We had the opportunity to sit down with our Managing Director, Adam Smith, to gain valuable insights into the innovative e-Track systems and the company's future direction.
What are you best known for?
Being a market leader in the electronic key management space. We are dedicated to creating the best solution at an affordable price and our commitment to excellence in hardware and software is what we’re becoming known for in the industry. Every system is manufactured in the UK to the highest standards using top-quality materials. Our innovative software is constantly being developed alongside our clients to ensure we are providing solutions to the problems that our customers are facing.
Which industry sectors are your customers in?
We cover a range of different sectors however, it is within the automotive, fleet and logistics sectors that we see the greatest demand for our products. These industries face unique challenges which we have worked hard to solve and therefore this is where our solutions can have the most impact. Companies within these sectors can also expect to see a greater return on their investment from the increased efficiency and time saved.
Adam Smith - Managing Director
What are your most recent product innovations?
Our transport yard systems are the most recent innovation with a cutting-edge solution that allows keys to be conveniently deposited next to dock doors, streamlining the approval process and eliminating the need for drivers to make time-consuming trips to a transport office for paperwork completion. These advanced systems are designed to recognise the arrival of trailers at designated bays, provide a secure location for drivers to leave their keys, and automate the process of securing the trailer to the bay. This automation eliminates the risk of unsafe departures while the trailer is being loaded or unloaded, significantly reducing wasted time in the process.
In what areas are your customers facing challenges and how are you responding?
Transport yards are an interesting space that have produced challenges due to standardised processes and global risks. We understand the focus our clients are now putting into these areas outside of the main sheds and how important it is to have a competitive advantage. We work closely with clients and their requirements to produce solutions that solve the problems they have been facing on a daily basis.
Can you tell us about any recent customer contracts and how you helped the customer meet their challenges?
In 2021, an existing client and large-scale global logistics operator with numerous sites worldwide, presented us with the challenge of streamlining their loading process. Through a series of in-depth sessions, we designed the innovative concept that we now proudly refer to as our “Transport Yard System”. We are committed to ongoing collaboration with our client, whilst continuously refining the solution to deliver maximum efficiency at minimal cost.
How does business in 2023 compare to previous years and how do you see the next few years?
e-Track was established in 2019 and we’re seeing over 75% growth year-on-year. We’re focused on customer service and delivering quality at pace and through transformation and innovation at affordable prices, we aim for similar growth over the coming years. On September 1st, we launched a technical sales and support platform, which is available to UK and International customers for 365 business days a year. This initiative is backed by a newly established Research and Development (R&D) Engineering and Service Hub located in Solihull, West Midlands.
Can you tell us about any areas where you’re currently making technical advances e.g. safety, sustainability, environment?
e-Track has made significant investments in Research and Development during the 2023-24 financial year, allocating the annual budget across various initiatives which is aimed at enhancing both product offerings and overall business operations. Building upon the internal service and support systems introduced in 2023, e-Track has successfully implemented a proactive approach to asset management for web-connected devices. This proactive strategy enables us to provide clients with continuous monitoring and support, eliminating the need to react to service requests.
Are you investing in staff training and skills development?
Absolutely. As part of our commitment to the team and due to the continuous recruitment programmes running as the business grows, staff onboarding and development of skills across the teams is crucial. As a result of reliable processes that have been put in place and ongoing training of team members, we have a committed professional workforce.
What are the biggest challenges your company is facing?
International support was always going to be a challenge when scaling a business with global opportunities so although focused on the UK market primarily, we are interested in exploring international partner relations and as these grow our serviceable reach will follow.
What sets your company apart from the competition?
A business is all about its people and its passion to deliver customer-centric solutions so when aligning our people with some of the most innovative operation teams in the industry, we are extremely well placed to produce projects on time, exceeding expectations and directly delivering drastic improvements into clients’ business operations.
Which other countries do you operate in or export to?
We have deployments in the EU, US and Australia and are actively looking for channel partners and UK distributors to engage with and offer our cutting edge transport yard system equipment.
How future proof and flexible are your solutions?
Our systems are robust and durable, with embedded software capable of remote updates for low on-site maintenance. Our development roadmap and open APIs build on this foundation, ensuring the longevity of our products. These plans offer the opportunity to integrate with existing systems, making our products versatile and well suited to large- or small-scale deployments.
What would you say are the biggest trends shaping the warehousing and logistics industry?
Automation is attracting huge attention by minimising manual error without compromising results. Our transport yard systems fit this seismic shift perfectly, delivering automated controls to make vehicle arrival, coordination, and docking a simple process for the operations team.
If you would like to find out more about our systems go to: https://e-track.com/