While the industrial revolution is gradually picking up with manufacturing plants springing up across the country, Nigeria is still largely an import-dependent economy.
In view of that, the country’s major roads host hundreds of containers carrying different goods going from either the ports or the local factories to the markets spread across the country where the consumers will buy them.
On several occasions, the containers never get to their final destination, or when they do they do not deliver the exact amount of goods they are expected to deliver because someone has tampered with them. For the containers that get lost, it might take months to find them, if they ever get found. A missing container could cost manufacturers a lot in lots of time and money.
The challenge is not peculiar to Nigeria container drivers alone, all over the world businesses report cases of missing containers. Aside from containers, a company’s assets pass through multiple sets of hands both internally, among employees as well as externally, among service providers, which means the opportunity for lost or mismanaged assets is a big risk. Years ago, asset tracking involved manual procedures to enter data such as handwritten ledgers and online spreadsheets, but technology is now transforming the industry.
The combination of mobile computing, analytics, and cloud services, all of which are fuelled by the internet of things (IoT), is now changing how delivery and asset management companies are conducting their operations.
At the Disrupting Asset Tracking with IoT webinar, in conjunction with Connected Finland, experts shed light on the emerging world of asset tracking.
To be sure, asset tracking is a process of keeping track of a company’s physical assets and their information (location, status, due dates, etc). Depending on the business, physical assets can mean different kinds of equipment, IT devices, tools, or vehicles. The term asset tracking is often used interchangeably with the term asset management.
The asset tracking market is projected to worth $3.93 billion by 2023. Global delivery company DHL and tech giant Cisco estimated in 2015 that IoT technologies such as asset tracking solutions could have an impact of more than $1.9 trillion in the supply chain and logistics sector. Also, there will be 267 billion IoT asset tracking devices deployed in the global industry in 2027.
The primary objective of asset tracking is to save time and money. Tracking company assets provides invaluable information about asset usage (who is using what, where, and when), maintenance and calibration schedules, and need for new equipment. The data collected via asset tracking can be used to support decision making, prevent losses, and maximise asset utilisation rates.
Being a nascent industry in Nigeria, Sigfox is one of the very few asset tracking technologies helping businesses ensure their deliveries reach the final destination.
The technology which was launched recently in 2020 is being operated exclusively by IoT Africa Networks. Tranter IT, the parent company of IoT Africa is the exclusive distributor of IoT Connected devices in Nigeria. Lare Ayoola, CEO of IoT Africa Networks says Sigfox enables you to observe your entire asset tracking network be it industrial, commercial, business, or residential in a convenient and budget-friendly manner.
“You might not be able to rely on electricity in Nigeria, but you can rely on Sigfox,” Ayoola said. “This is because the Sigfox devices can be powered without electricity. Their battery life can last for more than four years on a single charge.”
IoT is expected to transform many industries including inventory, logistics, manufacturing, distribution, construction, insurance, security companies, and more.
“The IoT network that Sigfox and IoT Africa provide is enabling us to track things we never could have before thanks to new technologies and smaller form factors,” Tom Lindblad, founder, Connected Finland said during the webinar.
IoT connectivity is tracking assets along the supply chain and receiving alerts on anomalies such as unauthorised trailer detachments, virtually fence and manage herds, intercontinental sea-freight tracking, recovery of stolen vehicles, monitor the logistic supply chain, track industrial assets, enable real-time tracking of consumer’s luggage worldwide.
For Sigfox and its partners, the major drive for IoT in Nigeria is for companies and cities to connect everything and stay in control of their assets and business operations.
“Based on experience, knowledge, and technical background, we can deploy and execute projects relating to IoT in Nigeria,” Ayoola said.
