More Transparency with Digital Freight Papers

Stackable crate with e-label

09.08.2019 by Daniel Kunz

The logistics industry seeks to completely digitize but still labels their transport boxes with paper labels. The e-label now makes this process more efficient and transparent.

The box filled with semiconductor plates now has ten thousand nautical miles ahead of it. The parts were produced in Hwaseong, South Korea, where the small load carrier (as the logisticians call it) also received its first goods receipt. Stacked on a pallet and packed in a freight container, the box starts its journey from the harbor in Busan to Germany. After unloading and reloading at the Hamburger Container Terminal, the accompanying papers are exchanged; the box receives a new label for its ground transfer to Munich. Once it arrives there, new accompany papers with information for the production hall are affixed. The processor on the production line takes the box and manually enters the receipt into the warehouse management system — gladly with multiple duplicates. A cumbersome and error-prone process. It is not uncommon that delivery receipts are lost, addressed incorrectly, damaged or dirty and therefore illegible.

DIGITAL THROUGHPUT AT CONTI

The whole process is considerably more efficient when digitized. For example, Continental AG (Conti), one the largest automotive suppliers worldwide, has successfully tested a digital counterpart to the paper label in its intralogistics. At the Conti plant in Regensburg, 20,000 plastic containers filled with electronic components are constantly rotating from hall to hall. Up to this point, these containers have been accompanied by just as many routing slips. With every change, an employee would have to print a new label and adhere it to the box. Digital Label & Goods Tracking, the digital and intelligent transport paper solution with connection to a cloud platform developed by T-Systems, allows the process to be digitized and made more efficient and reliable.

Regensburg Conti plant in numbers

2,400 employees
5,000 pallets
8,000 m² plant grounds
20,000 small load carriers
100,000,000 electronic units annually
6,000,000,000 electronic components per year

The e-label can be easily affixed to stackable crates, pallets, or shipping containers and is integrated into the Internet of Things (IoT) via wireless services. The small device has an energy-saving e-ink display, as well as a rechargeable battery and is equipped with sensors. The label captures the position of the goods through GPS. A temperature sensor measures the environmental conditions on the transport route and a shock sensor registers shocks. If a box carrying electronic parts falls from a pallet during transport, or the forklift collides with something in the warehouse, a corresponding warning symbol will be displayed on the device’s screen. The recipient can refuse the delivery or can sort through and check the box’s contents. In this way, no damaged components end up in the production line.

The Benefits of Paperless Logistics

Position and condition of the goods are always in sight
Digital bills of lading, accompanying papers, insurance certificates or barcodes and QR codes are viewed directly on the e-label’s display
Less manual workload
More efficient processes in logistics and intralogistics
Thanks to wireless connectivity, it is deployable worldwide
All information is up to date
Supply chain is digitally logged and optimized
More environmentally friendly and resource-conserving as paper

The supplier can additionally opt-in to receive SMS or e-mail notifications if a shock occurs. For this reason, the e-label is equipped with a wireless connectivity module. It sends its data over the Cloud of Things, the IoT platform from Telekom. All transfers in the material flow are defined there and freight information is filed. The logistics provider has every box in sight through the web interface and can track its journey in real time.

GEOFENCING FOR SMART INTRALOGISTICS

Depending on the customers’ needs, the display shows sender and recipient as well as a barcode or QR code with information about the goods. With geofencing, this data is changed dynamically; if a truck or forklift reaches an existing GPS-determined virtual fence (geofence) around a factory or warehouse for example, the addressee is automatically changed. Thus, the forklift operator sees the up-to-date electronic goods receipt/issue slip and is directed to load the pallet onto a different truck or deliver it to another production hall which is awaiting the goods.

In the future, Digital Label & Goods Tracking will communicate directly with merchandise management systems via an interface in the Cloud of Things. As soon as a truck reaches the factory area defined by geofencing, the e-label triggers a corresponding entry in the customer’s ERP system for example, subsequently triggering a service or pickup order. Networking with the Internet of Things and the cloud will further automate the delivery process in Industry 4.0, saving companies time and labor costs.

Daniel Kunz Daniel Kunz
Expert Digital Marketing

Digitization and the Internet of Things are among the favourite topics of Daniel Kunz. He has been with Deutsche Telekom since 2017 and regularly writes about technology trends and many exciting topics, especially for the retail trade and the logistics industry.

Daniel Kunz