Emprevi Launches Service for Securing, Tracking Cargo

In the event that a driver forgets to read a seal before leaving the distribution center or factory, the roadside interrogators capture its "uncommissioned" RFID number and send an alert to the involved parties so they can contact the driver and ensure the container is still properly sealed. At the port, prior to loading the container onto a ship, workers remove the e-seal so it can later be reused with a new bolt to secure another container.

At this point, Smith says, it is too early to gauge the success of the system. "We will have milestones to review process," he says, adding that when those milestones would occur has not yet been decided. Containers are currently being monitored only in Colombia, but Smith says the company eventually intends to expand the project to Peru, where Emprevi also has customers.

Some customers have expressed an interest in using Savi Technology's ST-676 tags, which measure temperature, humidity and shock, rather than the ST-662 e-seal. Those sensor tags, however, are not yet part of the deployment used by Emprevi, Smith notes. "At this stage," he says, "the primary service focus is the tracking and security of shipments. Emprevi and its customers can add condition monitoring using ST-676 at any time."

Lopez says he expects to expand the Savi Network solution to all of Emprevi's customers. "Our current customers want to be sure that best practices are being implemented to ensure that illegal substances are not smuggled in their cargo," he explains, citing such multinational companies as health-care goods manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, drugmaker Pfizer, publishing company Carvajal and Tate & Lyle, a provider of plant-based food and industrial ingredients.

"That is why this automated information process is truly helpful," Lopez says. "The Savi solution is working perfectly with a very high reliability in our tough environment. Our market goal for the first year is to control 3,800 containers monthly."