Dutch beer manufacturer Heineken is using satellite and mobile technology to track cargo shipments of beer from the Netherlands to the UK.
The company hopes to eliminate up to five billion documents that are generated each year through its international shipping process, speeding up deliveries and cutting costs.
The Beer Living Lab pilot, designed by IBM and the University of Amsterdam, will see 20 beer containers shipped to Heineken’s UK distribution centre.
The containers will be fitted with wireless devices and tracked using GSM, GPRS and global positioning systems, providing real-time visibility at all stages.
The data is transmitted to an IBM-hosted centre for analysis using service-oriented architecture on its WebSphere platform.
More than 30 documents are generated when a single container crosses a border. It is hoped that the results of the trial will enable manufacturers, shippers, retailers and customs to move to a paperless trade environment.
A Heineken spokesman says the company decided against radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.
‘Satellite tracking can report a container’s location wherever it is, whereas RFID can only be observed when the container is near a reader,’ he said.
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