Subscribe

Tag: tracking

Cathay Cargo use New Technology to Transport Giant Panda

Posted on by David Priestman

Cathay Cargo, a global provider of air freight services, successfully utilized Descartes Systems Group’s Bluetooth® Low Energy air cargo tracking solution for real-time monitoring of the condition and location of Giant Pandas An An and Ke Ke during their safe journey from Chengdu, China to Hong Kong. The pandas arrived at Hong Kong International Airport on September 26, 2024. Descartes, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, provided the technology that ensured the animals’ well-being throughout the transport.

“We’re excited that our technology played a role in the safe arrival of such a special shipment from Chengdu to Hong Kong,” said Frank Hung, VP Sales and Marketing at Descartes. “With our advanced IoT-based tracking capabilities, our customers are not only able to monitor the location of their shipments in real-time, but also shipment conditions such as temperature, light, vibration and humidity—which takes on an even more important dimension for Cathay Cargo in this unique situation.”

Cathay Cargo has used the Descartes solution as part of its Ultra Track cargo tracking service since 2021. The solution helps the air cargo carrier provide customers with real-time shipment location and condition status for airport-to-airport moves of high value goods such as electronics, perishables and pharmaceuticals. The Ultra Track service is available in 29 airports across Cathay Cargo’s network.

The Descartes air cargo tracking solution is designed to help airlines and ground handling agents (GHA) provide forwarding and shipper customers with end-to-end shipment visibility. Descartes Bluetooth® Low Energy powered tags placed on Unit Load Devices (ULD) or pallets provide location and condition status data that is captured by Descartes Bluetooth® Low Energy readers. Readers are part of the Descartes global Internet of Things (IoT) network and a Descartes Global Logistics Network™ service. Shipment status can be tracked whether goods are in the air or on the ground to help the air cargo community automate the end-to-end tracking of freight location and shipment status information such as precise temperature, movement, shock, light and humidity.

“We’re pleased to have supported Cathay Cargo in this extraordinary endeavor,” said Scott Sangster, General Manager, Logistics Service Providers at Descartes. “Customers with temperature-controlled, time-sensitive and other specialized cargo expect to be kept informed of the location, condition, and chain of custody of their air shipment throughout its journey. By building out our IoT network in more geographies, deploying active readers across more locations and expanding the reach of the network, we’re helping the air cargo industry meet requirements for real-time, multi-dimensional cargo visibility and facilitate more secure, efficient, and responsive logistics operations.”

Read Similar…

Cyber Security Risk for Supply Chain Software

Enterprise-Grade Asset Tag Provides Increased Visibility

Posted on by David Priestman

Samsara Inc. has announced the industry’s first enterprise-grade Asset Tag designed to meet customer demand for tracking and managing small, high-value assets. This new device leverages the Samsara Network to offer increased visibility into the location of mission-critical equipment and tools. As a result, organizations can minimize downtime spent searching for lost or stolen items, reduce associated costs, and simplify inventory management.

The industries that power our global economy – like transportation, oil and gas, and construction – have complex operations that rely on specialized assets to get their work done each day. These assets include toolboxes, jackhammers, chemical totes, and more. Due to manual inventory processes and a lack of connected systems, the recurring loss or theft of these materials can cost organizations millions of dollars every year.

But as sensors get more compact, sophisticated, and easier to install, they can track anything – big or small. Samsara’s Asset Tag (pictured below) was built around this opportunity: to provide unprecedented access and visibility into valuable assets at scale. By connecting critical assets to the cloud for the first time, customers can now easily capture and analyze location insights to significantly improve operational efficiency.

The Pike Corporation is a leading provider of infrastructure solutions for electric and gas utility companies within the United States. Pike uses the Samsara platform across Vehicle Telematics, Video-Based Safety, and Asset Tracking to connect their operations. Most recently, Pike has begun testing Samsara’s Asset Tag to help recover misplaced or lost tools and equipment and accurately track safety PPE to comply with annual OSHA testing requirements.

“We have several high-value assets like service gloves and electrical grounds that don’t have serial numbers, but still need to be tracked, managed, and inspected to remain compliant,” said James Banner, Senior Vice President of Administration at Pike Electric. “Previously misplaced equipment would take us weeks to locate and if lost entirely, cost up to a million dollars to replace annually. With Samsara’s Asset Tags, we are hoping to minimize this downtime, cut costs, and digitize manual inspection processes – all while keeping our employees safe and efficient. We’re just getting started with this technology and I look forward to seeing what else it can do.”

With the Samsara Asset Tag, organizations can expect to:
● Prevent loss and recover stolen assets: with advanced location tracking technology powered by Samsara’s vast network of gateways.
● Reduce downtime and boost productivity: by sharing asset locations with technicians in the field via the Samsara Driver App and avoid service disruptions with Inventory Filtering, which pulls a summary of assets and applies filters to identify which tools are in close proximity.
● Better manage inventory: and increase operational efficiency with a consolidated dashboard and easy-to-use reporting.

Powerful location tracking capabilities within the Asset Tag are enabled by the Samsara Network, made up of millions of IoT devices worldwide. This network coverage powered by Samsara devices leverages industrial-grade BLE technology and offers enterprise reliability designed to withstand the ruggedized, complex environments of physical operations.

“About a year ago, the Asset Tag was born from a radical idea that we could use the millions of Samsara Gateways we have out in the field to create a network, enabling ‘tags’ to ping off those devices. With this, we’d unlock a level of asset tracking that was previously impossible and solve even more real-world problems for our customers,” explained David Gal, Vice President, Product and Engineering at Samsara. “After months of rigorous testing and customer feedback, I’m excited to see this vision become a reality. As we further connect every aspect of physical operations, we can turn massive amounts of data into valuable insights and drive real results.”

Asset Tag is shipping now to customers across North America and Europe.

read more

Samsara Unveils New Solutions at Beyond ’24

 

Butcher Rolls-Out Digital Distribution Tech

Posted on by David Priestman

Walter Rose & Son, a British multi-award-winning butcher, has rolled-out a digital distribution system with software from Podfather. With a fleet of 28 vehicles delivering to catering establishments, high-end retailers, and homes across England, Walter Rose has transformed its distribution operation using Podfather’s route planning, vehicle check, delivery tracking, ETA notification and electronic proof of delivery solution.

The Walter Rose team uses Podfather to help plan delivery routes, and capture electronic vehicle checks before drivers leave the Devizes depot in Wiltshire. In the past, vehicle checks would have been collected on a paper sheet and delivered back to the transport office later. Now all teams have instant visibility if there is a defect that needs to be dealt with. All drivers use the Podfather app on a smartphone device. Job information is now sent straight from Podfather’s cloud-based back-office planning system to the driver hand-held removing reliance on handing out paper tickets and collating them when the driver returns.

“When I first saw the Podfather system I could clearly see that it ticked all the boxes in terms of what we needed to help update our delivery processes,” comments Gradyn Runyeard-Hunt, Transport Manager at Water Rose & Sons. “Walter Rose has been in business since 1847, much has changed since that time, but we were still relying on paper to plan and manage our deliveries. Now with Podfather in place, we have been able to move over to an automated system which is much better for us and our customers.”

Deliveries are now tracked via the app and customers are kept up to date with realistic ETA information, a function that is available to all Podfather core product users as standard. Once a driver has arrived at a customer site, electronic signatures and photographs are captured, as well as the precise time and location information that shows exactly what was delivered where when. Electronic proof of delivery has been a huge game changer for the team as they now have real-time visibility of what has been delivered where vital when some items are left unattended at the point of delivery.

“Podfather has made life so much easier as it gives us a clear picture of how our fleet is performing and what deliveries are being successfully made where all in real-time,” adds Runyeard-Hunt. “The support from the Podfather team has been exceptional, we really do feel it’s one of the best tech projects we’ve ever implemented.”

“Walter Rose is a fantastic example of what our core product is designed to do,” comments Colin McCreadie, Managing Director at Podfather. “We have designed an advanced, yet easy-to-use solution, that enables logistics operators to tackle the key issues that are inherent in the paper processes that so many companies still rely on.”

Podfather specialises in the development, delivery and support of route optimisation and electronic proof of delivery technology. A UK company headquartered in Edinburgh, Podfather works with companies of all shapes and sizes, from industry giants such as Tarmac and Breedon to well-known names such as Rexel and ODDBOX and everything else in between. Ideal for multi drop distribution operations, Podfather provides an end-to-end solution incorporating route planning and optimisation, vehicle checks, ETA notifications, tracking, electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) and reporting.

Mapping Here and Everywhere

Posted on by David Priestman

David Priestman met with HERE Technologies at the Gartner Supply Chain Xpo in London to see how a sleeping giant in mapping and location technology has set eyes on becoming ‘the number 1 in location’.

Seldom have we seen a supply chain crisis like the one faced today, involving all aspects of global trade and exacerbated by the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Companies need to take the time to build more resilient operations to withstand future shocks. Fleet managers face a lot of pressure, whether it’s knowing the toll roads to avoid or getting things delivered on time. Location data is making this more seamless with the precise location, ETA and tracking of vehicles much improved. Technology such as 5G will only strengthen this further.

HERE Technologies is a name you may not know of, yet you quite possibly have used the company’s mapping technology while driving. 35 years young, with 6400 employees in 52 countries HERE wish mapping to be seen as an end in itself, with users paying for precise location. The company created the first digital map more than 35 years ago and has been in the SatNav market since 1994. It was part of Nokia for a while. Now it is owned by strategic investors including Audi, BMW and Daimler.

Christoph Herzig, pictured, is Head of Product Management, Supply Chain Solutions at HERE. He told me that the company has been offering mapping and positioning services and Application Programming Interface (APIs) to logistics companies for 10 years. The technology is integrated into SAP and Oracle’s TMS as well.

“We have our own platform with several hundred thousand users and want to become the number 1 in location,” Herzig said. HERE’s mapping features HD and 3D images, uses 900 data attributes and is approved as an AWS supply chain partner. “This means it is good for autonomous vehicles,” Herzig stated, “the HERE HD Live Map is centimetres accurate.”

TMS Partners

Current partners/customers include TMS suppliers and fleet managers. “They use our routing, geo-coding and vehicle problem solver options,” Herzig added. One customer is Active Logistics, a German TMS supplier. By using HERE, Active can enable multi-stop planning for couriers like UPS and auto-planning of routes.

“We want to sell directly now, to 3PLs/LSPs too,” Herzig continued. “Our target buyers are C.O.O.s and C.I.O.s.” HERE offers IoT tracking capacity for assets and parts. “You can navigate to the final metre and we’re offering more shipment visibility, adding air and marine schedules too,” he claimed. Data security and anonymisation for GDPR is also promised.

Data is key

The transport and logistics industry is increasingly reliant on location data and needs end-to-end visibility. Company assets can be viewed in a detailed, comprehensive, and accurate manner, and as the technology runs in real-time this gives businesses the visibility they need to manage their connections.

“Fleet managers still have a lot of concerns about the disadvantages of electric vehicles,” Herzig asserts. ”Location technology can take that burden away and make it easy to move to electric vehicles. Electrifying the last mile would have a profound impact on the CO2 emissions in many cities. With HERE’s Routing API, for example, you can input the consumption model, which depends on the ascent, descent, acceleration and deceleration along the route in addition to auxiliary power usage like air conditioning to calculate an EV-optimized route. This can extend the range of the vehicle. This works well because our map data contains all necessary information about slope, curve angle, and speed limits of each road in your city, correlated with historic traffic flow. We want to be like Intel. The advertising motto should be ‘it’s HERE inside’!”

Tive wins innovation award

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Tive, a global leader in supply chain and logistics visibility technology, has been ranked 18th in FreightWaves’ 2023 FreightTech 25 list, which recognises the most innovative and disruptive companies in the freight and transportation industry. This is the first year Tive is included on this list.

Each year, the top 25 companies are selected from the FreightTech 100 by a handpicked group of CEOs, industry leaders, and investors actively investing in the freight space.

“As relentless innovators, we are extremely proud to be recognised by FreightWaves on this impressive list of companies working to advance the freight technology space,” said Krenar Komoni, Tive CEO & Founder. “At Tive, we are constantly seeking new and innovative ways to make end-to-end supply chain visibility available to everyone in the transportation industry, and this award clearly demonstrates that our hard work is successfully advancing our mission.”

Among Tive’s recent contributions to make end-to-end supply chain visibility an affordable reality for everyone in the supply chain logistics space are the following:

  • Introduced the first single-use and multi-use 5G-ready tracker
  • Introduced the first non-lithium based 5G-ready tracker
  • Introduced Tive Tag, the thinnest, easiest-to-use label for end-to-end cold chain monitoring of temperature-sensitive shipments
  • Co-founded the Open Visibility Network—a consortium of supply chain, transportation, and logistics technology providers on a mission to optimise global supply chain efficiency via open visibility and collaboration
  • Tive trackers provide global visibility coverage, with high reliability in more than 186 countries

The FreightTech 25 companies and their ranking were determined by a hand-picked peer group of CEOs, industry leaders, and investors actively investing in the freight industry. The companies were among the FreightTech 100 companies, previously determined by a panel chosen by FreightWaves.

TIMOCOM presents shipment tracking for carriers

Posted on by Keith McKinley

TIMOCOM will be presenting several innovations at the IAA Transportation in Hanover from the 20th to the 25th of September in Hall 13, Booth C40. These innovations are specifically tailored to meet the needs of carriers, in particular smaller companies and mobile device users.

“We are expanding our European road transportation marketplace to include new products and features – two will be available during the trade fair, and the prototype for the third will be on display,” according to Gunnar Gburek, Head of Business Affairs at TIMOCOM.

Those visiting the TIMOCOM trade fair booth can look forward to testing the following innovations:

Modernised freight exchange: TIMOCOM users can now perform as many simultaneous searches as they like, receive notifications regarding new offers and exclude specific offers from the search results list. The new freight exchange is also much simpler to use on mobile devices, making it ideal for finding freight when on the go across Europe.

Live shipment tracking: This latest feature is designed to meet the needs of carriers. It makes it easy to exchange transport information, including an informative shipment status and an ETA calculation optimised for trucks. “It was important to us that service providers have a tool that allows them to maintain full control over which data they share but still meet the needs of transport customers, who want more transparency within the transport process,” according to Steven van Cauteren, Director of Key Account & Partner Management at TIMOCOM. Carriers can share information in real time with their business partner using a digital representation of the shipment, allowing all those involved in the transport process to react quickly to any issues. The product is currently being introduced in the DACH region.

Tour planning: This prototype is an extension of the live shipment tracking feature. It allows road hauliers to factor in tours when scheduling drivers and shipments, doing away with manual entries in Word or Excel. The drivers can then view their tour on their mobile device. “The tour planning feature is a prototype designed to make life easier for service providers. We are currently searching for beta testers, who will allow us to continue to develop the product in line with our customer’s needs,” says Steven Van Cauteren. The feature is primarily designed for use by smaller companies and road hauliers.

Logistics transport customers are increasingly requesting digital processes and more transparency from their service providers. TIMOCOM’s latest innovations help carriers meet these demands while maintaining control over their own data. This allows companies to concentrate on their core business while still profiting from digitalisation of their processes.

GateHouse forms data tracking partnership with Sony

Posted on by Keith McKinley

GateHouse Maritime, a leading provider of ocean supply chain visibility and predictability services, has agreed with Sony Network Communications Europe for its cargo tracking solution, Visilion, to utilise its new data platform, OceanIO to extend the range of tracking for oceangoing cargo. OceanIO by GateHouse Maritime is designed to be easily integrated with existing applications and is scalable with more services to come.

Martin Dommerby Kristiansen, CEO at GateHouse Maritime, said: “We’re delighted to have made this agreement with Sony Network Communications Europe to support their world-class tracking solution, Visilion, with data on oceangoing cargo. Utilising OceanIO, Sony improves visibility of goods in transit from port to port. IoT technology and data analytics are key to the digital transformation of logistics.”

Based on re-usable smart trackers with sensors and a cloud service, Sony’s cargo tracking solution, Visilion, continuously gathers and uploads data which can be viewed on an intuitive web interface. It provides notifications about arrival and departure, positioning, temperature, shock, tilt and humidity detection, providing assurance to goods owners and freight forwarders of the whereabouts of goods in real time, whether they have been handled correctly or suffered route deviations, and if they will be delivered on time. OceanIO is easily connected to existing applications and Transport Management Systems through APIs.

Erik Lund, Head of the Tracking Division, Visilion at Sony Network Communications Europe, said: “GateHouse Maritime’s OceanIO platform combines extensive and comprehensive data sources to provide a robust and scalable foundation to extend the range and functionality of ocean visibility for the Visilion tracking solution. Working with GateHouse Maritime, we will continue the journey to provide customers with unparalleled visibility of their goods for all modes of transport.”

Sustainability benefits

Sony’s cargo tracking solution, Visilion, brings connectivity to the supply chain and paves the way for more environmentally sensitive decision making about choices of transport. With the incorporation of data services from the OceanIO platform, the capabilities of the Visilion solution have been extended. Using the OceanIO platform, Visilion can help its customers to improve efficiency in the supply chain with more detailed real-time visibility on sea.

Recently introduced by GateHouse Maritime, OceanIO daily receives up to 150 million new data points from diverse sources which includes nearly 300,000 oceangoing vessels as they report information regarding their geographical position, heading, speed and depth; together with inputs from 160 satellites and 2,500 terrestrial stations, 110 container freight carriers, 4,000 container ports and terminals, and meteorological activity reports.

Uniquely, OceanIO integrates GateHouse historical and trend data to allow for a more powerful and predictive end service. Using machine learning, predictive services can be developed for greater granularity and accuracy, allowing service providers to better report the progress of freight and meet customer’s expectations in an age when the supply chain has become greatly degraded and disrupted.

 

 

Portakabin deploys Zetes’ product tracking solution

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Portakabin, the market leading manufacturer of modular buildings, has invested in a state-of-the-art tracking solution from Zetes to enable complete visibility of its modular products through their entire lifecycle.

Portakabin is the UK’s market leader in modular construction, operating across the UK, Ireland and Europe. The building modules are manufactured at a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in York and assembled on-site with final configuration undertaken to the customer’s precise specification.

With the introduction of ZetesMedea, Portakabin will now have an automated solution to track the movement of modules across various stages of their lifecycle, from manufacture through to installation and eventual refurbishment. In addition, it will be able to easily demonstrate compliance with relevant building regulations and provide live reporting of module status.

During the manufacturing process the modules are tagged with a unique identifier in the form of a QR code which will be scanned at defined stages of its lifecycle. The information captured at each stage will be exchanged and integrated into Portakabin’s SAP system, not only giving it full visibility of asset location, but also full lifecycle intelligence for enhanced asset.

Ian Donal, Head of Supply Chain, Portakabin, explains: “We chose Zetes given their demonstratable record of delivering similar projects that vastly improve business efficiency. Previously it wasn’t always possible to gain the understanding we required, and where we could, it would involve a lot of manual effort and time. With Zetes, we will be able to have full visibility of the lifecycle of our buildings enabling us to continue to grow our business even in challenging market conditions.”

Amir Harel, UK Managing Director, Zetes, adds: “We are delighted to be able to provide a well-known British brand such as Portakabin with a solution that will enable them to improve their business efficiency and gain better insight into their operations, we look forward to continuing to work with them in partnership to provide further efficiency improvements.”

Safecube launches asset tracking solution

Posted on by Keith McKinley

French company Safecube, born from a joint venture between Michelin, Sigfox France and Argon & Co in 2019, is launching its new LocaTrack asset tracking solution with IoT technology.

Safecube continues its development in the supply chain ecosystem by providing visibility on transport flows and now assets by leveraging digital innovations such as IoT.

Its initial solution proposed real-time visibility on multimodal flows with an IoT approach. Michelin was the first to use Safecube’s IoT service.

Today, the company is diversifying by creating an asset tracking solution, LocaTrack. This solution will track and monitor assets, while the first Safecube solution provides visibility over supply chain flows.

Almost two years after the launch of its first flow tracking solution, Safecube expertise has expanded to include asset tracking.

The purpose is to offer a global view of the fleet using an intuitive interface for monitoring assets activity. Thanks to trackers positioned on assets and connected to the Sigfox 0G network, it is now possible to know in real-time the exact location of a trailer, a pallet or an industrial tool. Geolocation, asset tracking, fleet maintenance management, etc., The benefits involved are multiple.

This platform integrates directly into the customer’s information system. It allows to track the assets, to monitor their condition (full, empty, cold, hot, etc.) and to optimise their management in a simple way. Safecube’s objective behind this new solution is to make asset tracking and monitoring more accessible and affordable.

“This solution is the logical next step in our goods tracking solution. By democratising asset tracking, especially for non-motorised assets, we are enabling logistics and industrial players to better exploit their assets. “says Waël Cheaib, CEO of Safecube.

The Sigfox 0G network is one of the key differentiators for Safecube, offering low bandwidth to retrieve just the data needed for the visibility issues specific to the supply chain. It allows low energy consumption, a longer tracker life (up to several years), and a low cost.

“How can IoT be a game-changer in supply chain applications? Firstly, by providing visibility beyond company borders,” says Patrick Cason, General Manager of Sigfox France. “In the past, end-to-end visibility was limited by the cost of the solutions needed to capture relevant and valuable data. The return on investment was simply not achievable. Technology like Sigfox is a game-changer because it captures relevant data at minimum cost.

“Secondly, by making it possible to capture this significant data, in the right place and at the right time, in a simple way, without impacting the declared infrastructures or installing a new one. You can’t handle what you can’t measure! LocaTrack allows companies to detect the reality of their business to make informed & relevant decisions.”

Safecube has chosen to maximise the security of the entire data recovery process. The architecture of the Sigfox 0G network and its data transmission protocol from the trackers to the platform has reinforced security.

The company has chosen Microsoft Azure services including Azure IoT Hub for its platform. Azure is not only a flexible and highly available infrastructure, but it is also strongly secured: Each datacentre is physically protected by multi-layered protection, with end-to-end security, from Network, Servers and applications, to data encryption.  Therefore, this infrastructure secures the data transmitted to the end customer.

The LocaTrack solution is already being deployed with several large industrial companies. Today, LocaTrack is part of a larger project to diversify Safecube’s solutions. A new chapter for the company.

Trakm8 announces partnership with Energy Assets

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Trakm8, a leading UK vehicle technology specialist, has confirmed a new relationship with independent energy services business Energy Assets.

The telematics technology expert has rolled out its award=winning RH600 integrated telematics camera across Energy Assets’ full fleet of 200 vehicles, following a successful trial period.

Energy Assets is one of Britain’s fastest-growing independent industrial and commercial multi-utility metering businesses, helping both the private and public sector improve energy efficiency through ground-breaking technology analytics and customer-focused processes.

Trakm8’s RH600 solution combines rich telematics data with a cutting-edge 4G in-cab camera system, providing ultimate peace of mind for fleet managers. It is proven to reduce accident rates by up to 39% and cut instances of speeding by 35%. Indeed, it was the driver safety credentials of the RH600 that first led Energy Assets to investing in the device.

Ben Holleyhead, Fleet Manager at Energy Assets, explains: “The roll-out of RH600 across our 200-strong fleet represents a significant investment from Energy Assets into driver safety.

“To serve our customers, our engineers drive to all corners of the country. The Trakm8 RH600 solution will help create a positive environmental impact via efficient route planning by not only reducing engineers’ time on the road, but also fuel used and therefore emissions.

“Also, having the reassurance that they are following safety protocols and avoiding actions that could cause danger to themselves or other road users is absolutely essential. The system will provide valuable insight into our driver’s behaviour when out on the road to ensure we maintain a careful and considered driving approach.

“The integrated camera enables us to keep track of our driver’s habits, helping us spot potential training opportunities to further bolster the safety of our fleet. The RH600 also proves its worth from an insurance standpoint, with the device providing crystal clear footage from the driver’s perspective to help adjudicate during accident claims.

“After a successful trial period, we are excited to be rolling out the RH600 across our whole fleet. The feedback from drivers so far has been overwhelmingly positive and we’re looking forward to seeing the benefits the system can deliver to the business longer term.”

Subscribe

Get notified about New Episodes of our Podcast, New Magazine Issues and stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter.