IOT in delivery: pallets and packages talk back

Research firm Gartner says IoT will completely change the world of delivery operations and that a thirty-fold increase in Internet connected physical devices by the year 2020 will significantly alter how the supply chain works. It is estimated that 75 billion devices will be connected to the IoT by 2020. 

The numbers are certainly mind-blowing, but what will its impact on the supply chain actually be? In a word – exciting. 

IoT is allowing the supply chain to come alive. It allows for much greater tracking and intelligence throughout the supply chain than has ever been possible before – connecting people, processes and data via devices and sensors. In fact many predict that IoT will lead to a complete redesign of many existing supply chain processes. But its biggest impact will be to allow both businesses and customers greater efficiency and visibility of their products and parcels than ever before. 

For example, RFID enabled pallets are nothing new, but the ability to combine this with sensor devices for a much richer range of information is. Today, goods can not only be tracked via GPS but, sensor devices can also now track and combine other data and influence upon the transit of a package – from weather conditions and traffic jams to the temperature of a parcel. 

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Within the warehouse and at pallet level, by implementing IoT, warehouse stock can be better monitored and more intelligently tracked when in transit. This will allow for supply chain companies and retailers to work together to better improve efficiencies through things like reducing fuel costs by optimising routes. 

Grocery etailer Ocado is leading the way when managing delivery fleet efficiency. The brand equips delivery vans with a range of IoT sensors, logging valuable information such as the vehicle’s location, wheel speed, engine revs, braking, fuel consumption and cornering speed. This data is later fed by Ocado engineers into routing systems allowing for optimal route selection; taking into account the challenges and advantages of prior routes, as well as potential traffic jams and road closures, the day of the week or if there are school holidays, best parking location and reducing fuel consumption, amongst other things. 

The adoption of IoT not only offers benefits to retailers but customers too. Consumers are obtaining the ability to more closely monitor parcels, finding out not only where they are but also what is happening to them. 

Indeed the end of January saw the launch of a new IoT device that does just, in the form of a postcard sized device that is put into the parcel at the point of distribution. As well as GPS tracking it can also monitor everything from position of parcel to temperature and light – meaning that those sending and receiving the parcels can see both where the item is but also how it is being handled en-route and whether it’s been opened or not.