Semtech transforms maritime asset tracking

Semtech Corporation, a leading global supplier of high performance analogue and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms, has announced that Boluda Corporación Marítima, a leading global maritime services provider, will leverage an asset tracking solution from WITRAC, a Valencia-based company offering innovative technology solutions that connect and provide visibility to the value chain.

Integrated with Semtech’s LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN standard, WITRAC’s Total Track & Trace Intelligent Platform transports cold chain assets in Boluda’s supply chain, providing citizens of the Canary Islands with the first daily transportation of cargo from the peninsula with over 350 successful voyages.

“Semtech’s LoRa devices offered a cost-effective solution for WITRAC’s Total Track & Trace Intelligent Platform. With ships transporting thousands of containers, installing a satellite modem in each container would make this type of solution economically non-viable,” said Jose Pons Ballester, co-founder and CTO of WITRAC. “Employing a network using LoRaWAN as well as leveraging the LoRa 2.4GHz band allowed us to place a WITRAC device in every single container to share real-time offshore and onshore visibility to thousands of containers – an unmatched value for our customers.”

Using a combination of LoRaWAN, Wi-Fi, BLE, and cellular connectivity options in the same hardware device, WITRAC’s Total Track & Trace Intelligent Platform provides real-time visibility and control of offshore operations. In addition to temperature monitoring, the platform’s “Perfect Route System” is able to geolocate a fleet’s vessels, allowing alerts to be set for deviations in fuel consumption, speed, routes, or miles travelled, which also permits shippers to take corrective measures en route.

The success of the platform led Boluda to implement WITRAC’s platform to monitor the location and temperature status of the fresh food and medicine on its seven container vessels traveling 700 miles from the Spanish mainland on the maritime corridor linking the Port of Cádiz to the island ports of Las Palmas and Tenerife.

“Remotely monitoring the location and temperature of assets during an entire cold chain was once viewed as a challenge. Through implementing LoRa devices and LoRaWAN, asset tracking has never been more simple and cost effective,” said Marc Pégulu, vice president of IoT product marketing and strategy for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “WITRAC’s tracking solution is a valuable example of how LoRa and LoRaWAN networks can transform smart logistics to prevent loss or damage of assets no matter the distance.”

José Pons Ballester will be discussing the benefits of the Boluda “Daily Canarias” solution at the LoRaWAN World Expo taking place July 6-7, 2022, in Paris, France. CLICK HERE to register for the conference.

CLICK HERE to view the use case with more information on the collaboration here.