Theft is an unfortunate occurrence that happens across almost all businesses, and in the cargo industry, this is a particularly difficult burden. According to Loss Prevention Media, the FBI reports that less than 20 percent of stolen cargo is ever recovered, and is considered a low-risk, high-reward type of crime carrying minor criminal penalties. Moreover, cargo theft costs the US roughly $15 to $30 billion-dollar each year.
In addition to the value of the stolen goods, theft can have a knock on effect in other areas such as hours wasted due to disruption of delivery and being answerable to the shipper. Companies also take a hit on their reputation, have to cooperate with lengthy police investigations and fill out insurance-related questionnaires.
But these thieves’ days are numbered as startups around the world tighten up security thanks to new technology. rfxcel, a track and trace company, providing supply chain solutions, is an example of one of these startups hoping to give companies fresh peace of mind. The startup which recently extended its leading-edge track and trace solutions to the Food and Beverage industry has announced ambitions to go even further with its Environmental Monitoring service, allowing for real-time, unit-level cargo monitoring to inform organizations on the status of their product all the way through and react to reduce losses.
We reached out to rfxcel and spoke with Tea Rajic, Sr. Product Manager of rfxcel to find out how the company is helping to combat supply chain theft. “rfxcel’s Environmental Monitoring product combines both serialization and cold chain monitoring to effectively manage the product through the supply chain; in a number of industries. By tying a product’s unique serial number to a piece of physical hardware – a sensor; rfxcel is able to provide lot level data regarding that product.”
“This data will provide information at the lowest level and allows visibility into sensitive factors such as: geolocation including location accuracy within meters, anti-jamming capability, light detection and any change in temperature (exposure to either extreme hot or cold), using the data provided to map out the most efficient route for your product to travel, and detect any change in shippers – this would include any route diversions that may be detected and even the possibility that a theft has occurred.”
“By being able to view this in real-time, you both greatly reduce your chance of loss and have the opportunity to easily locate where your product is traveling. This will allow you to alert authorities of the stolen product’s exact location and potentially recover the stolen product before it reaches the wrong hands. rfxcel’s serialization layer cannot be duplicated and now with the integration of real-time tracking technologies, supply chain theft can be detected and avoided.”
They say there is no honor among thieves, and hopefully, with the help of startups such as rfxcel, there might be no business among cargo thieves soon too.
Show Comments