Nuonic’s Prism platform is helping fleet operators to better manage, track and automate their transport assets. Roads & Infrastructure talks to Sebastian Jezierski, Co-Founder and General Manager, and Guy Carpenter, Chief Technology Officer about the platform.
With more than 40 years’ experience in developing data-driven solutions between them, it’s fair to say that Sebastian Jezierski and Guy Carpenter are experts in their field.
Both have extensive knowledge of the software and technology sector and its intersection with transport operations. Together, they lead a highly talented team to support product delivery for data-focussed software developer Nuonic.
Nuonic designs digital products that combine analytics with software. With expertise in cloud computing, geospatial analytics, artificial intelligence and large-scale data integration, Nuonic has serviced the software and analytic needs of applications across health, education and transport and logistics.
Jezierski is the founding architect of what’s known as Prism, Nuonic’s cloud-based platform which has been designed to provide fleet operators with timely, accurate and simplified analytics for transport assets. He says the platform opens new possibilities for the fleet operators and users.
“It’s designed specifically for analysing vehicle position (GPS) and telematics data from tracking devices installed in commercial fleets,” Jezierski says. “The platform includes extensive mapping of the Australian public road network and data integrations with a wide range of leading telematics systems and devices. Prism is used to analyse the activities of over 5000 vehicles each month operated by clients in various industries.”
He adds that Prism is the only automated analysis platform with GPS position-level integrations with over 20 telematics systems, including leading brands like Verizon Connect, Geotab, MT Data, Netstar, Volvo Dynafleet and Mix Telematics.
“Using Prism allows the client to perform an important business process faster, more accurately and for lower overall cost than was previously possible,” he says.
Inside the Prism
Prism provides automated analysis for connected vehicles. Fleet managers are able to gain insights into the commercial performance of their fleet operations.
One of the platforms biggest benefits is maximising accuracy of fuel apportionment for Fuel Tax Credits (FTC). FTCs provide organisations with a credit for the fuel tax, which is included in the price of fuel for a range of vehicles and equipment.
The value of these credits depends on the type of fuel used, where the fuel was acquired and the activity for which the fuel is used for. As such, FTCs are a key entitlement for fleet operations.
Using its clients’ GPS position data, and mapping data covering national roads, Prism provides more precise calculations while also reducing the manual labour previously required.
Before Prism, collecting the necessary data could take weeks. Now it takes minutes, says Chief Technology Officer Guy Carpenter.
“Traditional methods of calculating the non-public road fuel amounts, which attract the highest credit rate, were highly manual, opaque, and costly,” he says.
“Many companies simply claimed a fixed amount for their ‘off road’ portion despite having variable activity that may have been higher or lower, thus they were either over or under claiming.”
Users can also have full transparency over their movements and activities.
“Since establishing the FTC service, we have added various analysis tools to the platform, that provide clients with insights into their vehicles’ utilisation and productivity as well as advanced mapping reports that identify the locations with highest on and off-road activity,” Carpenter says.
“No other solution in the market uses vehicle activity to identify worksites on road infrastructure, which are classified as non-public for the duration of the work, for short or varied durations. The only alternative is to manually calculate the fuel apportionment. We’re also partnered with accredited tax partners and clients with nationwide operations, so our clients can feel assured that they have access to specialised tax advice to support their claims.”
Putting Prism in practice
Nuonic has recently implemented Prism to assist one of its clients in the civil construction sector.
Nuonic’s client conducts a considerable amount of road construction activity on public roads. But these worksites are considered non-public for FTC purposes when the work is in progress, which can result in a significant difference in claimable credits.
Works on these sites last for variable durations, meaning monthly calculations can be difficult when done manually. Up until the use of Prism, this portion of the clients FTC activity had not been claimed.
Sebastian Jezierski, Nuonic Co-Founder and General Manager, says this application presented an ideal situation for the Prism’s deployment to improve the client’s FTC calculations.
“We’re using Prism to identify the worksites based on specialised activity signatures in the data, and then use that location data to map out non-public road zones that would otherwise be public roads. Each zone can be verified by the client’s staff and when you have hundreds of sites over the year, this approach is much more efficient” he says.
“This new approach will help our clients to access FTCs for fuel used on non-public roads that they otherwise may not have identified. Their staff are empowered with more accessible information and can focus more of their efforts on making decisions rather than executing repetitive processes.”
Results from Prism can also form part of a company’s management reports or can be used to provide insight for strategic reviews and projects. In this case, Prism will provide a complete list of identified construction zones, operating times and more in a detailed report to support the approval of FTC credits by the client’s tax advisors.
Jezierski says adopting the Prism platform is simple for all business sizes and capabilities.
“For a client that uses one of our integrated telematics providers, getting started is as simple as signing a form allowing us to access their data,” he says.
“Our team will then set up a Prism account, connect the data and produce the first output which we will take the client through. From there, we work with clients to ensure their accounts are correctly configured for their unique situation and that they understand how to use all the platform features.”
Prism’s potential
Jezierski, Carpenter and the rest of the Nuonic team are constantly looking to upgrade the Prism platform.
As Jezierski explains, it’s imperative that the platform remains adaptive in what is a constantly evolving industry.
“The transport sector has seen massive adoption of in-vehicle technology over the last decide. In fact, many vehicles now have no room for any more screens, sensors or devices. The challenge now is what to do with the vast amounts of data that is being collected, how can it be used to improve safety, efficiency, and commercial returns for vehicle operators,” he says.
This article was originally published in the October edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
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