This Bengaluru Based Startup Transforming Fleet Industry
Durgadutt Nedungadi, Vice President – International Business, Netradyne during an interaction with Nitisha Dubey talks about challenges in transportation industry.
With an agenda to transform the transportation ecosystem through computer vision and in-depth data analysis to protect and empower fleets and drivers to create a safer road for today, Netradyne is building a world-class team to deliver industry-leading fleet safety solutions. They claim as the first commercial vehicle technology provider, which combines artificial intelligence with video to detect, reason, and determines the causality of events, as they inform the way fleets interact with employees and vehicles in the driving technology evolution. Durgadutt Nedungadi, Vice President – International Business, Netradyne during an interaction with Nitisha Dubey talks about challenges in the transportation industry nowadays and he also emphasizes the future growth plans of Netradyne.
Kindly explain Netradyne and its special offerings.
Netradyne harnesses the power of Computer Vision and Edge Computing to revolutionize the modern-day transportation ecosystem. Since its inception, in 2015, Netradyne has been building a world-class team to deliver industry-leading fleet safety solutions. We’re the first commercial vehicle technology provider to combine Artificial Intelligence with video to detect, reason, and determine the causality of events, as we inform the way drivers of fleets interact with the road around them.
Netradyne collects and analyses more data points and meaningful information than any other fleet safety organization so customers can improve retention, increase profitability, enhance safety, and enable end-to-end transparency. Organizations trust Netradyne to build a positive, safe, and driver-focused culture, so they can take their business to the next level.
How does Netradyne differentiate itself from other companies?
At Netradyne our team brings together edge computing on the device, AI, ML, and complex cloud tech to create end-to-end safety solutions. Our device – drivers is a Vision-based ADAS / Outward Camera and Driver Monitoring System (DMS) / Inward Camera providing real-time feed while capturing and recording various matrix with regards to driver’s driving habits.
Netradyne is deep technology, a safe driving company that is transforming the transportation ecosystem and fleet safety management practices around the world. Its proprietary, Made in India device ‘DriverI’ uses advanced AI, Edge Computing, and Computer Vision technology to assess 21+ unsafe driving parameters such as drowsiness, texting, hard breaking, etc., and generate alerts that notify drivers, prompt them to correct driving behavior and reduce incidents of accidents. DriverI is used by leading companies across the globe to safeguard their fleets, drivers, and reputation from fraudulent road accident claims and settle insurance disputes through verifiable, video-backed evidence.
According to you, what kind of challenges transportation industry is facing nowadays? How it can be resolved?
Today, experts in transport are concerned about the speed at which innovation is evolving. This phenomenon is making many logistics/ transport/ fleet management businesses struggle to keep up with the levels of advancement in technology.
Client expectations have changed drastically all because of this technology. They are more information-enabled and have expectations that their services keep them fully informed throughout the entire process to make their businesses more efficient and cost-effective.
By using cutting-edge technologies such as AI, IoT, Big Data, etc. there is ample scope for value creation in the transportation arena. There are numerous benefits that digitization offers such as effective route planning, smart capacity optimization, interconnectivity with various other aspects of the transportation ecosystem such as shippers and warehouses, etc., as well as improving driver and road safety.
Also, there’s growing recognition across global commercial fleets that data is essential to making fleets safer. While some devices installed on these fleets only provide GPS location, more sophisticated systems send alerts about unsafe driving, log road incidents, and include dash cams. Fleet dash cams not only collect valuable evidence for accidents but also provide helpful data that can help build fleet safety programs.
At Netradyne, we have designed Advanced AI-equipped dash cam solutions that provide multiple or 360-degree views from inside and outside the cabin of the vehicle. These views can put triggering events, like abrupt lane changes and hard braking, into context. Was the driver paying attention or reacting to a car that abruptly cuts in front of the vehicle? A fleet safety program can use event-triggered videos to understand common causes of collisions on popular routes. They can also be used in helpful training videos. This is the future for the transport/ fleet management industry.
Kindly highlight the role of technology in transportation advancement.
The transportation systems around today’s modern world that have been built are on the verge of a significant transformation. Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are making driving and traffic management better and safer for everyone.
According to World Health Organization, 7 out of 10 people on the planet will live in cities by mid-century. New transportation technologies are emerging to meet these challenges, including connected and autonomous vehicles, alternative fuels, keyless fleet management, and traffic analytics, as well as local zoning and planning policies that support transit-oriented development. New technology for on-road communications will dramatically change how vehicles operate and provide information and capabilities for better, real-time traffic management — if the necessary network infrastructure is in place.
Real-time tracking of shipments has indisputably become a game-changer for this industry. Today, by deploying technologies such as AI, ML, IoT, and Data Analytics; Transport and Logistics Service Providers through dedicated customer portals help companies get access to milestone-based tracking, thereby enabling them to view the details of the shipment from one hub to another along with the exact date of delivery.
While all the above focus on improved operations, highest on priority of most fleets is safety – the safety of their drivers, safety of their cargo, and safety of the vehicle itself. And this is where Netradyne has focused all its efforts since inception.
It is impossible to attribute a value towards a life. However, most fleets would agree that the cost of accidents have the highest impact on their operational efficiency. Not only is the value of the cargo and vehicle lost, there is a big loss of productivity since every accident invariably leads to different levels of vehicle downtime.
Related to this, since most accidents are caused due to poor driving behaviour, Netradyne provides the ability for fleets to track individual driver performance, coach them for improvement through relevant videos and also provide positive recognition for good driving behaviour.
Our customers tell us that they are already seeing reduction of upto 40% in their accident rates having deployed our technology in their fleets.
How was business for Netradyne in the year 2020-2021 and what will be the future marketing strategy?
At Netradyne, our business globally has been growing 3X year on year, especially during the pandemic period. So, our real challenge today is to be able to scale up our resourcing, especially in the technology area. Our operations in India are growing at a good pace and we need to fast track hiring of our team(s) accordingly. As the skill sets needed for our line of work are niche in nature, we would be adopting various routes in hiring these specialists from top campuses such as IISC, IITs, and top local colleges such as RVCE, BMS to name a few.
In the early years, we had consciously focused on India and US as focused market to make our technology available. We are now aggressively planning to expand our geographical reach. Within this year we should see our products being launched in the UK, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Mexico and other select markets.
Are any new projects being launched by the company in the coming months? Please elaborate.
Netradyne is deep technology, safe driving company that is transforming the transportation ecosystem and fleet safety management practices around the world. Its proprietary, Made in India device ‘DriverI’ uses advanced AI, Edge Computing and Computer Vision technology to assess 21+ unsafe driving parameters such as drowsiness, texting, hard breaking etc. and generate alerts that notify drivers, prompts them to correct driving behaviour and reduce incidents of accidents. DriverI is used by leading companies across the globe to safeguard their fleets, drivers and reputation from fraudulent road accident claims and settle insurance disputes through verifiable, video backed evidence.
Going forward our mission is to incorporate newer and more unique features to our existing devices as per the requirements of our clientele across the globe.
What are some of the major challenges this industry is facing after the pandemic? Kindly explain.
The COVID-19 pandemic showed the importance of logistics and supply chain visibility in delivering essentials such as food and medicine. The pandemic not only tested the whole transport and logistics industry’s resilience and efficiency to the hilt but also paved the way for accelerated technological adoption across the sector.
AI, GPS tracking, and other technologies have and will continue to provide data that makes supply chain issues visible.
In a digital world with near zero tolerance for delays and failures, safety becomes even more paramount. Hence the effective usage of technology, leading to a measurable change in behaviour leads to not only improved operations but also to lives saved.
Are any new associations or collaborations being planned in the near future?
As mentioned, we will continue to reach out to our target customers as per our global growth trajectory.
