Key Announcements from Sigfox Connect

Source: WND UK

Last Month at Sigfox Connect 2020, the largest virtual IoT event, Sigfox announced two new partnerships: Austrian Post and Konvoy Kegs, who are the latest to take advantage of the 0G network powered by Sigfox. Konvoy Kegs are now able to track their 70,000 kegs throughout Australia and New Zealand, with Austrian Post able to do the same with their roller containers, providing greater security and a reduction in the amount of lost assets for both companies respectively.

Austrian Post

During the Sigfox Connect Conference it was announced that Austrian Post are beginning to use Sigfox technology to ‘increase visibility and reduce losses of valuable assets’. We wanted to digest this announcement and share our thoughts on why we think Sigfox was chosen and what this might mean generally for the future of IOT across post & parcel supply chain.

We already knew that DHL were adopting Sigfox technology in Germany (as also covered at the Connect conference) so it came as no surprise that Austrian Post are looking to do similar things. In fact, post & parcel supply chain is where we’re gaining a huge amount of traction for the technology, not just with Sigfox globally but here in the UK too.

“Tracking our assets will make a profound difference to our business, and the Sigfox 0G network coupled with the low-energy tracker with a long battery life meets our business requirements perfectly.” – Mathias Flandorfer, Manager Strategic Projects Supply Chain & IT, Austrian Post

Mathias went on to add “As we fit more roller containers with the new tracking technology, simultaneously the Sigfox network will expand towards full coverage across Austria. This is an exciting prospect as potential future use cases are really endless: e.g. fleet optimization, understanding if post boxes contain mail for collection and lots of other innovative IoT use cases which help us in increasing efficiency and quality.”.

We’ve always believed that once a small number of early adopters begin the share their experiences around IOT deployments that we’d see an increasing amount of interest and demand for the technology. We’re now starting to see that IOT deployments across post & parcel are providing organisations with valuable data on their supply chain, enabling them to make quick decisions, maximise asset efficiency, reduce loss and ultimately deliver cost savings and an ROI. This is why post & parcel and supply chain generally is a key vertical focus for Sigfox and us here at WND.

We all know the core benefits of Sigfox technology, namely its low cost modules, low cost connectivity, incredibly low power consumption and global reach, and it’s these points that differentiate Sigfox from other IOT technologies. It’s also these points that really helps to position Sigfox as a perfect connectivity choice for tracking assets through the supply chain whether that be magnums, totes or cages.

This year has been a challenging year and with demands on postal services at an all time high we think that we’re going to see an exponential growth of IOT connected devices in this market and we’re keen to support service and solution providers on their journey.

Konvoy Kegs

Another key announcement that came from the Sigfox Connect conference in November was the disruption that Konvoy Kegs has caused in the beer/keg service industry. Traditionally the movement of kegs was tracked using RFID technology, using Bluetooth and individually scanning kegs when they arrive and depart pubs. However, Konvoy Kegs’ new IoT solution brings beer/keg tracking into the new generation, with over 70,000 kegs across Australia and New Zealand being seamlessly tracked using Thinxtra’s 0G Network, retiring the need to manually scan kegs.

Adam Trippe-Smith, CEO of Konvoy Kegs provided an equally insightful and interesting presentation on kegs and the brewery industry at Sigfox Connect. He revealed that Konvoy have developed a passive tracking beacon and software system to track the location of kegs at all times. For breweries, this means scan free tracking of all kegs, reduced human error, and more information about how long kegs stay at various locations.

One thing Adam was keen to express was Sigfox technology’s superiority over RF and barcode scanning which give very limited visibility outside of known business locations, he expressed a dramatic difference here. Konvoy’s kegs are also Product & Batch capable, allowing customers to drill into their data and learn more about which products and batches are performing best.

“When we first met Thinxtra, we already had a precise idea of what we were looking for. The solution needed to be robust, low-cost and last a minimum of five years. More than anything, we wanted to offer real-time information and high-visibility to producers and keg rental companies on their keg fleet and enable them to not only reduce loss but also optimize keg use” – Adam Trippe-Smith, Founder & Managing Director, Konvoy Group.

The brewery industry has really suffered on the back of the pandemic, in all corners of the world. This innovative approach can enable brewers / keg poolers to increase their ROI through waste and theft management. Temperature detection is invaluable, allowing the produce to be kept monitored and stored in prime conditions at all times.

In summary, Konvoy’s KegFox allows for Brewers to monitor the performance of their distribution channels increasing operational efficiency by 15% whilst providing the best quality and freshness of product and manage out of distribution are sales.