Itude Mobile, the Dutch software specialists have managed to create a new low-cost digital seal. This seal has been developed to be used in the Consistently Optimised Resilient Secure Global Supply Chains, or CORE. This is a European Research Project that has been set up in order to develop resilient and cost effective solutions that has robust and can improve efficiency of the Global Supply Chain.
Itude have developed Babbler which is a piece of technology that does not need to be installed into the fabric of the truck or vehicle in order to operate. The low-cost digital seal allows the shipment to be monitored remotely. A sealed shipment can them be monitored without compromising the shipment on an online platform with the assistance of a smartphone app. If the seal of the shipment is broken, the sensors that are a feature of the Babbler system will detect the change in the light conditions.
Babbler is technology that has been developed that allows the user to monitor the seal and temperature of a shipment via Bluetooth or on a long rage radio, or LoRa. This radio network is a part of the Internet of Things applications that are gaining momentum and can be accessed across Europe. The LoRa network allows for customs authorities to access Babbler systems hours before a vessel arrives, saving time on inspection and maintaining the seal on the cargo. This technology is useful for shipments that have tightly controlled temperature requirements such as food or flowers. Flowers need to be stored at 0.5â in order to maintain the quality of the product during transportation. However when the shipment is opened the temperature rises and is could damage the flowers. Using technology such as Babbler would avoid unnecessary temperature changes and keep the product fresher as well as speeding up check processes and therefore the delivery times.
