Ara Eckel
Director, Product Management, Connected Solutions
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JLG Industries
JLG® ClearSky® has traditionally been the name of JLG’s telematics system, a signature product offered through our connected solutions platform. It consisted of a piece of hardware installed on new machines or as an aftermarket option to retrofit existing machines. Being telematics, the legacy ClearSky solution only communicated one way, meaning the machine captured and sent data from the machine to the web-based portal or via an API to the customers’ own system. It was not equipped to receive data. And, it was not supported by a mobile app.
It was a good solution, but, it is no longer industry-leading or innovative — two brand characteristics that JLG has built its reputation on. It was time for a makeover.
Earlier this year, JLG announced the launch of ClearSky Smart Fleet™, a next-generation Internet of Things (IoT) platform that offers far more than any other telematics solution available. It provides a host of other connected solutions all contained within a state-of-the-art connectivity beacon on the product. This means that data and functionality are now available on a one-to-one or one-to-many machine basis through a unique mobile app, a comprehensive web dashboard or a robust API.
Starting in late summer 2023, the beacon will be installed on most newly produced, CANBus-equipped (Controller Area Network) JLG machines. Unlike the legacy ClearSky solution, ClearSky Smart Fleet offers two-way communication, allowing for continued collection of data from the machine, while introducing the ability to push data to the machine.
This new approach is a major shift that standardizes connectivity, digitizes daily processes, maximizes value, minimizes costs and generates new opportunities.
The Evolution to ClearSky Smart Fleet
For years, JLG ClearSky has had multiple features and products that solve real-world job site problems. These products have included an augmented reality app, an advanced remote analyzer reader, an advanced battery monitoring system (ABMS), a remote scissor lift control feature for select lifts and interactive 3-D hydraulic schematics for service technicians.
Each has been marketed independently, without having one centralized brand that can represent all things “connected technologies,” ranging from renting the wrong equipment to not having a handle on fleet location or who is operating machines.
The challenge was that these products independently were not able to tell a comprehensive story about all the ways JLG can contribute to the job site of the future. While customers can use these valuable tools to advance their businesses, JLG has sought various ways to evolve them into a part of one integrated solution — therefore, offering a level of interactivity that could enhance the construction ecosystem and further establish the important role technology plays in today’s rapidly changing marketplace.
With the launch of ClearSky Smart Fleet, JLG delivers one solution that does just that. It is truly a next-generation IoT system that digitizes daily processes, expands capabilities, streamlines logistics and provides actionable, on-demand machine insights.
Let’s take a look…
ClearSky Smart Fleet Key Features
The vision for ClearSky Smart Fleet was that JLG could help customers redefine their worksites and create efficiencies through a two-way connected ecosystem. By using connectivity, our value streams can talk to / help each other as well as provide end-to-end customer solutions that evolve over time.
Advancing yesterday’s connectivity into today’s interactivity, ClearSky Smart Fleet includes new features and functionality like:
- Bi-directional communication between machines and users
- A uniquely designed app dedicated to providing an optimal mobile user experience — it’s not just a website available on a mobile device
- Data placed in the user’s fingertips, wherever and whenever it’s needed
- Advanced and customizable data reporting and visualization
- Local machine status that utilizes the beacon to identify a machine — when on-site, the beacon blinks to help an operator or technician find the machine they are looking for (similar to finding a car in a parking lot by clicking on the panic button — the alarm sounds and lights blink)
- Targeted digital information
- Embedded analyzer that eliminates the need to have a handheld analyzer on-site and allows technicians to push updates or send information to the machine, as well as receive it from the machine, all from the app
- Digital access control
- Advanced Battery Monitoring System (ABMS) availability via the ClearSky Smart Fleet mobile app – this feature had previously only been available through the JLG’s Mobile Control app
- And, coming soon: Automated fleet grouping and/or the full worksite grouping of machines
Let’s dive in and take a closer look…
More about ClearSky Smart Fleet
More than just a telematics system, ClearSky Smart fleet is IoT technology that combines 25 unique features, including analyzers, telematics and productivity applications, into a single connectivity beacon on JLG equipment. This allows for seamless back-and-forth interaction through a comprehensive ClearSky Smart Fleet mobile app, a user-friendly web portal and an advanced API. Equipment owners and operators can activate the state-of-the-art beacon to identify a machine’s status or perform diagnostics wirelessly through the mobile app.
Simply put, ClearSky Smart Fleet is a bold, new frontier in fleet connectivity. It’s a true, two-way fleet management and communication platform, turning yesterday’s one-way data transmission into two-way interactivity that gets equipment fleets talking like never before.
More than yet another singular piece of software, it is built as a robust, constantly evolving IoT platform capable of delivering new functionality, new insights and new ways to run more efficient, cost-effective operations.
Comprehensive Mobile App
Developed from the ground up, the ClearSky Smart Fleet app provides a modern mobile experience to manage data and machine interaction, even when cellular data and Wi-Fi are not available.
Key features of the mobile app include:
- FIND MY MACHINE — Using geolocation, the Find My Machine feature activates audible and visual cues from the machine to make equipment identification effortless. With ClearSky Smart Fleet, equipment owners and operators can light a specific machine’s beacon or honk its horn at the push of a button.
- MACHINE STATUS INDICATION — Visual cues from the machine allow equipment owners and operators to wirelessly identify a machine’s status such as active diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs), battery or fuel level, ignition status and more simply by looking at the color of the beacon.
- DIGITAL ANALYZER — Perform diagnostics wirelessly with this built-in analyzer that replaces the JLG handheld analyzer.
- DIGITAL ANALYZER READER — A one-page summary that shows a machine’s set-up, personalities, diagnostics and fault log data, which can be easily downloaded and shared.
- DIGITIZED INFORMATION — Access to targeted information to help solve service issues without moving a step.
User-Friendly Web Portal
The ClearSky Smart Fleet web portal helps to digitize daily processes by delivering clear, efficient navigation and powerful features for immediate visibility into a fleet’s health and performance data. To help digitize daily processes, the web portal features:
- A DYNAMIC DASHBOARD — Display as much data as needed through a dynamic, action-oriented dashboard. Whether a fleet view or individual model view is wanted, powerful filters and easy-to-use customization, including drag-and-drop window widgets, allow any role to prioritize the actionable insights necessary to maximize productivity and ROI (return on investment).
- AUTOMATIC SITE NETWORKS — Receive notifications when a machine arrives and/or leaves a job site using the site network feature. Site Networks act like automated geofences, which occur when two or more machines are within range of a local connection and a site network is formed automatically, thus, simplifying equipment tracking and reporting.
- MACHINE LEVEL DATA — Access to specific serial number and asset ID data, such as interactive schematics, knowledge articles, technical manuals and parts information, can be obtained in seconds.
- EXPORT — Generate reports and export the overview dashboard as a PDF or Excel file.
- UNIFIED LOGIN — ClearSky Smart Fleet is now part of Online Express, allowing for single sign-on access using Online Express credentials. By integrating ClearSky Smart Fleet into JLG’s Online Express service, equipment owners and operators can manage a fleet, troubleshoot machine issues and order parts — everything they need to keep a fleet in top shape — with a single login.
Advanced API
Equipment owners and operators can effortlessly combine actionable, JLG-rich ClearSky Smart Fleet data into a current telematics solution to manage a mixed fleet from a single screen, no matter where they are. This next-generation IoT platform offers the ability to manage data with an enhanced API through an in-house solution to manage an entire fleet at one time, maximizing efficiencies and improving ROI.
How to Get ClearSky Smart Fleet
ClearSky Smart Fleet is being introduced through a phased global rollout, starting July 2023. Customers with existing JLG products can continue to use the Legacy ClearSky program for their connected needs. Both platforms are integrated into Online Express, JLG’s 24/7 e-Commerce site.
More details about JLG ClearSky Smart Fleet’s IoT capabilities are available at smartfleet.JLG.com. For the most up-to-date information, click here.
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