InnoTractor and Scania have started testing a use case for connected supply chains
Last year, teams from InnoTractor and Scania met at the Foundry Value Proposition Days to discuss the Digital Thread of Connected Goods business opportunity. From Scania’s side, working as part of Foundry is part of their constant process of evaluating new business areas to support their customers’ needs. In this case, the ultimate goal of upgrading Scania Logistics’ identification and tracking of their global supply chains. Now the two companies have embarked on a test case to explore a potential solution.
This fall, the first real-life test is to track goods between facilities in Sweden and the Netherlands. What’s unique is that the solution can track all three units in transport: the truck, trailer, and goods. Moreover, the tracking solution can be tailored to each customer’s needs; in the test case, Scania Logistics will receive tracking data directly from their trucks.
InnoTractor’s track record with IoT systems makes them an ideal company to test this kind of system. They provide tools and services to help customers identify challenges in their logistics processes. Their mission is to enable zero waste supply chains by creating digital twins in various industries like construction, aerospace, automotive and more.
The proposed solution involves specialized hardware and cloud systems to create a semi-realtime picture of where certain goods are located. The hardware consists of batteryless bluetooth tags attached to the goods, which are powered and scanned contactlessly for the warehouse localisation and an Orbitz mobile tracker for the transport between warehouses.
The data is collected, processed and then presented in the Gravity IoT platform with a dashboard showing which goods are ready for shipment, which are on their way and which have arrived. In between these steps, handovers are made which are logged in DiLLaS, a blockchain based ledger service.
“Inbound Logistics is an important part of Scania’s Supply Chain. Testing new technology together with InnoTractor and others helps us sustain operational excellence in delivering the value that our customers expect today and in the future” says Patrik Johansson, Supply Chain Developer, Scania Logistics.
“We are proud to work with Scania and see this as an opportunity to showcase a solution to a problem which many companies face: a lack of grip on what is really happening in the logistics chain.” says Frank Hermans, Founder of InnoTractor.
