Smart Container Management: Creating value from real-time container security device data

Abstract

Raytheon and GlobalTrak participated in the European Union's Framework Program 7 (FP7) Smart Container Management (Smart-CM) Project, which strove to demonstrate state-of-the-art tracking and condition monitoring technologies, to explore their integration into value-added services for business and government agencies, and to participate in the development of best practices and standards. Raytheon and GlobalTrak provided 24 GlobalTrak Wedge devices to the three logistics services providers involved in the project: COSCO, DHL, and Kuehne + Nagel. These devices were deployed between October 2010 and July 2011 in a total of 42 trips on seven secure trade lanes between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Tri-modal (road, rail, and sea) tracking and condition monitoring was successfully demonstrated. The Smart-CM trials successfully provided container security data (geo-tracking and door status), which is of essential interest to Customs authorities. The value-added service sought by both regulatory agencies and commercial operators include security status, estimated time of arrival (ETA), dwell time, breach notification, exception handling, and container location and scheduling. In order to develop a viable, long-term business case for the value-added services required by business and government stakeholders, it will be necessary to integrate Container Security Device (CSD) data with data provided by other players in the supply chain, such as cargo owners, shipping lines, and ports. This challenge could be addressed in a future cooperative EU/US endeavor.