OPTILOG

Objectives

Despite intensive efforts, not least through diverse innovation and economic development funding by the federal and state governments in recent years, it is repeatedly found that the use of telematics in the freight forwarding industry falls short of users’ expectations. In fact, the use of telematics in forwarding companies is currently still characterised by isolated applications rather than integrated solutions. This corresponds to a narrow, yet generally prevailing, view of telematics merely as a means of vehicle and order tracking. Against this background, the OPTILOG project set out with a far-reaching objective. Starting from a needs assessment using vocational and work science methods of analysis in several selected forwarding companies, solutions for the design of work and technology are to be identified and realised as prototypes that improve, on the one hand, the scope for cooperation and action for forwarding staff and, on the other hand, the performance and competitiveness of the companies. This requires the involvement of both forwarding companies and telematics manufacturers in the project.

Research focus

The central research hypothesis of the project is that the current obstacles to acceptance and innovation of forwarding telematics (effect) are due to a lack of coordination between work and technology (cause).

In the course of the investigations, this general hypothesis has been differentiated in two directions (see also “Results”). Accordingly, sustainable development and design perspectives can be identified more precisely as (1) “telematics as a medium for cooperation” and (2) “telematics as a medium for learning”. The viability of these two perspectives was tested in the course of the project through the development and implementation of prototypical and paradigmatic telematics products and forms of organisation.

Methods

Within OPTILOG, participation-oriented methods and procedures were in the foreground. In the sense of the socio-technical systems approach, the aim is, on the one hand, to interlink organisational development with technology development. On the other hand, participation-oriented procedures and methods should enable future users to act as innovators in product design.

In methodological terms, the approach reflects a sequence between a) exploratory and hypothesis-driven theory development (on the interrelationships between work and technology in the field of investigation) and b) theory testing through the (participatory) design of work and technology. The validity of theoretical statements is thus measured by the successful implementation of new telematics products and changes in companies.

Results

The following solutions and products were realised as prototypes in response to the identified needs for solutions and evaluated in the course of the project in order to test the validity of the analysis results and conclusions.

· Implementation of a wiki system on a telematics platform and development of an organisational scheme for knowledge creation: wiki systems as functional components of telematics platforms represent promising offers for promoting informal learning in companies. In this way, practice-relevant knowledge can be continuously collected and updated. Important prerequisites for the success of the solution are that the presentation of the knowledge content must be adapted for PDAs (personal digital assistants) and that drivers act as authors or at least as sources of information for authors.

· Realisation of a “shared disposition” approach: for the regional waste disposal business unit of a partner company, a mobile application was designed that enables cooperative order management. Drivers can accept orders and change existing order assignments as required. Orders and order assignments are visible to all parties at all times; the office only intervenes in the process selectively. Telematics thus creates framework conditions for qualified skilled work.

· A support system for learning a fuel-efficient driving style: the system provides feedback on consumption-relevant episodes on the basis of processed vehicle data. The design takes particular account of questions of learning-conducive adaptation and ergonomic presentation of the feedback. The support of learning and appropriation processes provided here stands in strong contrast to conventional, execution-oriented driver information and driver assistance systems, which primarily aim to improve safety and comfort.