Global trade flows through shipping containers. Manufacturers depend on them to get raw materials in time and to ship finished products to market. IoT is being applied to monitor containers and make sure that their contents aren’t damaged or stolen.
Containers have standardized dimensions, which lets transporters easily ship, stack and store them. There are over twenty million containers in motion right now. Containers are pre-filled which reduces the time that trucks need to get loaded. Their standard size allows them to be easily transferred between trucks, planes, ships and trains.
Global supply chains based on containers enable manufacturers to minimize their costs with ‘just-in-time’ inventory. This makes it important to track containers’ location and the condition of their contents.
Containers are made of steel and stacked several deep making communications a challenge. LoRa and WiFi are used for shipboard communication with sensors. Container sensors monitor several parameters:
A local server first processes sensor data and sends key data to onshore facilities via satellite services such as Inmarsat.
Continuous monitoring of containers enables port facilities to better plan for incoming shipments, storage and onward distribution.
Container 42 is a smart, connected container proof of to demonstrate the possible innovations that are now available through IoT and GIS. It is a joint endeavor between the Port of Rotterdam Authority, IBM, Cisco, Esri and Axians. A standard container that has been outfitted with sensors and cameras has left the Port of Rotterdam on a two-year multi-modal journey by ships, trains and trucks to raise awareness on new ways to drive out supply chain inefficiencies and reduce pollution attributed to global shipping.
Transparency is critical in today’s connected, global supply chain as product and service demands increase across every geography and sector. Esri a leader in location intelligence solutions, delivers the GIS framework for Container 42. Based on the science of geography, GIS integrates many types of data and delivers insight on the transportation lifecycle to support data-driven decisions that contribute to higher performing supply networks while reducing shipping related pollution. Esri’s GIS technology enables producers, shippers, distributors and buyers to connect their entire supply network to better understand where its resources and products are everywhere in the supply chain –where they come from and, staying connected, what happens in near real time whether by sea, rail or road.
