Gaining Crucial Business Insights Through Supply Chain IoT

Supply chains have always been, and always will be, extremely complex. No matter how much a company does to simplify, reduce, cut waste, and streamline, complexity will play a role. Fortunately, new tools have been developed to facilitate your supply chain change and make that complexity more manageable.

Supply chain IoT, or traceability, is one critical technological development in the field, enabling precise location tracking, key business insights, improved efficiency, and more.

What is supply chain IoT?

Supply chain IoT is a system of devices connected through the internet, communicating with each other in order to increase control, efficiency, and produce data for the improvement of your supply chain. In other words, it is a path to insight, and insight enables strong business decisions that promote progress and growth. This new connected technology generates real-time data on how your supply chain operates day to day and illuminates functions that are not working well. By enabling you to collect and visualize precise data about movement, functionality, temperature, hygiene and more, supply chain IoT delivers more control and visibility of the inner workings of the supply chain, thus providing you with a powerful tool to improve it.

Supply Chain IoT and Reusable Packaging

Traceable devices can be attached to many different parts of the supply chain, from trucks, to scanners on the manufacturing line, to packaging and pallets. Unfortunately, not all solutions are the same and there can be blind spots if IoT in your supply chain is not utilized correctly.

For example, trucks and machinery on the line do not go everywhere with your products, and this can create blind spots in your IoT ecosystem. On the other hand, it would be very financially inefficient to attach active, internet-enabled devices to the single-use packaging carrying product, even though these do go throughout the supply chain.

In many cases, the ideal solution is to add active IoT to reusable packaging, pallets, and bulk containers in your supply chain. Integrating smart devices with the reusable packaging moving your products is one of the most practical and comprehensive ways to implement supply chain IoT. Because packaging carries valuable loads of product and can be reused for hundreds of trips through the supply chain, adding IoT to these products finds the sweet spot between high-quality tracking and cost efficiency. It is more cost-effective to track larger, reusable objects with powerful smart trackers because they can be used many times. And, because secondary packaging and pallets go wherever your product goes, there are no dark spots when the shipment arrives at a warehouse or unloading facility. IoT on secondary packaging can even provide data for other insights beyond tracking such as temperature, damages, even sales data.

A well-functioning IoT network within a supply chain depends on three major elements: stable, operating devices, thorough and well-planned set up, and intelligent insights activated by the network. It involves supply chain, technology, and industry experts all working together to create the ideal solution. The result of a strong IoT ecosystem in your supply chain includes countless benefits including asset location, forecasting, tracking inventory and stock levels, delivery notifications, temperature monitoring, and more. With the right partner behind you, the insights generated through supply chain IoT on reusable packaging and pallets can revolutionize your supply chain.

Why Tosca?

Introducing Tosca Asset IQ, the industry’s most capable supply chain IoT service, connecting active devices to the reusable packaging flowing through your supply chain. Tosca will work with you to determine the right packaging and technology to pair in order to generate the most valuable insights. Core capabilities include real-time asset location, the ability to pinpoint asset leaks, and monitoring of asset utilization, cycle times and overall pool efficiency. The service also includes a live dashboard for both desktops and phones, providing the visibility you need to benefit from the insights the service produces.

Tosca is a global leader in reusable packaging and pallet pooling, specializing in creating more efficient and sustainable supply chains with a diverse range of pooled plastic pallets, bulk containers, retail display solutions, crates, and more. These products are designed to last and offer many benefits to supply chains worldwide. With a full portfolio of pallets, bins, and crates serving the whole supply chain, from the first mile to the last mile, and its sophisticated supply chain IoT service, Tosca enables you to uncover inefficiencies that slow down flow while also highlighting opportunities for improvement you wouldn’t have been able to see before. Visit our website at toscaltd.com/supply-chain-IoT to learn more.