Glass maker Euroglas takes Sigfox solution from Citymesh to track stillage racks in Belgium

Belgian glass manufacturer Euroglas-De Landtsheer (Euroglas) has deployed a Sigfox tracking solution from local pair Citymesh and HeronTrack to get live positional readouts on its entire fleet of 1,100 stillage racks, used to transport glass products across the Benelux region. The stillage racks are worth €1,000 each. The brief to Citymesh and HeronTrack was to reduce losses, and costs for replacing them, and also to optimise utilisation of its entire fleet.

Lost and stolen stillages cost Euroglas €50,000 per year, it reckons. Euroglas, which makes tempered and laminated safety, commissioned Charleroi-based IoT developer provider HeronTrack for a tracking solution to cover production, delivery, and installation of products across branches in Bornem near Antwerp (Euroglas), Meer (IGP), and Fleurus (Safetyglass), all in Belgium. HeronTrack recruited specialist IoT airtime operator Citymesh for network connectivity. Citymesh runs a Sigfox ("0G") network in Belgium.

HeronTrack's "tag-and-go" IoT sensors were fitted to all 1,100 stillages by the Euroglas warehouse team. "Installation is quick and easy, taking just minutes," said a statement. The sensors transmit a GPS location alert twice daily via the local Sigfox network, and every second via a BLE connection. The BLE transmission enables short-range tracking of up to 100 metres; the Sigfox sensor offers long-range national and (intermittent) international coverage.

The battery life is pegged at eight years; features also include an anti-theft device to alert staff via a smartphone app if a "removal attempt" is detected. The solution, called GlassTrack, claims to reduce thefts and losses and improve cost and fleet management; it also claims admin time savings of up to 30 minutes. It said: "Within months, GlassTrack helped Euroglas save time and money by delivering real-time visibility into the location of every stillage."

Frederik De Knijf, chief executive at Euroglas, said: "We wanted to reduce that spend, find missing racks quickly, reduce customer disputes over stillage location, and get better at fleet management to improve our operations…. [Now] we always have an accurate view of stillages without time-consuming manual tracking. IoT asset tracking simplifies how we operate by providing clear, detailed insights into the location of all racks.

"We can identify problems quickly, resolve issues before logistics disruption, and improve production planning. The customer experience has also improved because precise location insights mean we can minimise discussions with customers over lost or misplaced stillages… Real-time visibility of stillage locations helps our logistics team reduce supply chain disruption and cost, as well as optimise time."

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