Unexpected trailer breakdowns are costly and delay the journey for trailer manufacturers and their customers. To improve maintenance scheduling and foresee future maintenance needs, a group of seven students collaborated with the market-leading trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull as part of the master project seminar “Intelligent Maintenance Solutions”. The students investigated sensor data to determine the health of the trailer and predict future breakdowns.

The final results have been presented Wednesday at the Schmitz Cargobull Telematics headquarter in Münster. The student team demonstrated their findings on three different components of the trailer, in particular considering the different environment and road conditions by including external data sources. Furthermore, possible future business models and the integration of various data sources have been successfully demonstrated. The final results were combined in a graphical user interface that can improve maintenance planning.

Due to the success of the project, Schmitz Cargobull is looking forward to extending and integrating the prototype in its landscape. We once again thank our partners of Schmitz Cargobull for the opportunity to work with them on this exciting case and especially for the helpful support during the semester!