Kontakt.io, the global leader in Bluetooth powered IoT services collaborated with PostNL – the number one e-commerce and postal logistics provider in the Netherlands, to help them digitize their internal roll-cage supply chain. By digitally quantifying the journey of a unique loading device (ULDs), also known as a roll cage, the project was designed to provide better resolution in the tracking of the parcel’s journey and improve the quality of the information gathered at each step of the logistics chain.
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Every weekday, PostNL delivers 1.1 million parcels and 8.1 million letters throughout the Benelux nations, utilizing more than 250,000 ULDs in its internal supply chain operation. Driving a multi-vendor IoT architecture, the PostNL project team was able to design the seamless flow of information from a beacon attached to a ULD in the field, through various mobile, access points and other gateways, to the cloud where it is processed and analyzed.
Kontakt.io and PostNL worked together to design an optimal tagging solution, providing previously unmatched service-free field life and connectivity performance. By attaching a motion-sensitive beaconing device to each ULD, PostNL is now able to track the location of the load unit, since it is associated with the truck or facility where it was delivered. Roll-cage journeys between customers and depots can now be planned more efficiently. Turnover speeds can also be increased due to faster identification of where the roll containers can best be used. On top of greater cost efficiency, there are environmental gains thanks to less empty space during transport.
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Discussing the project earlier this week, Rom Eizenberg CRO at Kontakt.io said: “I think the critical decision the team at PostNL took was to select Bluetooth™ low energy as the wireless standard. This made it possible for them to select best-in-breed vendors to deliver the required components, united by a common language. We feel privileged to have worked on this project with Europe’s most innovative postal service. There are valuable lessons for other carriers here, in how this project was able to bring together IoT technologies from Kontakt.io to deliver business outcomes and positively impact the customer experience.”
“We went through a vendor selection process, identifying the leading companies and products that met our project settings. But when we started work, we knew we had to optimize the solution to our unique operating needs,” said Sander Heije, Product Owner of IoT. “The Kontakt.io team in Europe responded quickly and through a process of iteration and testing, we were able to start tagging our fleet of ULDs on schedule and move from a vision to a working solution we can use in our everyday operation,” added Sander.
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