Tracking One-Time Shipments is Worth It!

Thefts like this often occur on German construction sites but, sadly, seldom with such a satisfactory solution. In 2018, according to the latest crime statistics, individual criminals or organized gangs stole construction material, tools or vehicles in nearly 25,000 cases. Smart tracking solutions help locate material and machinery and afford protection from theft. Asset tracking enables companies to keep track of their property at all times and check its condition in detail on the monitor screen. But smart applications can do even more.

A simple, low-cost option for supply chain management is the Telekom Low Cost Tracker (LCT). An IoT solution, it is worthwhile in many sectors, not just on construction sites but for transportation, warehousing or retail. It is so inexpensive that it is even suitable for tracking one-time shipments – and makes it easier for companies to manage one-time shipments.

Will my shipment reach the customer on time and undamaged? Supply chain interruptions regularly cost companies time and money. They cost even more if the reason for the interruption is not clear and nobody knows exactly where the shipment is. With the Low Cost Tracker uncertainties of this kind and their financial consequences can be avoided. The device collects throughout the journey location, shock and temperature data and sounds the alarm in real time if predefined limits are exceeded.

A vanload of ice cream wafers leaves the yard to deliver the goods to the ice cream manufacturer as punctually as possible in the afternoon. On the freeway the driver has to brake hard so as not to hit the end of a traffic jam. An immediate Web portal notification warns the supplier and the recipient. The recipient can check the condition of the wafers and may be able to make an immediate complaint to the supplier in order to prevent a production bottleneck.

With long aisles and shelves meters high, looking for a specific package can take a whole lot of time. Equipped with a Low Cost Tracker, the goods are quickly found. It has information about the location and the shelf height that is accurate to within a meter. The tracker is also useful if thieves are at work. If the goods leave a defined area without authorization the device sounds the alarm immediately. And when the inventory is checked the LCT shows at a glance exactly where however many pallets, containers and boxes are.

The Low Cost Tracker not only helps in breakdowns or with damages; it also helps to optimize sales. Product placement in supermarkets and department stores, for example, significantly affects customer purchasing behavior. That is why many companies agree specific positioning with retailers. The LCT enables them to check whether their display is where it is supposed to be during the period booked for it. The tracker also records by Bluetooth the movement of customers in front of the display, thereby enabling the marketing experts to draw conclusions for the next campaign.

As a plug-and-play solution the Low Cost Tracker is really easy to attach to all kinds of objects such as pallets or containers. A tiny device, it is energy-savingly connected to the Internet by NarrowBand IoT. The batteries last for up to five years, for example. The system sends the sensor data at regular intervals to the Cloud of Things, the Telekom IoT platform. On the Web portal users have real-time access to all connected assets for their supply chain management. By means of defined threshold levels and geofencing the asset tracking solution identifies critical conditions and notifies users on the portal, by e-mail and by text.