New Bluetooth transmitter provides package-level visibility

Logistics and asset monitoring company RoamBee says that visibility, down to the package-level, and end-to-end asset management are now possible with “BeeBeacon,” its mobile monitoring technology that was launched today.

RoamBee’s CEO Sanjay Sharma told Air Cargo World that the device was already in use by a major Mexican beer manufacturer that shipped up to 900,000 pallets a month, and that other customers from cool chain to e-commerce were adopting the technology. “The device allows companies to identify high-risk hotspots and reroute their supply chains accordingly,” he explained.

The new transmitter, combining Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/and Global System for Mobile (GSM) hotspots and beacons, can be attached to individual packages and assets, sending out location and condition information to sensors-in-transit or in-storage, and in real-time through BLE protocols.

The devices address two major gaps in the industry: visibility and actionable data, RoamBee said. There are two initial models; The first monitors location (movement history, idle time, geo visibility and estimated time of arrival), plus light exposure (for signs of tampering), while the other tracks location, temperature and humidity deviations (to monitor spoilage). This accumulated oversight allows companies to take steps to improve their operations, the company said.

RoamBee isn’t the first company to deploy advanced tracking technology in recent weeks, however most solutions on the market monitor shipments on a pallet/ULD/container level. Despite the complexity of RoamBee’s transmitters, the company says that its BeeBeacon is the first such monitoring device to offer package-level monitoring “for just pennies a day.” The on-demand, service can be offered for as little as US$1 per month, RoamBee’s CEO Sanjay Sharma said

“A cold-chain package takes three days to travel by truck from California to New York, costing approximately 9 cents with Roambee,” explained Sharma. “During its journey, customers know immediately if the product reaches the edge of its temperature safety zone, and can quickly make corrections before the product is compromised.”