Corry Brennan, Simplex Regional Sales Manager at Globalstar, explains how satellite communications can help logistics firms harness the power of IoT
The Internet of Things is all the rage, and there is no doubt about it, IoT is transforming the possibilities for logistics providers and indeed, for everyone in the supply chain.
The big GSM/mobile providers have for some time been developing innovative IoT services for tracking and monitoring. They’ve been forming heavyweight partnerships and quite understandably they are eager to talk about these significant achievements. The commercial applications are virtually endless.
But what happens when supply chain partners need to know the location and condition of their assets and cargo including whenever they’re in areas where GSM signal is poor? Despite the received wisdom that there is ubiquitous mobile telecoms coverage across Western Europe, many of us know, from personal experience, that you often don’t need to go very far beyond a large population centre and your mobile signal loses its strength and reliability.
Supply chain partners who rely on traditional land-based communication networks alone may find that there’s little point using IoT to monitor shipments when they keep going off-grid.
To meet this challenge, pioneering logistics firms are using satellite communications and IoT sensors to continuously track the location and condition of cargo and assets.
This makes it possible to accurately track the location and condition of shipments world-wide, on land and at sea.
If you’re expecting to comply with a schedule in order to meet the business needs of partners in the supply chain, and the transit routes require travelling through areas of imperfect GSM signal, satellite allows you to update partners and customers about the progress of shipments in real-time. This becomes even more important when you have invested in IoT to monitor the condition of perishable and hazardous cargo.
As well as making supply chain operations run smoothly, an understanding of where assets are at all times is key as regulators become more stringent in their requirements for safety compliance including the welfare of personnel.
Fortunately thanks to satellites criss-crossing the globe in low earth orbit, there are cost-effective IoT solutions out there that enable everyone in the supply chain to benefit from always-on tracking and monitoring solutions.
Knowing precisely where your assets are and their environmental conditions is simply a business necessity for informed logistics decision-making. Deciding whether or not to invest in the capable, all-seeing solutions that enable this can truly be a determining factor in a business’s success.
Corry Brennan
Globalstar Regional Sales Manager EMEA – Simplex Products
Corry joined Globalstar in February 2013 as Regional Sales Manager for EMEA. In this role, he has responsibility for Sales and Business Development of Globalstar’s suite of Simplex Devices and Chipsets, providing satellite-based asset tracking and management solutions across the transport, marine and remote asset management sectors. Earlier in his career he held senior sales roles at major enterprises including Eircom, where from 2000 to 2010, he successfully held several key operational and managerial roles including Head of Order and Fault Management, moving on to become Head of Key Account Management and later Head of Marketing. Corry holds a BA from Trinity College as well as an MBA from Trinity College Dublin, where he was a Brendan McDonald Scholar.
