The Smart Key from New Holland has been awarded a Silver Medal at Agritecnica 2011 – one of five silver medals the company has taken this year.
The system provides farmers and contractors with a productivity enhancing tool both for the operator and fleet management, while it also combats the increasing prevalence of farm machinery theft.
Each operator will be given their own, unique Smart Key which will significantly improve their day-to-day operating experience. Each Smart Key is equipped with a fully programmable radio frequency identification chip with a unique key identifier that enables fleet owners to control the operators working parameters and fleet usage.
Personal Smart Keys assigned to the operators can be programmed to work with selected machines within a fleet (up to 40 machines can be assigned to every key), or as a master key that is compatible with all machines. This ensures that operators can only start the machines that have been pre-specified for their personal key. Moreover, a single key is compatible with all New Holland products, eliminating the need to carry multiple keys.
Specific machine parameters can be linked to each key, for example limiting the top road speed on machines driven by inexperienced drivers. Individual operators can also recall their preferred machine settings via the vehicle’s IntelliView monitor, which automatically recognises the key owner upon start-up, enabling them to get straight on with the job, reducing unproductive time spent inputting personal preferences every time.
The system can also record individual operator profiles, such as their average fuel consumption, hectares worked and even operator misuse. This information can be transmitted via telematics to the farm’s management software, enabling farm managers to assign individual tasks to the most efficient operators for increased profitability. It also provides large agribusinesses with an electronic record of hours worked for simplified accounting.
Individual Smart Key profiles are managed via the machine’s IntelliView monitor (for machines not equipped with a touchscreen display, technical support and programming are conducted by the local dealer). In order to access the electronic Key Management Menu (KMM), which defines the key profile, or profiles, for that particular machine, the user defined Vehicle Access Code (VAC) is used.
Via the KMM, keys can be added or deleted, or a back-up can be made. An expiry date can also be set for individual keys to prevent machine misuse when on contract hire or during use by casual labour. A unique VAC can be chosen for every machine, or the same VAC can be used for the entire fleet.
For more information visit: www.newholland.com.
