs of each fleet, improving the
total cost of ownership to extend
the life of vehicle filters. Plus, it can

Clark-Heinrich offered another
example of a mulch and landscaping fleet which had been proactively replacing the engine air filter on a
weekly basis.

IMPROVEMENTS WITH
MAINTENANCE

The most interesting aspect is that the system
uses artificial intelligence (AI) to put useful
information in the hands of the driver when it
is needed most.
The system also empowers the driver with simple
instructions or suggestions to resolve the problem.
Other aspects of the system communicate the
issue to the maintenance team, who then are

36 Fleet Maintenance | June 2019

IMPROVEMENTS TO
OTHER VEHICLE SYSTEMS

The Fleetguard FIT system can provide filter status and remaining life
in mileage, operation time, or both.

able to use the system to find the root cause of
the problem.

Another example

On the fleet operations side, telematics is used for a
wide variety of tasks. Many of the tasks have nothing to do with maintenance but are critical for a

"We now, in turn, are using data
science to better understand the
interactions between filtration
systems and the downstream
components," she adds.
For example, monitoring filter
health - the overuse of engine air
filters - in conjunction with these
engine parameters can provide
a better understanding of fuel
economy. By having a holistic view
of the system, data scientists can
analyze intake manifold pressure, and how a high restriction
on the air intake can impact the
performance and life of components such as engine cylinders.
Down the line, Cummins Filtration
is planning other initiatives such
as fuel condition monitoring
and hydraulic fluid health.
"There [are] regions of the world
that really have a hard time with
getting quality fuel; and bad quality
fuel is a huge variable that can
effect lots of fuel system components," says Clark-Heinrich.
Hydraulic fluid health in particular
would be beneficial to the refuse,
construction, and mining markets.

more seamless business process. Lee Long, director
of fleet services at Southeastern Freight Lines, says
he has basic telematics on every asset. The privately-owned less-than-truckload (LTL) fleet utilizes
their telematics system to handle and streamline
invoicing, bills of lading, and delivery signatures.
An important byproduct is lower maintenance
costs by catching issues while they are still small,

Fleet Maintenance

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