IoT Solution and M2M Communications

A regional distributor of industrial materials faced a constant balancing act: keep clients well supplied with product while keeping delivery costs to a minimum. Without visibility into how much product each client had on hand, deliveries ran on fixed schedules or last-minute calls. That meant some trucks went out to tanks that were still mostly full, while other clients came close to running out.

Our engineering team worked with the stakeholders to design an embedded monitoring solution. Each remote unit pairs a low-cost computing platform (Raspberry Pi) with an industrial sensor to measure the product level, and uses a cellular modem to report its readings. Because the units bring their own connection, they don’t depend on the client’s network. Every unit reports to a management portal where the distributor can see levels at all locations and administer the devices from one place.

Our client can now see each client’s supply before it becomes a problem, and plan delivery routes based on real levels rather than guesswork. They are in a position to keep their clients well stocked with product while cutting down on costly, unnecessary delivery runs.