IoT Analytics, a leading global provider of market insights and strategic business intelligence for the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, Cloud, Edge, and Industry 4.0, today published a 252-page market report detailing the market for digital supply chains.

This research includes market projections for nine key market segments, estimated market share of key vendors per segment and sub-segment, an analysis of macro factors influencing the market, a number of digital supply chain implementation examples, and some of the most important trends & challenges.

Key insights:

• The Digital Supply Chain market is starting to accelerate according to new research by IoT Analytics.
• Eight supply chain technology innovations are helping to make global supply chains more robust, including AS/RS technology, intralogistics robots, IoT track and trace, AIenabled software, and supply chain digital twins.

Key quotes:

Knud Lasse Lueth, CEO at IoT Analytics, says:

“With supply disruptions now going into its third year, companies realize that they need a better handle on where their goods are, what their suppliers are doing, and how to expedite delivery to customers. Cloud, AI, IoT and robotics innovations are making inroads into this segment that a few years ago was frowned upon because it was seen as not very strategic to most companies.”

Matthieu Kulezak, Senior Analyst at IoT Analytics, adds: “There is now more attention on digital supply chain technologies than there was before the pandemic. We see a number of large Fortune 500 companies like Nike or The Kraft Heinz Company making major investments into wide-scale supply chain digitization to make their supply chains more resilient.”

8 key technologies transforming the future of global supply chains

The current state of supply chain disruptions

26 weeks (or half a year)—that is how long companies have to wait on their semiconductor orders right now, on average. In some cases, much longer.

Prior to the current supply shortage, the average had been approximately 14 weeks—significantly shorter.

Nonetheless, in general, global supply chain disruptions are easing. The Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (GSCPI) peaked in December 2021 and has since fallen with the latest reading of 1.0, indicating a much-improved situation, but still above the long-term average of 0.

Some companies are managing supply disruptions better than others

When ports are congested, suppliers halt their production, or containers are missing, there are only limited things a company can do to ensure supply chain operations are smooth.

The last two years have shown that one of the most effective measures a company has at its disposal is investing in a connected, digital supply chain. It helps to gain supply chain visibility, improve planning, and improve execution—all with the goal of ensuring that customers receive the right products on time.

Consider the example of US-based fashion manufacturer and retailer Nike: The company invested in state-of-the-art supply chain technology shortly before pandemic-related disruptions started. Nike ended up navigating the pandemic better than some of its competitors whose supply chains were not as digitized. One of Nike’s investments was the acquisition of Sales and Operations planning software vendor Celect in August 2019. The software tool, which provides advanced demand predictions and inventory reallocation, helped Nike anticipate the drop in sales in physical shops during the 2020 global pandemic and rebalance its inventory to warehouses dedicated to online shopping.

As a result, Nike managed to adapt its supply chain to the shift in consumer behaviors linked to the global pandemic.

“With the Celect acquisition, where we’re able to forward deploy inventory to where we were able to predict demand reliably enough, so that it’s within one to two day ground shipping to a large number of consumers across the country.” – John J. Donahoe, CEO at Nike (Q1 2021)

The Nike digital supply chain contributed to the company’s success in recent years. In both 2020 and 2021, Nike outgrew its core competitor, Adidas, by a wide margin (8 percentage points difference in 2020 and 10 percentage points difference in 2021).

The Digital Supply Chain Market 2022

With supply chain disruptions having dominated CEO discussions for the last one and half years (see for example: What CEOs talked about in Q3/2022), many enterprises are following the example of Nike and are making supply chain technology investments a priority in 2022 and going into 2023.

IoT Analytics latest 252-page market research report titled Digital Supply Chain Market Report 2022–2027 takes an in-depth look at the investments companies are making across a wide variety of supply chain technologies, including topics such as sourcing software, supply chain visibility software, IoT-based track and trace, and warehouse automation technologies. The market is expected to enter a multi-year investment cycle, growing from $135B in 2021 to $217B in 2027 at an annual growth rate of 8.1%—this compares to a growth rate of 4.5% for the four years preceding 2021.

In this article, we highlight eight upcoming technologies we came across during our research that will define the next era of digital supply chain as companies try to ensure their supply chains become more resilient, automated, and predictable:

8 upcoming supply chain technologies

1. Automatic sorting and retrieval systems (AS/RS)

A. Technology overview: AS/RS is a relatively novel type of intralogistics machinery. It replaces conveyors, forklifts, and racks, which are traditionally used to move items around a warehouse into a single, cubic system. This system puts away, stores, and retrieves items automatically.

B. How it improves supply chains: A traditional warehouse setup requires hoisting, conveying, picking, and placing machinery and racks to put away, store, pick, and place items. An AS/RS combines these functions within a single system, allowing warehouse managers to automate their facilities in a much leaner way than with traditional machinery.

C. Adoption success story: In 2019, Siemens purchased an AS/RS for its production and distribution warehouse in Chemnitz, Germany. The company says it has realized a 60% decrease in warehouse space required for the same inventory level as before installing the system and has decreased its staffing cost by 40%.

D. Selected market statistic: Autostore, one of the top three AS/RS vendors, grew at a stunning rate of +80% from 2020 to 2021 (from $182M to $327M). The company currently has supply constraints due to high demand.

2. Sourcing software with market intelligence

A. Technology overview: Sourcing & supplier management software helps companies find suppliers to ensure they have the right components available in the right quantity to maintain their activities. The latest innovation in this segment is the addition of market intelligence that allows the procurement team to act more strategically.

B. How it improves supply chains: Market intelligence for sourcing helps purchasing managers make better decisions with a frequently updated insight on market dynamics, pricing, lead times, and regional and raw material trends. For example, procurement can now have a live view of the network of potential suppliers based on the current supply capabilities. This information can be used in supplier negotiations or for ensuring companies do not run out of stock of key components.

C. Adoption success story: Molex, a US-based provider of electronic connectors, announced in November 2022 that it will work with Siemens SupplyFrame CQI market intelligence software to accelerate their sourcing processes with dynamic bills of materials based on real-time supplier analysis capabilities throughout its entire procurement team.

D. Selected market statistic: IoT Analytics expects sourcing and supplier management software to grow at a +10% CAGR from 2021 to 2027, driven by companies re-assessing their sourcing strategy (mostly towards multi-supplier sourcing) and by new technology innovations, such as market intelligence tools.

3. IoT track and trace devices

A. Technology overview: IoT-based track and trace devices allow a (near) real-time view on goods in the supply chain (e.g., goods on a pallet or inside a container). The devices are equipped with data collection (sensing) and connectivity modules (often using cellular or satellite technology).

B. How it improves supply chains: By using track and trace, companies get a whole new level of visibility on their supply chain. Not only can companies track the exact whereabouts of their goods in the supply chain, it also allows them to calculate estimated times of arrival and in some cases the physical conditions (e.g., temperature) of the goods. The data from the devices also allows companies to identify weaknesses in the supply networks by analyzing where bottlenecks occur or at what points along the journey cargo is frequently damaged.

C. Adoption success story: In April 2022, shipping company Hapag Lloyd announced a new track and trace project for their dry container fleet. The company aims to install tracking devices to connect most of its dry container fleet (approximately 1.6M containers) on a single platform by 2023. Hapag-Lloyd works with two vendors on this project: Orbcomm and Nexxiot.

D. Selected market statistic: As part of its research, IoT Analytics identified more than 130 vendors offering IoT-based track and trace devices and related software.

4. Supply chain digital twins

A. Technology overview: A supply chain digital twin is a digital replication/model of the supply chain (with corresponding data synchronization properties). It allows the user to determine the impact of a change in physical reality by first testing the changes in the digital model and then simulating/predicting the outcome accordingly.

B. How it improves supply chains: With supply chain digital twins, companies can optimize their supply chain planning and design. Companies can test the impact of different supply chain scenarios (such as the potential effect of a manufacturing facility closure). They can then see what the potential effect on key supply chain KPIs is (e.g., how lead times and inventory levels will be affected).

C. Adoption success story: The Renault Group was one of the first customers of Google’s supply chain digital twin software and started to adopt the technology in September 2021. Since then, the Renault Group shared that it had managed to replicate 90% of its supply chain flows in a supply chain digital twin.

D. Selected market statistic: In the digital supply chain 2022‒2027 market report, the supply chain digital twin subcategory is included as part of the Supply Chain Planning and Design Software category, which grew at a +15% rate in 2022.

5. Intralogistics robots

A. Technology overview: The purchase of intralogistics robotics vendor Kiva System by Amazon Robotics for $0.7 billion in 2018 enabled Amazon to make next-day and second-day delivery a reality. Competitors were shocked. The likes of Walmart only matched Amazon’s efficiency level a year later, but only in select countries, and also refused to disclose the cost of the investments it took. Intralogistics robots are machines that are automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multi-purposed (capable of being adapted to a different application with physical alteration), and programmable in three or more axes. They are specifically designed for intralogistics picking and placing because they can operate on limited floor space and reach into shelves, palletizing machines, or conveyors to load and unload parts.

B. How it improves supply chains: Intralogistics robots improve warehouse ai havutomation and efficiency significantly, leading to faster operations and the ability to handle demand peaks much better.

C. Adoption success story: DHL announced in January 2022 that it would invest $15 million to equip its warehouses in North America, including facilities at O’Hare International Airport and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport with Boston Dynamics’ Stretch Robot. DHL mentioned that the robots would play a significant role in improving the efficiency of their warehouses in North America (where labor cost are high).

D. Selected market statistic: According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), new smaller intralogistics robots are gaining popularity. 49.5 thousand units were shipped in 2021 (+45% year to year growth vs. 2020).

6. AI-enabled inventory optimization software

A. Technology overview: Modern inventory planning is a very data-heavy task with companies compiling millions of data points. AI-enabled inventory optimization software is helping companies crunch these numbers much faster than before. It automates, streamlines, and controls the in- and outbound inventory flows and improves the process with AI capabilities.

B. How it improves supply chains: AI-enabled inventory optimization software applies AI to continuously search for strategies to minimize inventory while maintaining confidence that the company will have sufficient inventory available to meet customer’s needs. This innovation helps companies to find better ways to assess optimal safety stock levels.

C. Adoption success story: A fortune 500 electronic manufacturer implemented C3.AI’s inventory optimization software and realized a $42 million working capital reduction by implementing 74% of the software’s inventory optimization suggestions, such as gradually minimizing safety stocks on inventory items that aren’t used.

D. Selected market statistic: As part of research on industry 4.0, IoT Analytics identified that more than 56% of manufacturers in the APAC region have an AI strategy. The region’s manufacturers are ahead of North America (53%) and Europe (52%).

7. IoT-based proactive field service

A. Technology overview: IoT-based proactive field service software provides a step up from traditional field service of assets running in the field. While traditional field service software mostly works reactively by allocating field service technicians to a site after a failure has been reported, proactive field service uses IoT and predictive maintenance to send field service technicians to a remote site before the asset fails.

B. How it improves supply chains: Proactively performing field service operations on assets ensures that such assets won’t fail. Not only does this lead to higher asset uptime, but it also leads to earlier spare part ordering which ensures these orders do not need to be rushed through the supply chain with the highest priority. IoT-based proactive field service maintenance software also ensures that field service workers are as productive as possible while using minimum spare parts.

C. Adoption success story: 3D Systems, a US-based additive manufacturing solution company, implemented an IoT-based proactive field service software and reduced its spare parts usage by 62%.

D. Selected Market Statistic: Field service vendor ServiceMax (recently acquired by PTC) performs annual customer surveys and identified that its customers increased their field service worker productivity by 23% on average when using proactive field service software.

8. Supply chain visibility software

A. Technology overview: Supply chain visibility is key to creating supply chain networks that will survive disruptions like the global COVID-19 pandemic. Companies ask questions such as: “What backup supplier can help us avoid stopping production?” or “When will my shipment finally arrive?” With supply chain visibility software, companies can get a simple, quick overview of all the important supply chain-related metrics that are key to running smooth operations, such as average lead times or inventory levels.

B. How it improves supply chains: By using supply chain visibility software, companies get a much better handle on where their current goods in transit are and when they are expected to arrive. The tools also provide instant alerts when a crucial shipment is expected to get delayed. Upcoming supply chain visibility software vendors, like project44 or FourKites, purchase a great amount of data themselves from various stakeholders, such as port operators, to inform their customers.

C. Adoption success story: In 2020, a US-based food and beverage retailer company chose FourKites’ supply chain visibility software to gain visibility over its shipments’ estimated arrival times. According to FourKites, the company managed to attain a 99% accuracy rate on estimated delivery time predictions.

D. Selected market statistic: Supply chain visibility software vendor project44 claims to have collected 100 billion terabytes worth of supply-chain-related data in the last ten years. This number has been growing from 2 billion in 2010 to 79 billion in 2021.

The post 8 key technologies transforming the future of global supply chains appeared first on IoT Business News.

Wiliot, the Internet of Things pioneer whose IoT platform is enabling trillions of “things” to gain intelligence, today announced that it has been selected to attend COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from November 6-18.

At the event, Wiliot will be showcasing its pioneering ambient computing technology – the Wiliot IoT Pixel and Cloud platform – and educating global leaders on the ways in which it’s enabling an ambient IoT poised to create more sustainable, cost-efficient supply chains.

Wiliot’s vision for the future of the Ambient IoT brings intelligence and internet connectivity to every single ‘thing’ in the global supply chain, enabling products to transmit item-level information about their location, temperature, carbon footprint, and more. With this information, businesses are – for the first time – equipped with the real-time data they need to make more sustainably-minded decisions that reduce their carbon footprint.

Furthermore, the real-time delivery of this carbon data offers an effective alternative to today’s annual reporting cadence, which is proving insufficient for businesses looking to make a material impact on their carbon footprint.

Wiliot is attending COP27 as part of an Israeli delegation that includes nine other climate-tech innovators that were selected at PLANETech World, Israel’s first-ever clean-tech conference that recently took place in Tel Aviv.

“While much of the world is justifiably focused on reducing fossil fuel emissions, converting to electric vehicles, and carbon-offsetting projects, we applaud the UN and the COP27 for now also recognizing supply chain efficiency as a fundamental lever in advancing global sustainability,” stated Steve Statler, Wiliot SVP of Marketing & ESG.

“Trillions of things flow through our supply chains every day – a number that will only increase as billions of new people enter the middle class, with more disposable income and purchasing power. The UN recognizes the urgent need to fix our supply chains, and that real-time item-level carbon data is fundamental to the regeneration of the environment.”

Wiliot IoT Pixels are stamp-sized computers that cost pennies and feature a fundamental breakthrough in ambient computing technology – or computing that’s self-powered, harvesting radio waves that are all around us. These battery-free IoT Pixels can attach to any product or packaging to connect it to the internet; not just expensive things like cars, appliances, and shipping containers, but the things inside them: fruits, veggies, vaccine vials, clothes, crates, and just about everything else.

The benefits of this technology are vast. Produce stays fresher longer, reducing the amount wasted due to rot and spoil; delivery routes are more efficient, requiring less fuel and emitting lower greenhouse gas; stock-checks transition from daily to real-time, resulting in supply chains with lower carbon footprints; and so much more.

“It’s going to take trillions of connections to solve the climate crisis,” continued Statler. “Every single thing in our global supply chain – veggies and vaccines, crates and skates, airplane parts and toy airplanes – all connected to the internet and transmitting real-time, item-level data about their location, temperate, fill rate, carbon footprint, and more. It’s this data that’s going to enable businesses to make better, more sustainably-minded decisions – and ones that make a material impact on the climate crisis today.”

Wiliot is currently working with many of the world’s largest companies, helping them transition from supply chains that often include glut, excess, and delays to demand chains that are fully responsive to real-time to consumer demand. Furthermore, the Wiliot platform is equipping employees across organizations with this real-time data empowers them to take action every day, which is proving to have a profound impact on corporate sustainability and profitability.

In a recent project with a large retailer, the temperature of a pallet of berries rose precipitously when it was mistakenly left out on a store floor, threatening the fruit’s freshness. However, rather than spoil, the temperature rise was flagged and an alert was sent to store employees, who addressed the situation in the moment.

Concluded Statler, “The ambient IoT grows the market from billions of expensive things to trillions of everyday things, and in the process totally transforms our global supply chains. We’re honored to have been selected to attend COP27 to debut the concept of the ambient IoT, which is poised to have a profound impact on our planet.”

Ambient IoT support is being added to the wireless standards that enable the world’s phones, smart speakers, and access points. Industry analyst ABI Research predicted a total addressable market for ambient IoT of over 10 trillion devices at the recent GSMA MWC event in a presentation it co-delivered with Wiliot and Deloitte.

The post Wiliot Makes its Debut at COP27, as the Ambient IoT and the Future of Supply Chain Sustainability are Featured at the Leading UN Climate Conference appeared first on IoT Business News.

Wiliot, the Internet of Things pioneer whose IoT platform is on the path to enabling trillions of “things” to gain intelligence, today announced its largest-ever single order for the company’s breakthrough IoT Pixel tags.

The order represents an important milestone for Wiliot and the Ambient IoT ecosystem – which is poised to revolutionize supply chain efficiency, sustainability, and productivity. The 25 million IoT Pixels will be manufactured by Identiv, one of the world’s largest producers of specialty RFID tags, inlays, and labels, and is the first part of an even larger order to be delivered to a major new customer.

Wiliot CEO Tal Tamir, stated:

“This agreement with Identiv represents an inflection point for Wiliot and the Ambient IoT.”

“It demonstrates the enormous manufacturing scale that the industry offers to us, while also bringing a leading producer of smart and specialized tags into the Ambient IoT ecosystem – a market that is growing to include many of the world’s largest IoT and telecommunications companies. Global demand for our IoT Pixels is surging and the collaboration with Identiv, alongside other leading manufacturers, will ensure we’re well-positioned to deliver.”

The Ambient IoT leverages new breakthroughs in ambient computing technology – or computing that’s self-powered by harvesting its energy from the radio waves that are all around us – to connect almost everything to the internet; not just expensive things like cars, appliances, and shipping containers, but the things inside them: fruits, veggies, vaccine vials, clothes, crates, and just about everything else.

With nearly everything in the global supply chain connected to the internet and transmitting item-level information – about their location, temperature, fill-rate, carbon footprint, and more – businesses are equipped with the data they need to create more efficient, sustainable, and productive supply chains.

Wiliot is leading this Ambient IoT transformation through a fundamental breakthrough in ambient computing technology delivered by its IoT Pixels, which are stamp-sized computer tags that cost pennies, attach to any product or packaging, and power themselves by harvesting the energy from radio waves transmitted by other IoT devices.

The benefits of the platform technology are vast. Produce stays fresher longer, reducing the amount wasted due to rot and spoil; delivery routes are more efficient, requiring less fuel and emitting lower greenhouse gas; and stock-checks transition from daily to real-time, resulting in supply chains both with lower carbon footprints and that can respond in real-time to online orders. Ultimately, the Ambient IoT will extend into the home and offer item-level insights into expiry dates and when consumers need goods.

“The Ambient IoT in many respects represents the future of our industry, as it promises enormous potential in making all businesses more intelligent and connected,” stated Steven Humphreys, Identiv’s CEO. “We’re proud to be working with Wiliot to build this Ambient IoT – leveraging our existing RFID manufacturing processes to demonstrate that sophisticated devices can be made in very large quantities for just pennies,” added Humphreys.

The Ambient IoT builds on the foundational work done by the RFID industry and takes it to the next level – with tags that continuously communicate in real-time and don’t require employees or consumers to tap or scan in order for them to communicate. Ambient IoT devices can sense and protect data with encryption and privacy controls and – unlike previous generation IoT devices – they can be embedded into other products because there are no batteries that need to be changed.

Wiliot is tapping the production capacity of smart tag manufacturers, like Identiv, to retool systems previously used to produce RFID tags, to now make its IoT Pixels, which have all the essential components of a programmable computer. In fact, the future market for Ambient IoT and Wiliot’s IoT Pixels is so large that manufacturers are also investing in new production systems to capitalize on this paradigm shift.

Ambient IoT support is being added to the wireless standards that enable the world’s phones, smart speakers, and access points. Industry analyst ABI Research predicted a total addressable market for Ambient IoT of over 10 trillion devices at the recent GSMA MWC event in a presentation delivered with Wiliot and Deloitte titled, “6G Ambient IoT Opportunity: Antidote to Supply Chain & Climate Crises?”

Wiliot will be announcing further purchases shortly to meet the needs of customers that will scale significantly beyond this initial purchase.

The post Wiliot Partners with Identiv to Manufacture Initial Order of 25 Million Units of its IoT Pixel Tags appeared first on IoT Business News.

Berg Insight, the world’s leading IoT market research provider, today released a new market report covering the cold chain tracking market.

The number of active tracking devices deployed for refrigerated cargo and cargo carrying units including trailers, intermodal containers, rail freight wagons, air cargo containers, cargo boxes and pallets reached 4.1 million worldwide in 2021. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.4 percent, this number is expected to reach 9.2 million by 2026. In terms of installed base, tracking devices for general refrigerated cargo applications is today the largest market, followed by refrigerated intermodal containers and trailers. The markets for tracking solutions for refrigerated rail freight wagons and air cargo containers are considerably smaller. The total market value for cold chain tracking solutions reached an estimated € 720 million in 2021. Growing at a CAGR of 11.4 percent, the total market size is forecasted to reach € 1.2 billion in 2026.

The cold chain tracking and monitoring market is served by a wide range of players. Maersk has rolled out a system for real-time tracking of its entire fleet of 385,000 refrigerated containers, making it the largest refrigerated cargo container tracking project worldwide. ORBCOMM is the second largest player in terms of the number of connected units with an estimated 380,000 units installed on both refrigerated trailers and reefer containers. The Denmark-based tracking specialist Globe Tracker is the third largest provider of tracking solutions for refrigerated cargo carrying units. The company is collaborating with the major shipping company Hapag-Lloyd to equip the ocean carrier’s entire fleet of around 140,000 reefer containers with tracking units.

Additional leading players in the refrigerated intermodal container and trailer tracking segment include Envotech, Cooltrax, Emerson, Spireon, Schmitz Cargobull, CalAmp and Idem Telematics. DeltaTrak, Sensitech (part of Carrier), Controlant, Tive and Frigga (part of Dewav Electronic Technology) are leading players in the refrigerated cargo tracking segment, each with more than 100,000 active trackers at any given time. Additional players in the segment include OnAsset Intelligence, Roambee, Adapt Ideations, Tempmate, Escavox, 7PSolutions and Intelyt.

“The logistics industry is currently undergoing a major transformation”, says Martin Backman, Senior Analyst at Berg Insight. Accelerated by the supply chain disruptions following the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry is now investing heavily in digital solutions that will increase visibility and security in the supply chain. Cold chain tracking solutions provide significant value for shippers and logistics providers by providing real-time data on the location and condition of temperature-sensitive cargo in-transit. “The lack of up-to-date and relevant shipment data is one of the main reasons that lead to spoiled cargo”, continues Mr. Backman. This can potentially lead to major losses as products transported in the cold chain are typically of high value.

Mr. Backman concludes:

“2021 was a stellar year for the cold chain tracking industry and the future looks bright as the industry is now ready for investing in the technology.”

The post The cold chain tracking solutions market set for rapid growth appeared first on IoT Business News.

Using Wiliot’s new Reusable Transport Item (RTI) solution, Israel’s largest retailer becomes the first in the world to create an intelligent farm-to-store supply chain, continuously monitoring the location and temperature of produce to ensure freshness for its customers.

Wiliot, the Internet of Things pioneer whose IoT platform is enabling trillions of everyday “things” to gain intelligence and harness the power of the cloud, today announced the Wiliot Reusable Transport Item (RTI) solution, built on the company’s revolutionary Wiliot IoT platform.

Using Wiliot’s new Reusable Transport Item (RTI) solution, Israel’s largest retailer, Shufersal, becomes the first in the world to create an intelligent farm-to-store supply chain, continuously monitoring the location and temperature of produce to ensure freshness for its customers.

The new Wiliot RTI solution features the company’s IoT Pixels that can durably attach to ordinary plastic crates and make them smart using Wiliot Cloud services. This allows businesses to continuously track not only their reusable shipping assets, but also the contents within. The IoT Pixels built into the RTI solution’s plastic crate are self-powered, postage stamp-sized computers that communicate wirelessly with the Wiliot Cloud and can sense a range of physical and environment conditions, such as temperature, location changes, as well as if the crate is full or empty.

When trillions of everyday things connect to the IoT—products, materials, shipping containers, and more—they transform how goods are made, distributed, sold, consumed, reused, and recycled. In the process, an Internet of Trillions (IoT2) allows businesses to reinvent their supply chains to be more sustainable and create a truly circular economy that maximizes profit while protecting the planet.

“We are excited to be working with Shufersal, who have led the way in shining a light on the supply chain, from farm to store and beyond,” said Ohad Perry, Wiliot’s director responsible for supply chain solutions. “The Wiliot RTI solution puts the power of the Internet of Trillions into many more hands.”

“By delivering intelligence in a turnkey solution, we’re helping many different businesses—from grocery stores to pharmaceutical companies—cut the size of their pallet pools while avoiding shortages and at the same time optimizing the shelf life and traceability of the contents of the crates. In a world where supply chains are under enormous stress, cloud intelligence is bringing visibility to crates and their contents to help mitigate many of the issues that are impacting successful operations.”

With the Wiliot RTI solution, businesses can monitor their containers – and the food, medicine, or other perishables inside – through proactive alerts of temperature thresholds. Such information helps companies maintain regulatory compliance as it brings food and pharmaceuticals safety to a level of accountability not possible before. Until now, temperature monitoring has been restricted to a subset of products in the supply chain, leaving gaps where quality issues can occur and the integrity of products can be compromised.

The ability to track shipping assets has an equally profound effect on operations. By achieving cost-effective visibility into each asset at each stage of the supply chain, businesses gain insight that can have a meaningful, measurable impact on capital savings. With the Wiliot RTI solution, they can learn what percentage of intelligent containers are being stocked and used; exactly how and where they’re being used; and, equally important, whether they’re not being used at all.

“The Wiliot RTI solution enables a truly circular economy because now all reusable transport items can continuously communicate their status,” continued Perry. “Businesses can track inventory with precision, monitor shipping and delivery, preserve freshness, extend shelf life, and dramatically reduce waste.”

First Intelligent Farm-to-Store Supply Chain

Shufersal, Israel’s largest retailer, is already embracing real-time visibility through adoption of Wiliot’s RTI solution, creating a fully transparent supply chain from farm to store and ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality produce, extending shelf life, and minimizing food waste. In Summer 2021, Wiliot and Shufersal completed a successful pilot of Wiliot’s RTI solution and its ability to track the movement and condition of produce from the time it’s picked to its placement in Shufersal stores around Israel.

“Being able to see in real time that produce shipments were kept at the right temperature and knowing exactly how many days passed from when it was picked to when it arrived in stores has been eye-opening,” said Zvika Fishheimer, Shufersal’s Executive Vice President. “Shufersal is committed to offering our customers the highest quality and our ability to trace produce through our supply chain means we and our farmers can take every step necessary to deliver the freshest food in the market.”

Based on the successful pilot, Shufersal is now rolling out the Wiliot RTI solution throughout the country, deploying more than 1 million RTIs and installing wireless communications infrastructure to support roughly 250 farmers and distributors and 300 Shufersal stores. The solution will even include wireless readers and mobile network gateways on farmers’ tractors to ensure supply chain visibility out at the very edge.

“Wiliot works with global retailers and their partners to implement intelligent, sustainable supply chains and Shufersal is leading the way,” said Perry. “In collaboration with Shufersal, we’re able to shine a light into their supply chain where no one could before—right down to the tractor transporting produce from a field. Extending shelf life and tracing quality end to end are just two of the amazing capabilities that can transform how businesses can more efficiently move products from producer to consumer.”

To encourage widespread adoption, Wiliot is making its technology available in its Starter Kit and Partner Kit. The Wiliot Partner Kit includes IoT Pixels that users can attach to crates and pallets; bridge devices through which IoT Pixels communicate data wirelessly to the Wiliot Cloud; and Wiliot Cloud Services, which allow businesses to collect and analyze data from their IoT Pixels.

Wiliot works with many of the world’s largest and most innovative retail brands across apparel; food and beverage; and healthcare. The launch of the Wiliot RTI solution comes on the heels of a $200M venture capital round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2.

The post Wiliot Revolutionizes Cold Chain Operations with the Launch of its New Reusable Transport Item Solution appeared first on IoT Business News.

According to Global Industry Analysts Inc., the IoT analytics market will reach $40.6 Billion by 2024. Additionally, Statista predicts that the global market will reach $1.6T by 2025 and that 75B connected devices will be in use. Indeed, IoT deployment has gained significant traction in various industries such as autonomous vehicles, insurance, and telehealth.

One particular industry that is beginning to reap the rewards of IoT technology is the food & beverage industry. Overtime, IoT has enabled the integration of computation and networking with physical processes to help food manufacturers address labor shortages, proactively address maintenance, and, more importantly, improve productivity. However, there are still way more use cases to uncover for automation in the food and beverage sector.

It’s no surprise that the pandemic has upended the food and beverage industry. Factories were forced to shut down, and the ones that remained open were forced to lay off many of their employees. Outside of factories, people’s food consumption patterns also began to change. These events have clearly translated to rising food prices and have forced food manufacturers to not only update existing technology but apply new automation in their facilities. Here are three ways IoT technology is addressing issues in the food & beverage industry.

Predictive Maintenance VS Preventative Maintenance

Despite the initial friction that came along with the pandemic over two years ago, the food and beverage industry is still navigating unstable supply chains, and volatile levels of consumer demand. They’re also navigating this rugged terrain with less labor at their disposal. Therefore, the last thing that any manufacturing company needs is to deal with failing equipment and unexpected downtime.

Fortunately, new types of predictive maintenance through remote monitoring allows early detection of future problems that can extend machine health and lifespan. In many ways, technology is also working in tandem with artificial intelligence. For example, while AI is applying forecasting algorithms to their approach to predictive maintenance, IoT is the technology that monitors machines and equipment, which is more efficient than the status quo of preventative care. It can also do so cost-effectively. A study from Deloitte found that predictive maintenance will save companies $630B by 2025.

Examples of predictive maintenance are expanding in the food and beverage industry, but an interesting example came to light recently from our team working with a craft cold brew coffee maker. The brewery was seeing inconsistent operations of critical steam boilers used in their brewing process. The ‘misfiring’ led to sporadic failures with other adjacent equipment integrated with the boiler. To address the issue and get ahead of any larger scale failure they installed pressure and temperature sensors, as well as downstream vibration sensors as part of a case-specific IoT plan. The sensors revealed rapid pressure drops and vibration spikes on a localized compressor.

Without the use of technology in this case, the coffee brewer would have never identified the true root cause of the inconsistent operations. Real-time notifications delivered from the sensors and into the cloud enabled the company to alert product staff of needed maintenance when the issue is occurring, which diverted any downtime.

Improve Safety with Remote Monitoring

When people discuss safety in the manufacturing setting, it’s not uncommon for people to imagine images of workers in close quarters giving each other Covid. While this is undoubtedly a real-world concern, when it comes to the food & beverage industry, safety is highly imperative to both workers and consumers.

With that said, these companies dealing in perishable goods end up being impacted in different ways due to the time-sensitive nature of their products. As such, supply chain issues have only exasperated this problem. In fact, according to the National Restaurant Association, over 95% of operators experienced supply delays or shortages of crucial food or beverage items in 2021.

Additionally, the data companies receive from sensors, and other IoT technology is invaluable. For example, monitoring temperature fluctuations within processing facilities and storage facilities are essential for food and beverage safety. These temperatures can directly impact the quality of these products. Knowing this and the impact of ongoing labor shortages, it would make sense why these companies are looking to take the next step and embrace what Industry 4.0 has to offer, such as improved efficiency and safety.

However, retrieving this data is one of two roadblocks that prevent companies from receiving the total ROI of IoT deployment. Manufacturers that lack remote monitoring are not only spending more time than necessary extracting valuable data, but they also end up inadvertently forcing more employees to remain onsite, which poses transmission risk and exposes these employees to potential hazards that stem from faulty machinery and other impending failures.

When failure is imminent, it’s essential to have a robust monitoring system that can send an alert to service teams directly and give a higher level of overall visibility into these machines through actionable data.

Unleashing Commercial IoT’s Real Benefit: More Revenue

While preventing downtime and ensuring safety are vital, when you talk to commercial executives in the food and beverage sector their eyes really start to light up when you get to how IoT can improve their top and bottom lines. The holy grail for powering IOT-led revenue gains is found in the data.

If retrieving data is the first roadblock preventing companies from achieving the full ROI of IoT deployment, the second roadblock is making sense of this data. While many companies in the food and beverage space rely on sensors, they can’t interpret literally the piles of data it throws at them. Some of these companies rely on PLCs and receive their data through a data dump download but having data for the sake of having data is not only pointless, but it also requires end-users to take time from their daily tasks in order to sift through mountains of data.

That’s why food manufacturers, breweries and other consumer goods companies that are making the most of their use of IoT are focused on delivering concise, actionable, intelligence data to drive productivity gains. Increasingly, ‘digital twins’, or the act of using virtual representation that serves as the real-time digital counterpart, is the way to turn data overload into captive data streams.

These captive data streams can easily indicate a deviation from baseline process behavior to predict potential productivity gains. This actionable data adds tremendous value to food and beverage manufacturers looking to give their IoT data a voice without the unnecessary noise.

For example, breweries need to rely on robust cleaning processes in order to bring a safe beverage to market. Boiler pressure and temperature, turbidity rates (how hazy the beer is) and clean-in-place-cycles can be constantly monitored from anywhere. With that in mind, sensors are constantly monitoring the efficiencies of various equipment including tanks, pumps, boilers, chillers, generators, etc.

So, instead of solely relying on sensors to provide tons of data on tons of equipment, the use of a digital twin can help convert all that messy data into actionable business intelligence. Furthermore, by creating a digital twin, these organizations are building a virtual sandbox to test production changes in a non-production environment.

The post 3 Benefits IoT is Driving in The Food & Beverage Industry appeared first on IoT Business News.

Sierra Wireless HL78 Series module integrated into HIVE-ZOX tracking solution, providing seamless global connectivity and real-time visibility of COVID vaccine shipments.

Sierra Wireless, a world leading IoT solutions provider, today announced that its HL78 Series LPWA module has been chosen by HIVE-ZOX International to provide global connectivity and real-time visibility for their cold chain monitoring solution.

The solution is currently being used to monitor COVID vaccine shipments and provide quality control throughout the supply chain, all over the world.

Sierra Wireless’ multi-mode LPWA modules offer best-in-class power performance for global LTE-M, NB-IoT, and 2G networks, providing seamless global connectivity for the HIVE-ZOX solution. They offer a wide selection of bands for scalability across the world, and their high transmit power ensure a resilient connection, even in challenging underground or remote locations.

“The HL78 Series provides a cost-effective, secure and best-in-class power performance for low-bandwidth IoT applications. It has variants that support the latest Cat-M1/NB2 3GPP Release 14 standard, GNSS for precise location, 2G fallback for global coverage, a secure element for an added layer of security”, said Olivier Pauzet, VP of Product & IoT Solutions, Sierra Wireless.

“With extended reach beyond traditional cellular, the HL78 Series is ideal for real-time fixed or mobile applications such as asset or cold chain tracking, to help ensure that products are not compromised, and that there is complete transparency throughout their journey.”

“Originally, we were working with 3G & 4G communications, but quickly realized that we needed a global next-generation mobile IoT network solution to track and monitor assets,” said Charles Bourbonnais, CEO & Co-Founder, HIVE-ZOX International. “We chose Sierra Wireless’ HL7802 LPWA module to fulfill our global connectivity needs after they were recommended to us.”

“The module enables 2G fallback for truly global communication, and also includes GNSS for location,” continued Mr. Bourbonnais. “Further, the technical team have been regularly available to help us with any aspect of development and integration and to review any issues, and they prioritized deliveries for us even with the worldwide supply chain shortages and constraints so that we were able to push forward with production. Sierra has proven themselves to be a trusted partner, and their solution has been very effective.”

Based in Switzerland, HIVE-ZOX International creates innovative technology using the Sierra Wireless LPWA module to track and monitor products across their supply chains, in real-time. The HIVE-ZOX Solution is a cloud-based platform offering connected Monitoring as a Service (cMaaS) for global supply chains, from end-to-end at product level; tracking, identifying and monitoring environmental conditions of transportation and storage and providing 24/7 visibility. The solution helps to ensure quality control, reduces spoilage and waste, improves performance, ensures the compliance of industry regulations, saves time and costs, and guarantees product quality and the safety of assets throughout their journey.

The post HIVE-ZOX Selects Sierra Wireless LPWA Module for Global Cold Chain Monitoring Solution appeared first on IoT Business News.

Analysis of sensor data from vaccine storage freezer minimizes waste and promises efficient vaccine delivery to underserved communities.

The US Centers for Disease Control claims vaccine storage and transport issues are responsible for nearly 10% of the 65 million COVID-19 vaccine doses wasted in the US the past two years. To address this vaccine logistics challenge, the North Carolina Collaboratory and analytics leader SAS are using IoT analytics and sensor data from vaccine storage freezers to strengthen cold chain integrity and improve dosage delivery, particularly to underserved and rural communities.

Established by the state legislature in 2016 and headquartered at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the NC Collaboratory is a research and policy organization that taps into the resources and expertise of all 17 institutions of the University of North Carolina System. Among these institutions are several historically minority-serving institutions and remote campuses that host ultra-low temperature freezers that support more equitable vaccine distribution to underserved communities. The NC Collaboratory provided 63 freezers across the state, with a capacity of 9.3 million vaccine doses, nearly enough for every person in the state.

The NC Collaboratory turned to SAS® Analytics for IoT and Microsoft Azure to select, transform and operationalize data — without coding — from sensors across 10 freezer locations at universities, in addition to third-party public health data. The project monitored the impact of factors including temperature, humidity, vibration during transport, opening and closing, duration in storage and freezer capacity, while tapping predictive insights and intelligent alerting capabilities to identify and address potential dosage loss and regional vaccine shortages.

“COVID-19 created the largest and most complex medical logistics program in modern history,” said Jeff Warren, Executive Director of the NC Collaboratory.

“One of the most formidable challenges has been to protect supply chain integrity as vaccines are transported and stored from manufacturers to administration sites – particularly those in hard-to-reach, underserved communities. Our project with SAS demonstrated how IoT analytics and technologies can be a game changer in getting more vaccines to more people.”

Key pilot program achievements demonstrated included:

• Temperature threshold monitoring that examines temperature trends that indicate deteriorating freezer conditions and generates proactive alerts predicting the time remaining before temperature threshold is reached, preventing vaccine waste and ensuring vaccine viability.
• Freezer capacity alerting that provides intelligent alerts when vaccine supply is insufficient relative to virus spread in an area and offers recommendations for proactively reallocating supply to meet demand.

Supply chain expert Rob Handfield, Executive Director of North Carolina State University’s Supply Chain Resource Cooperative, has advised SAS on its cold chain IoT efforts. “With a cold supply chain, you must constantly maintain very low temperatures, as vaccines that exceed the limit begin to deteriorate in just five hours,” said Handfield. “The SAS approach seeks to create visibility and prediction into what is today a black box in the cold chain, helping logistics managers identify potential points of failure and proactively minimize vaccine loss.”

SAS Analytics for IoT is being used to tackle a variety of global challenges, such as analyzing crop data to deliver higher-quality food, improving energy forecasting to reduce utility bills, and protecting people and property from dangerous flooding.

“This project delivers on the promise of innovation by quickly and efficiently generating value from IoT data using SAS Analytics for IoT — an award-winning, cloud-native solution that employs AI and streaming capabilities to accelerate the generation of predictive insights,” said Jason Mann, Vice President for Internet of Things at SAS. “I’m proud of our university partnerships, and our focus on applying proven IoT solutions to improve critical outcomes and strengthen the cold chain. This initiative will undoubtedly accelerate the state’s ability to prepare and respond in the face of the next pandemic, variant or deployment of future mRNA vaccines.”

The post Improving vaccine cold chain integrity with IoT analytics through SAS and NC Collaboratory partnership appeared first on IoT Business News.

• One of the world’s premier bio-pharmaceutical companies selects Controlant, a leader in supply chain management, powered by Telit, as the connected IoT temperature monitoring gateway for vaccine shipments throughout 2021
• Telit and Controlant receive the 2022 GLOMO Award for Best Innovation for COVID-19 Pandemic Response and Recovery

Controlant announced today it has successfully concluded the world’s single largest cellular IoT rollout for vaccine distribution using Telit modems for connectivity.

Telit is a global enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT), and Controlant is leader in real-time supply chain monitoring and visibility technologies for heavily regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals, life sciences, food and beverages.

In the battle against COVID-19, Controlant produced close to one million cellular cold-chain data logger devices, powered by Telit IoT modules, to secure the efficient distribution and the quality of billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses that one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies is distributing across the globe.

Erlingur Brynjulfsson, CTO and co-founder, Controlant, said:
“It’s been a roller coaster ride for the biopharmaceutical industry, racing first to come up with COVID-19 vaccines and then to distribute them safely.”

“During a time of unprecedented disruptions in the global supply chain, Controlant produced nearly a million cellular cold-chain data logger devices, using Telit modems, to secure the efficient distribution and quality of billions of vaccine doses.”

“Winning the GLOMO award is testament to the hard work of a great many people and to the strength of our partnership with Telit.”

Controlant’s Cold Chain as a Service solution is a single source of supply chain truth. It is a powerful combination of IoT, advanced visibility and cost-reducing operational services that increase workflow efficiency and responsiveness while supporting quality and compliance efforts. COVID-19 vaccines, in particular, must maintain strict temperature control along every mile of the supply chain to ensure quality and integrity. Real-time supply chain monitoring solutions from Controlant offer complete visibility into shipping, distribution and warehousing, all of which reduce risk of spoilage, reducing product waste by more than 90 percent.

“Despite a period of severe material shortages and production challenges during various waves of virus outbreaks and regional lock-downs, Telit and its suppliers and production partners engaged in unprecedented collaboration to deliver all vaccine units in record time and enable the vaccination campaigns to be implemented without any disruption in the supply,” said Martin Krona, SVP, EMEA, Telit. “We are very pleased that our collaboration with Controlant’s R&D and product teams, employing Telit module technologies during a time of rapidly-changing cellular ecosystem and infrastructure, has been recognized by this award.”

The GLOMO Award was announced on March 2 during a virtual ceremony co-hosted by Sasha Twining and Justin Springham from Mobile World Live and streamed to audiences around the globe via LinkedIn. Telit and Controlant received the award for outstanding achievement in the category Best Innovation for COVID-19 Pandemic Response & Recovery.

“Congratulations to all of our 2022 GLOMO Award winners. The GLOMOs recognize the most innovative organizations in our ecosystem. The winners are changing how people, communities and businesses interact and evolve in a digital-first world,” said John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd. “This win affirms achievements of the highest merit, as judged by peers across the entire industry.”

The post Telit and Controlant Partner on Global COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Program appeared first on IoT Business News.

New research from SYSPRO spotlights an enormous gap between tech investment and digital transformation readiness.

SYSPRO, a global provider of ERP software, has announced new research findings from their latest global research survey, which explores the challenges and solutions to ongoing supply chain disruptions that manufacturers and distributors face today.

Among its more surprising findings were that 47% of manufacturers and distributors invested in sensors and IoT networks, but just 20% of them did the same for data analytics tools, which are necessary to gain insights from the data they’re collecting. This finding is just one of many statistics that reveal disconnects and challenges within the supply chain around tech investment and digital transformation readiness.

Key takeaways from respondents include:

There is a large disconnect between the investment in internal efficiencies and external collaboration

The supply chain disruptions of the last two years have been severe, with lasting effects.

• 70% of businesses experienced supply chain disruptions over the last few years
• 60% of businesses were unable to engage and collaborate with customers and suppliers in real-time, often rendering those businesses unable to deliver to their customers

Pre-pandemic technology investments and outdated business models had been partly to blame for these ongoing challenges. In response to pressures, businesses have invested in short-term technology solutions to address the immediate impact of the pandemic. Even though 65% of businesses invested in business systems aimed at meeting order requirements, and 64% of businesses invested in business systems to manage inventory control, the supply of inventory was not protected. Only 44% of business systems have allowed manufacturers to effectively collaborate with external suppliers and customers.

According to Paulo De Matos, Chief Product Officer at SYSPRO, “While the investment in internal efficiencies is crucial for any business, customer and supplier engagement should also be a top priority. What we are seeing now is a knock-on effect of supply chain disruptions. It won’t matter how businesses try to up their game internally, if they are unable to communicate effectively with their external ecosystem and respond to shifts in the supply chain, businesses may fall behind.”

Digital roadmaps do not align with execution

In response to the immediate impact of the pandemic, many businesses looked at building a digital strategy. The survey found that while building those roadmaps:

• 69% of businesses considered a digitalization strategy aimed at enhancing existing business processes with digital technologies
• But only 29% of businesses committed to a fully-fledged digital transformation strategy
• 48% of businesses with roadmaps committed to improving customer service
• Yet only 23% of businesses included external collaboration which would enable them to talk to the customers as part of their digital strategy

When exploring the execution of the digital strategy, the survey found a clear disconnect.

• 34% of businesses focused on investments to improve internal operations management, quality management, and warranty management
• 33% of businesses were looking at improving sourcing, procurement, and inventory management
• But only 18% of businesses invested in business systems to improve external collaboration
• Additionally, 50% of businesses chose not to invest in any systems at all and to rely on current systems to keep the lights on

As De Matos noted:

“When deep diving into the reasons behind the disconnect between digital strategy vs. digital execution, we found that 71% of businesses outsourced it to external service providers with no real understanding of the core business challenges or everyday reality of what was affecting the business.”

“Businesses now have an opportunity to reset for the future and revisit their digital roadmap with the assistance of trusted advisors and industry experts. Of course, the inclusion of external collaboration solutions will be key.”

Supply chains are not competing at a global level

When asked about technological investments:

• 47% of businesses had invested in sensors and IoT networks
• Yet only 20% of businesses had invested in data analytics tools to process and analyze the data that they were collecting
• And only 5% of businesses had looked into AI and ML to draw any long-term benefit from the data collection

“Business models as we know them are changing before our eyes. The classic model of company vs company is giving way to supply chain vs supply chain where simply selling a product is no longer good enough to survive in the long term. Manufacturers today should ideally assemble a team of companies to offer the best product and best service at the best price. To do this successfully, the right data insights are imperative,” states De Matos.

Customers are placed at the end of the supply chain and not at the center

When exploring the knock-on effect of the above challenges, it was not surprising that:

• Only 22% of businesses had experienced revenue growth, and
• Only 26% of businesses had achieved customer satisfaction over the past 12 months

“The customer experience can make or break a business. While businesses improved operational visibility through technological investments such as IoT or even looked into alternative eCommerce sales channels, the reality is that ongoing and real-time external collaboration with suppliers and customers is vital. A balance along the supply chain can be achieved when a customer is placed at the center of the supply chain, and their experience is not regarded as an afterthought. With real-time data insights into customer needs, improved revenue will soon follow,” said De Matos.

The post Survey: 47% of Manufacturers and Distributors Invested in Sensors and IoT networks, But Just 20% in Data Analytics Tools appeared first on IoT Business News.

Global Consortium Formed to Advance LoRaWAN Network Coverage for Supply Chain Optimization.

Senet, Inc., today announced it has partnered with Eutelsat Communications, TrakAssure, and Wyld Networks to bring seamlessly integrated and interoperable terrestrial and satellite LoRaWAN® IoT connectivity to customers across the globe.

Through platform integrations, innovative sensor and hardware design, collaborative service delivery, and compelling pricing, the companies are targeting the global supply chain, including container logistics and related asset tracking, as the first and anchor applications. End-to-end managed network services delivered through this collaboration will provide a new level of visibility into supply chain operations. For example:

• Containers arriving at ports are tracked via Senet’s terrestrial network
• Goods transported on cargo trucks are tracked throughout metro areas via Senet’s Network and Extended Coverage services enabled by network partners like Helium
• Rural transportation routes will be connected via the terrestrial network if detected and to the satellite network when no terrestrial network is detected and an uplink is needed
• Distribution and retail centers will be supported by terrestrial network coverage

Further solidifying this multi-party collaboration, the organizations have formed the Multimodal IoT Infrastructure Consortium (MMIIC) with an initial focus on formalizing and completing all technical tests, pilots, and the commercial delivery of its first-to-market supply chain solutions. This will be followed by the prioritization and delivery of additional solutions designed to extend the adoption of LoRaWAN connectivity into markets that can benefit from the combination of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites and terrestrial network connectivity.

Key activities being executed in support of the collaboration include:

Currently being tested, ELO nanosatellites (Eutelsat LEO for Objects) will provide LoRaWAN coverage, allowing sensor-enabled devices to transmit data, irrespective of their location, addressing gaps in terrestrial network coverage across rural areas, shipping and transportation routes, and other hard to reach areas.

“Existing LPWA networks, including LoRaWAN, are ideal to connect assets that don’t send much data and need to operate on a low power budget,” said Luc Perard, Senior Vice President, IoT Business at Eutelsat.

“But they rely on terrestrial infrastructure, such as LoRaWAN gateways, which will never cover more than extended urban areas, i.e. less than 15% of the Earth’s surface. With its satellite connectivity offering ELO, Eutelsat will enable network operators like Senet to propose transformational, global, hybrid (terrestrial + satellite) LoRaWAN connectivity, over lands and seas, at the same low-price points. Because ELO is fully compatible with the LoRaWAN standard, IoT solution providers and device manufacturers like TrakAssure and Wyld can easily, rapidly and inexpensively adapt their existing LoRaWAN products to make them ELO-compatible and benefit from up to 100% Earth coverage.”

Senet will provide terrestrial LoRaWAN network connectivity and offer Eutelsat satellite coverage through its Extended Coverage services. Through unique network and device management capabilities, end IoT devices will connect to Senet terrestrial networks by default and automatically switch to satellite when coverage gaps are recognized. In partnership with TrakAssure and Wyld Networks, Senet will also complete application integration and device testing with its network server to ensure the delivery of carrier-grade network service and robust device management for TrakAssure’s supply chain visibility solutions.

“IoT will drive economic growth for decades to come, but a comprehensive and cost-effective strategy is needed in order to deliver robust network coverage across a geography as massive as the United States,” said Bruce Chatterley, CEO of Senet.

“Senet’s terrestrial Network, extended coverage through partners like Helium, innovative LPWAN Virtual Network program, and now satellite creates the first and only true national and global LoRaWAN IoT network, covering any geographic area required.”

“This capacity is especially important to logistics applications and is another example of Senet innovating based on unique market and customer requirements.”

TrakAssure and Wyld Networks are collaborating on the design and production of a new sensor-enabled end device to be used for supply chain and asset tracking solutions. Wyld is designing and producing the hardware module along with unique firmware. Using standard LoRaWAN compliant chips and components will allow for low cost and time to market advantages. Through its partnership with Senet, TrakAssure will be offering terrestrial and satellite LoRaWAN network connectivity for single trip, semi and permanent infrastructure-based supply chain visibility. In addition to location tracking and presence detection, TrakAssure supports LoRaWAN devices used for temperature monitoring, geofence location alerts, proof of delivery and other supply chain visibility requirements.

“We are very excited to be part of a consortium of thought leaders launching the world’s first LoRaWAN direct-to-satellite with terrestrial dual-mode network compatibility. The combined effort will usher in a fresh, cost effective and carrier grade solution opening up new applications in logistics and global asset tracking markets by not only leveraging cost-efficient terrestrial based LoRaWAN solutions, but now expanding capability with ubiquitous global connectivity via satellite which even existing cellular solutions cannot support, especially for emerging markets,” noted Don Miller, Board Member at TrakAssure.

“The lack of affordable wireless coverage is holding back the growth of the Internet of Things from contributing an additional $2 trillion to $3 trillion in value to global GDP over the next decade,” commented Alastair Williamson, CEO of Wyld Networks.

“Combining two advanced frontier technologies of LoRaWAN and Low Earth Orbiting satellites we can enable 100% global, affordable and low power connectivity to support IoT deployments in multiple markets and segments.”

The companies are planning a commercial services launch in the second half of 2022 with pilots beginning in February 2022.

The post Senet, Eutelsat, TrakAssure and Wyld Networks Team to Deliver First-to-Market Interoperable Terrestrial and Satellite LoRaWAN® Network Services appeared first on IoT Business News.

The wireless end-to-end monitoring system continuously maintains the temperature of COVID-19 vaccines.

Semtech Corporation announced that Internet of Things (IoT) architecture provider, Everynet, is collaborating with telecommunications supplier, Telkom Indonesia, to provide an insulated vaccine carrier to track and monitor vaccine temperature to decrease waste, improve customer confidence and increase inoculation rates via a LoRaWAN® network.

As vaccines must be stored at specific temperatures to maintain their efficacy, the insulated vaccine carrier utilizing LoRaWAN, offers an end-to-end system that gathers a continuous and consistent data stream in real time.

“Over the last two years, Everynet has been laying the groundwork along with our partner, Telkom Indonesia to deploy a public LoRaWAN network in Indonesia,” said Ali Fahmi, Indonesia country manager, Everynet. “The end result now features over 200 Indonesian cities with LoRaWAN coverage, with plans to further expand the coverage to more cities. The LoRaWAN network is ready to deliver simple, highly efficient, flexible, and secure IoT solutions throughout Indonesia.”

The insulated vaccine carrier leverages a LoRaWAN national network in Indonesia, the best option to avoid expensive front-end investments related to infrastructure buildup and maintenance. In addition, LoRaWAN connectivity maintains the highest security levels and quality of connection for this use case. Overall, the solution is cost-efficient and allows to continuously maintain temperature stability for safer vaccines, decreasing the waste of this life-saving resource.

Edi Witjara, director of enterprise and business service, Telkom Indonesia, said:

“The insulated vaccine carrier is leveraging IoT and LoRaWAN to send accurate data and log the temperature systematically during distribution. This relay of data will assist to guarantee the quality of the vaccine to comply with the regulation from Ministry of Health in Indonesia.”

In addition, Ibnu Alinursafa, senior manager IoT platform, Telkom Indonesia said:
“The LoRa-based insulated vaccine carrier accelerates the vaccination program across Indonesia and is providing a quality service for the end customer.”

COVID-19 vaccines require deep freeze conditions to be maintained in the supply chain in order to ensure their efficacy. To maintain a proper environment for the vaccine, the vaccine temperature must be constantly monitored, recorded and reported throughout all steps of the supply chain. Due to the flexibility of the LoRaWAN standard, the insulated vaccine carrier is a completely wireless, automated monitoring system. Whenever an anomaly in the data stream is detected, such as a drop or raise in temperature, a notification is sent to the end user who can immediately take corrective action.

“Everynet and Telkom Indonesia’s successful implementation of the LoRaWAN standard for the insulated vaccine carrier is a great way to maintain the safe delivery of vaccines, which are critical in the fight against COVID-19 and other deadly diseases,” said Marc Pégulu, vice president of IoT product marketing and strategy for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “Now, critical aspects of the vaccine supply chain can be monitored at all times, highlighting a real life LoRaWAN use for a critical need that is making the planet, and its citizens, healthier in a smarter manner.”

The post Semtech Collaborates With Everynet and Telkom Indonesia for Insulated Vaccine Carrier appeared first on IoT Business News.

Globehopper Edge’ is a self-sustaining, zero-maintenance wireless device delivering constant intermodal visibility.

Logistics digitization pioneer, Nexxiot, the leading provider of cargo IoT solutions around the world, has unveiled its latest gateway device for intermodal shipping containers that will revolutionize the global cargo industry through unparalleled big data traceability and visibility of critical assets.

The Globehopper Edge is a self-sustaining wireless connectivity device, capable of transmitting thousands of data points a day from onboard sensors that relay crucial information about a container and its cargo. This includes information on precise location, acceleration and environmental conditions. It is designed to communicate in real time with Nexxiot Connect, the company’s customizable, cloud-based software solution.

Globehopper Edge optimizes asset utilization through advanced Big Data processing and AI-powered machine learning that has proven to positively impact on-time performance, asset utilization and achieve intermodal shipping efficiencies at a new level. The device also connects wirelessly to additional sensors which can be placed inside the cargo and to the Nexxiot door open/closed sensor and even to third-party versions.

Nexxiot CEO Stefan Kalmund said:

“Combining state-of-the-art sensors, gateways and global connectivity, Globehopper Edge is the most advanced cargo monitoring device in the world today with the present and future capabilities to provide our customers with the most accurate and reliable information possible about their cargo, ensuring unsurpassed accountability across all modes of shipping.”

Nexxiot Globehopper Edge

Kalmund added: “Nexxiot is focused on the highest strategic level of supply chain digitization and optimization. We work in close collaboration with our clients and partners at the C-suite level to define optimal shipping performance outcomes, then deploy our technology to achieve those results. By remaining focused on the most impactful mega-trends across the shipping world, we are redefining the standards and capabilities for future-proof TradeTech.”

Nexxiot Co-Founder Daniel MacGregor has always had a clear goal to drive positive change for both people and planet. His ambition is to reduce world-wide supply chain emissions by five percent over the next five years by preventing empty moves and by removing process inefficiencies around ports and shipping hubs.

MacGregor said: “We created Globehopper Edge to take that next step in trade facilitation. Aimed squarely at the 30 million standard intermodal containers that travel around the planet, the rugged IP65, custom engineered, energy harvesting hardware provides unprecedented access to critical data to enable radical transformation for all participants and stakeholders in the global value network of trade, finance and transportation.”

Already a dominant presence in the digitization of European cargo shipping, Nexxiot has been building up its Dallas-based U.S. team of engineers and technicians to help fuel the company’s expansion throughout the North American market.

Globehopper Edge arrives at a critical inflection point for the global shipping industry as an unprecedented 70+ container vessels languish off the coast of Los Angeles, unable to offload their cargo. The industry must master wide-scale supply-chain disruptions around commodities and consumer products as well as a total lack of asset and cargo transparency on a global scale. TradeTech powerhouse Nexxiot is on a mission to deliver a new standard in IoT employing advanced data driven intermodal visibility at just the right moment.

The post Nexxiot Unveils New Hardware with Unparalleled Big Data Traceability and Analytics for Cargo Containers Worldwide appeared first on IoT Business News.

As the global pandemic brought the world to a halt, the entire humanity counted on the pharmaceutical industry for an effective solution against the virus. Fortunately, it took only a year for scientists to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. Now when the vaccine is approved for usage, the problems started appearing in logistics for distribution, shipping, and storage.

IoT and blockchain development platforms could offer some ease – and might change the way pharmaceutical companies store and ship their vaccines forever. According to the Centre of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics of the International Air Transport Association nearly 20% of biopharmaceutical products are degraded during shipping.

This rate of degradation could be very devastating during these hard times. With the help of blockchain-based solutions and IoT sensors for supply chain management over a secure and managed database, asset tracking, and real-time monitoring, the world can easily ensure a successful vaccine distribution.

Blockchain and IoT provide great reliability in supply chain capabilities that were not even imaginable in the recent past!

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the world’s major supply chains failed not only for essential items such as hand-washing soaps and toilet papers but also for lifesaving ventilators and PPE kits in clinics and hospitals. With benefits of Blockchain and IoT technology, you can easily get distributed ledgers with audible records to track every asset in a supply chain. Have a look at these achievements:

• A research paper published by the Journal of Medical Systems revealed how blockchain can help people in the events of pandemics like COVID-19. The paper talks about how blockchain has helped to make diagnostics easier, donations transparent, prevention of false information spread, and eliminating the process of printing and delivering a letter.

• A journal published by JMIR Advancing Digital Health & Open Science Publications described how blockchain helps with the crisis of trust by providing a solution for data-related trust problems with its distribution network and cryptography-based security. The journal also states that blockchain makes tracking of medical supplies more efficient.

• A magazine named IEEE Xplore highlights the role of blockchain in solving the general challenges arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also describes how blockchain is being harnessed to its full potential as a key enabling technology during a time of crisis. The magazine describes blockchain to be helpful for supply chain management and automated surveillance.

Everyone knows that the vaccines are approved for usage, but the major burden still lies in the hands of the logistics industry. They’re the ones who look after the storage, shipment, and most importantly, keeping it at a cool temperature.

It is important for clinicians, third-party logistics, and researchers in the supply chain to understand how they can apply IoT and Blockchain to help shipment.

What’s the Biggest Challenge in COVID-19 Vaccine Shipments?

Out of all the efforts, the two successful coronavirus vaccines – the Pfizer and Moderna – are required to be stored at sub-zero temperatures during storage and transportation. If they’re left outside the safe temperature range for a long time, the doses won’t be effective anymore. Moreover, Pfizer needs to be given within a few weeks after the first dose.

In case a patient needs to wait for more, the process needs to be started again. In an official meeting of Pfizer, the security officials raised concerns about counterfeit doses old by criminals by taking advantage of the crisis. With that said, even supply chains will be required to prove the legitimacy of their vaccine before delivering them to healthcare providers.

Overcoming Supply Chain Challenges with Blockchain

With the complexity of multifaceted supply chains, a company may find it hard to trace failures. However, with a reliable, transparent, and repeatable delivery system using the best blockchain development platform, the process can be made a lot easier. The practical cases involve using blockchain to secure critical data collected from IoT sensors to monitor the temperature.

Fulfilling Temperature Demands with IoT Technology

Vaccine logistics has always been a major challenge for the pharmaceutical industry, way before coronavirus even existed. Nearly 90% of available vaccines need to be stored under cold temperatures to prevent spoiling. IoT sensors are certainly a perfect solution to this problem because of their capability to track shipping environment data such as humidity, temperature, and vibration.

The Takeaway

The innovative capabilities of the Blockchain and IoT technologies are already considered as an ideal strategy for vaccine distribution in the healthcare industry. It’s high time for all the members of the supply chain to begin using this modern-day technology. If applied perfectly, the impact of blockchain on the vaccines for coronavirus (or any other pandemic!) could be even better for drugs distributed and manufactured in the future. It’s certainly the future of the healthcare industry and contains endless possibilities to make vaccine shipment easier and more convenient for the world.

The post How Are Blockchain And IoT Helping COVID Vaccine Shipments? appeared first on IoT Business News.

The LoRaWAN protocol tracks and improves the transportation of fresh goods from Spain to Canary Islands.

Semtech Corporation announced that WITRAC, a company developing solutions with real-time location and telemetry capabilities, has integrated the LoRaWAN® protocol and LoRa® 2.4GHz into its global track and trace platform to provide customers with full control and traceability of assets in the supply chain.

“Semtech’s LoRa devices have been instrumental in supporting WITRAC’s mission to re-evolve and digitize Industry 4.0 through visibility, traceability, control, and efficiency,” said Javier Ferrer, CEO of WITRAC.

“Our customers and their stakeholders have the ability to guarantee delivery times and maintain appropriate temperature conditions of fresh food transport inside refrigeration units throughout the entire cold chain by leveraging the long range, low power capabilities of LoRaWAN networks and the global reach of LoRa 2.4GHz.”

A partnership of Boluda Corporación Marítima, a leading global maritime services provider, has selected WITRAC’s platform to monitor and ensure quality of cold chain transport in real-time (24 hours) for Boluda’s new Daily Canarias line, providing the citizens of the Canary Islands with the first daily transportation of goods from the peninsula. Location and temperature status of fresh goods and medicines are tracked on seven container vessels traveling the maritime corridor linking the Port of Cádiz to the island ports of Las Palmas and Tenerife.

Tracking and monitoring continue uninterrupted while unloading goods from ships to land transport reefer containers that also use IoT controllers to automatically keep food and medicines within a pre-determined temperature range when traveling to the food retail (i.e., fresh food) and pharmaceutical (i.e., COVID-19 vaccine) industries.

“Our collaboration with WITRAC replaces antiquated manual processes with sensors integrated with Semtech’s LoRa devices to provide customers with real-time temperature data to maintain a consistent temperature and help meet regulatory food safety requirements,” said Marc Pegulu, Vice President of IoT Product Marketing for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group.

“The ease of deployment, scalability and cost-savings capabilities of the LoRaWAN protocol make it the LPWAN connectivity of choice for the smart supply chain and logistics IoT market.”

The post Semtech and WITRAC Provide Cold Chain Control for Maritime Corridor With LoRaWAN® appeared first on IoT Business News.

Collaboration improves end-to-end global supply chain visibility and efficiency.

Globe Tracker, a leader in IoT tracking and monitoring solutions for logistics assets, Neosen Energy, an innovative battery technology company, in collaboration with Semtech Corporation have developed the world’s first globally operational asset tag integrating the LoRaWAN® protocol.

The first version of this tag will be used in conjunction with sensors for intermodal logistics applications.

The result of the collaboration is a low-cost, multi-band and disposable/recyclable tag that can be used in applications to enable the monitoring of cargo and pallets as they travel inside logistics assets across the globe.

As the permissible frequencies in the ISM band may vary between countries and regions, the tag uses a proprietary geospatial algorithm to effectively “roam” on a global basis while remaining compliant with local regulatory agencies. Also, the tags not only communicate with Globe Tracker gateways permanently installed on shipping and transportation equipment, such as marine and intermodal containers, trucks, trailers and railcars, but the tags can also operate over the LoRaWAN® protocol infrastructure in over 100 countries, enabling inland/last mile visibility into distribution centers, warehouses, cold storage facilities, and final destination retail locations.

Semtech’s LoRa® devices offer multiple advantages over alternative technologies such as Bluetooth and cellular communications, and have quickly become the global standard for low-cost, low-power IoT based communications.

The asset tag, integrating the LoRaWAN protocol, is compliant with the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) IoT gateway standard created to make shipping containers supply chain more transparent, reliable and secure. As a DCSA approved technology for IoT gateway communication, this offering is the very first in-cargo sensor tag to meet the standard.

“We were looking for a cost-effective way to complete the end-to-end visibility goals of our shipping line partners, their customers and the logistics ecosystem by enabling tracking and monitoring of cargo flow globally on a single set of technologies. This development will allow for much more real-time, robust and efficient monitoring and control over goods in the global supply chain,” said Jakup Lamhauge, CEO at Globe Tracker.

“The longer the tag stays in the supply chain the more value it generates to all supply chain stakeholders.”

“Collaborating with Globe Tracker introduces Neosen Energy to a fast-growing Cold Chain IoT ecosystem,” said Paul Garrity, Neosen Energy’s CEO. “We are excited to have Globe Tracker as our partner for the next wave of our disposable and uniqueness of the rechargeable products and systems operating on LoRaWAN. The adoption of these new devices will revolutionize the way cargo is tracked and monitored globally in real time. Our Quality Products manufactured in the US, offer a robust resilient solution for the next generation of sensors and connected devices.”

“The collaboration with Globe Tracker will strengthen the LoRaWAN ecosystem by improving visibility and efficiencies to ground, rail and air transportation asset tracking solutions,” said Marc Pegulu, Vice President of IoT Product Marketing for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group.

The solution launched commercially in January 2021 and there is already a temperature sensor and a quick development roadmap for other sensors, some built in-house and some with a growing ecosystem of globally recognized sensor partners that will leverage the asset tags’ connectivity advantages.

The post Globe Tracker, Neosen Energy, and Semtech Team to Provide the First Globally Operational Asset Tag Integrating LoRaWAN® appeared first on IoT Business News.

Supply chains are, by their very nature, engaged in a constant struggle against a wide array of forces trying to pull them apart. International restrictions and political unrest, unforeseen delays, disruption and theft, and more. The list goes on. The year 2020 brought with it an entirely new set of challenges as the global pandemic sent shockwaves through supply chains worldwide, and lockdowns disrupted the flow of goods, transport, and people in a way which the industry had not experienced before in recent memory.

Perhaps more so than ever, the logistics and supply chain industries are calling for innovative and smart solutions. Unsurprisingly, the Internet of Things (IoT) is being looked upon as being capable of supplying the answers. Fleet management has already been feted as one of the industry sectors primed for significant transformation by the IoT. From in-vehicle sensors to remote temperature monitoring, and from vehicle condition control to automated loading and unloading, the number of possibilities for change is considerable.

Addressing Doubts over IoT Security

While there’s little doubt about the fact that the Internet of Things is primed and ready to bring about far-ranging transformations, with IoT devices expected to grow by a dramatic number over the next five years, there are potential issues in need of addressing. IT misconfiguration and vulnerability to hacking both remain a problem and continue to hold back a confident and radical uptake of IoT across the supply chain and other sectors.

With this in mind, it’s crucial that the potential benefits and vulnerabilities of the IoT are considered and weighed against one another. Businesses, today more than ever, need to expand their horizons and look to a future of growth and security. This involves improving security policies with sometimes simple tactics that are easy to neglect. The IoT will undoubtedly unlock greater ROI, but only once the argument for its widespread adoption has been made with conviction, bolstered by reliable evidence of safety and security.

Bolstering Supply Chain Security with IoT

The sheer range and potential applications of IoT devices grows on a month by month basis, and the benefits they can bring to logistics security are both evident and indicative of further developments to come. Monitoring sensors, kept within vehicles to control assets, are able to assess cargo conditions and temperatures. External sensors protect vehicles from accidents and alert drivers remotely of break ins, engine issues, and more. This is, however, the mere tip of an impressive and growing iceberg of devices already being integrated into the fleets of vehicles and haulage companies alike.

We’ve already seen the wide uptake of dashcams delivering live feeds to control centers; a perfect example of how smart technology on the ground provides logistics teams with actionable data, covering and securing every step of any given supply chain.

Using such data, drivers can receive customized and tailored training or instructed in ways to help achieve timely deliveries. Fleet managers can use smart technology to remove vehicles from operation, should diagnosis data predict an imminent breakdown. Stolen vehicles can be pinpointed for referral to law enforcement, while customers can have their minds put at ease with data demonstrating how long their goods have been in transit, at what temperature, and when, where, and how they were loaded.

Such accurate insights provide clear and concise value to logistics businesses, and in today’s different supply chain landscape, the benefits of this are more potent and necessary than ever. Streamlined and agile operations, formed of goods and vehicles capable of communicating with each other and providing hard data, are helping create a consistent and reliable picture of the supply chain as a whole. If there is any key argument for the widespread uptake of the IoT in this industry, then this is surely it.

Increasing ROI for Businesses Worldwide

All businesses want to increase efficiency, boost their profit margins, and cut costs. The effective implementation of IoT provides ample opportunities for this to happen and not merely when it comes to haulage. Interconnected devices facilitate the accurate tracking of goods from production to point of purchase. This heightened transparency leads to both customer confidence and loyalty, thus heightening a business’ profile and competitive advantage.

It’s also worth bearing in mind some of the less obvious costs that can be reduced. Worker safety is undoubtedly enhanced by IoT devices, leading to lower insurance premiums and fewer risks. On top of this, engine diagnostics which can predict breakdowns help save huge sums of money on vehicle recovery and repair – prevention is always better, and cheaper, than the cure.

Facilitating a Secure Uptake of the IoT

There’s no question of the fact that cybersecurity remains a pressing issue for industries otherwise primed for adopting the IoT. A lack of confidence is most certainly holding back many businesses from diving headfirst into IoT adoption, which is perfectly understandable given the current and growing sophistication of hackers and cyberattacks across all industries and sectors.

It is clear that efforts need to be made to allay fears and build credible and provable pathways towards complete IoT security confidence. Integrated solutions are being formulated which help both facilitate and automate intelligent decision-making, built with data security at their very core. It is expected that, as per usual, fears and hesitations will be counteracted by the IoT’s ability to drive down costs, increase competitive edges, and decimate wastage, although more widespread use of IoT devices is needed before such data can be delivered to naysayers in a truly convincing fashion.

Renewed Supply Chain Growth in Difficult Times

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it many lessons for businesses across all sectors, all industries, and in every corner of the planet. Perhaps the most pressing of all, however, is the understanding that agility, flexibility, and forward-thinking solutions are the only way to achieve not only survival but growth in a time of crisis.

The IoT is bringing about rapid change. New opportunities for further optimization of vehicles, drivers, loaders, and goods packaging lurk just over the horizon. Conscious awareness of how every aspect of a workforce operates has, quite simply, never been more important than it is today. The IoT, with its potential for seamless interconnectivity and data sharing, is the key to the kind of efficiency and agility that will see the supply chain strengthened through this challenging period and into an uncertain future.

The post Risks vs Benefits When Implementing the IoT into the Supply Chain appeared first on IoT Business News.