French IoT firm Traxens has struck deals with logistics and transport providers Inter Transit Pharma (ITP) and Inter Transit et Prestations Logistiques (ITPL) for real-time precision tracking of consignments of pharmaceuticals auto-parts by air and sea to Africa.
ITP and ITPL are part of the Logistique et Prestations de Services (LPS) Group, a logistics and transport services specialist founded in 1996. The two companies manage the transit of several thousand containers to Africa, typically via Algeria, each year.
The IoT tracking solution they have agreed on with Traxens addresses the security issues faced by their clients in North Africa. Traxens and will fit an IoT tracking module to containers going by sea and air.
ITP/ITPL’s clients, which include pharmaceutical companies and European automotive suppliers, will have near real-time access to the location and travel of goods, and an alert system linked to geofencing, which rings if consignments deviate from their pre-set course.
Traxens’ tracking devices include sensors for measuring location, geo-fencing, movement, shock, and external temperature. They are connected via 2G and 3G cellular networks; the firm is looking at LTE/4G upgrades, with 2G-fallback.
Traxens said in a statement: “Some geographical areas may be sensitive and clients want to be reassured that their goods have arrived. The device is built into the container and will speed up the transmission of shipping information and prevent customs problems. Furthermore, there is no need for clients to return the Traxens boxes, as they remain attached to the container throughout the lifetime of the battery.”
Jean-Louis Poirier, managing director at ITP, said: “This initial partnership with Traxens caters to our clients’ needs for accurate traceability and security of their consignments to Algeria. It also helps them stand out from the competition.”
Poirier said the partnership kicks off with a test phase before the end of 2019, before Traxens modules are rolled out to all its shipments.
Jacques Delort, managing director at Traxens, commented: “We are delighted to be contributing to safeguarding pharmaceutical and automotive industry consignments to Algeria. This partnership with ITP/ITPL demonstrates our ability to support clients in their efforts to digitize their supply chains.”
Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk) has just green-lighted major investment in Traxens. The company has already received funding from French container transportation and shipping company CMA CGM, which invested in the firm as a startup in 2012, and Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which took a stake in 2016.
It is working with MSC on an IoT project in the Port of Valencia, in Spain.
It has also raised €20 million in Series C funding, and been recruited as the only IoT company for the French Smart Port in Med initiative, convened by the Marseille Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the port authority of Marseille Fos and the Aix Marseille Provence University.
The project is looking to establish the Marseille Fos port, in southern France, as an industrial IoT testbed, with a strategic focus to drive its efficiencies, innovation, and green credentials.
